Long overdue update

My name is Linda and I'm the worst blogger ever....

But Happy Fall to everyone! We have been going about the typical fall activities...

Pumpkin carving fun for Halloween

How cute are my fur-babies?!

November 20th marked ONE YEAR since Eric and I got married! What a busy/fun/ stressful/ adventurous year we have had! To recap: May 2010-I graduate from Alabama, October 2010-Eric accepts a job in Virginia, November 20, 2010-We get married and go on our honeymoon, mid-December 2010-Eric graduates from Auburn, late-December 2010-We move to the strange land of Northern Virginia, January 2011-We both start new jobs and we are off to the races! Things slowed down a little after that (haha). We learned how to share a space and be married. We have had our ups and downs, but we have made it work. Everyday is a learning experience.

But for our anniversary we went out to a nice dinner at a Churascaria-which is basically and all you can eat meat restaurant. They bring around delicious meats on a sword (can you tell Eric picked this place?). We also exchanged gifts. I gave Eric a Kindle Fire-which he has not put down since! Eric gave me a beautiful pearl and diamond ring.

We went out the day before our anniversary because we both had to work Monday after our anniversary, so when our actual anniversary come we decided to stay home. The night of our wedding we were in our hotel, starving because we didn't actually eat at our reception. So we decided to order Dominos Pizza as our glamorous wedding day meal (the delivery person was someone Eric had worked with there when he was in high school). We decided this would be our anniversary tradition. Dominos pizza!

Of course we dove into our year-old cake that was frozen for us. It was still very good. Way to go whoever wrapped our cake for the freezer!


Next comes Thanksgiving! We stayed in the area since we will be taking a LONG trip to Alabama after Christmas. We went to Maryland to my great-uncle and great-aunt's house. My aunt and cousins were there. We had a great time getting together and STUFFING ourselves with Aunt Nancy's delicious cooking! It wasn't Thanksgiving at Grandma's but it was very close.
I am so thankful to have family not too far away!

Parking attendant

I never pass up an opportunity for a good picture!

My cousins!

Happy Thanksgiving!

That's about everything for this post. There is a lot coming up in the near future so I hope to be blogging more!

Stay tuned for more exciting happenings!

A beachy birthday

Eric and I headed south to the beach for Labor Day weekend. We made reservations over a month ago at an adorable little cottage in Avon, NC, a beach on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks. We were very much looking forward to spending three days relaxing on a the beach!

But...

Hurricane Irene had different plans. She managed to wash out the bridge to the southern island, leaving us no way to get there. On top of that, Irene killed the phone lines so we could not even contact our cottage.

Insert panic attack here.

In fabulous husband style, Eric scrambled on Wednesday (we were leaving Friday) and found us another hotel on a beach farther north on the island! So Friday morning we excitingly headed to the coast!

The view from our balcony

We had such a great time relaxing and soaking up some sun! It's always nice to get away!

Eric's birthday is the beginning of September, and almost always falls on Labor Day Weekend. It was wonderful to celebrate his birthday in a beautiful location. I gave him a new watch, since his nice one broke and he has been wearing an el cheapo for months!



This has been our first vacation, just the two of us, since our honeymoon almost a year ago! I love the beach, and I love Eric, so I could not have created a better combo! Even though it was short, our trip was wonderful! Standing by the ocean always paints such an AWESOME picture of how big God really is and how vast His love and mercy stretches.

CFSF takes over DC

The first week of August my BEST BEST BEST BEST BEST friends from nursing school came to visit. And, needless to say, we had a BLAST! We basically did everything we don't get to do as young professionals. Shopping, sleeping late, sightseeing, and EATING! It was fantastic. Words cannot describe how much fun I had and how wonderful it was to see these ladies.





Love y'all! Thanks for a great week!

What is CFSF you may ask? We'll never tell.

A belated Father's Day

A late father's day shout out! My dad is currently in Florida with my mom and brother at a baseball tournament, and I'm in Virginia. But he is definitely the best. He's a fantastic European travel partner, knowing all the cool places to see. He is every bit the fun-guy, or fungi (as us kids like to call him. Happy Father's Day, Padre! I love you!



I am doubly blessed to not only have a fantastic father, but also a GRANDPA! My grandpa is a Godly man and strong influence in my life. He and I are very close and I love talking to him on Skype! Yes, he's 81 and an avid skyper! Because of his advice, my vegetable garden is alive and well. Often I am accused of being too much of John Cooley...focused, creative, and a perfectionist. Not necessarily a bad thing I don't think.

My skunk Grandpa drew for my 3rd birthday and made a frame for it. It has hung in every place I have lived, including college. Now it's in our apartment.

Happy Father's Day (a few days late) to the great male influences in my life! Y'all mean so much to me and I love you!

Cooley Family Reunion

This past weekend Eric and I traveled to South Carolina to meet up with 35 members of the Cooley Family. This reunion was started many many many years ago when my GREAT grandparents still lived on Little Blue Pond, outside of Panama City, FL. Their kids would bring their kids of a weekend of swimming, fish frying, and watermelon. As the family grew, the reunion grew. In the late 90's, Granddaddy passed on to his Heavenly home and the reunion was moved. For the past few years, we met in various locations depending on which family decided to host that year. My uncle and aunt in South Carolina decided to host the reunion this year, so we made the 8 hour drive south.

If there is one thing the Cooley's do well, it's EAT! And eat we did. Fried chicken. Mashed potatoes. Cornbread. Pound cake. And, of course, S'MORES! Then we sit around and catch up on everyone's lives from the past year. It's such a precious time that our family can share.

John and Mavis Cooley Family, to include 6 great-grandsons

My cousin's brand new baby! So sweet

The best grandparents ever. So blessed to have them.

PopPopPop and Ethan showing off their artistic skills

Precious times

My family!

Up from the grave he arose!

"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."

Matthew 28:1-6

This is what Easter is all about. Sure the eggs, the bunny, and the candy are all fun, but the sole purpose of Easter is to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus. And I am so glad that He arose to conquer death so that we all have the opportunity to live eternally with Him!

This is the first Easter that Eric and I have spent away from our parents, so it was a very different day-yet familiar- day than what we are used to having. The church that we have been visiting has an Easter sunrise service at the Lincoln Memorial, so we headed down to DC bright...errrr...dark and early for the service. This was a really neat experience to worship in such a public arena in our nations capital. We estimated that there were between 3,000-4,000 people there. Next year we will get their earlier!


In typical fashion, the Easter bunny comes while we are at church. He brought some great goodies this year!

The Pearce Family gathers at my great-uncle and aunt's house on Easter. This is the first year that I have gone (since they live in Maryland and until now I lived in Alabama). It was such a great time to get to see my uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents. UL and AN live in ACRES and ACRES of beautiful wooded land so there is all kinds of room for fun.

The lunch feast!

No trip to UL's is complete without a tractor ride

My cousins, Brian and Jake

One of my most favorite people in the ENTIRE world, Aunt Shelley!

Cousin expansion-Eric and Melanie

Happy Easter from the Pearce/Burnside Family!