Adventures on the Emerald Coast

New York, New York

2011-05-19T21:53:00.007-05:00

After visiting for awhile in Connecticut, we headed into New York City for a little adventure. I have been dying to go to New York, albeit a little apprehensive to go for the first time with busy little Cosette. I was also a little nervous about getting around via taxi/subway, just because I didn't feel like I would know my way around the city. But... we absolutely LOVED it!

We took the train down from CT and arrived in Grand Central Station about two hours later. When we walked out of Grand Central, the first person we saw was a man waiting by the taxi line with rats on his shoulder. Yes, rats... as in multiple rats. Then we took the most terrifying taxi ride of my life. It wouldn't have been that bad if Cosette was safely buckled in her carseat. But, no, i was clutching her in my arms for dear life! I know, it may sound like I am such a terrible mother. However, car seat laws are exempt in New York City (which seems crazy) and people were yelling at us to just get in the cab or back off. "Well, we are only going about 12 blocks", I thought to myself. Who knew it would be twelve blocks of sheer terror! But, we made it alive to our good friends house in Harlem where we stayed. Biggest shocker of all... we love love love the subway! How efficient, how ingenious, how unbelievably flawlessly it runs 24/7, 365 days a year.

We kept our touristy destination goals pretty low key. Because the key to a happy trip with a baby, is a happy baby. We saw the Museum of Natural History, the Central Park Zoo, Time Square, FAO Schwartz, went to the top of the Rockefeller Center and ate lots of amazing food.

The sheer expanse of humanity was absolutely staggering. It was a little overwhelming to the eyes to stand on top of the Rockefeller Center and try to take in the vastness of it. You can see the Statue of Liberty below (very tiny) right in the middle of the photo.

I love the Chrysler Building. Not a great picture, but I couldn't get an unobstructed view. I love the look of it WAY more than the iconic Empire State Building. Such great art deco style.
Of course we had to find a Serbian restaurant (Mitcheal served his mission in Serbia/Bulgaria). And Cosette loves Serbian food... I should have known, why haven't I been feeding her that all along?

Oh how we loved the subway system. It was so wonderful to walk a block and just hop on the train to go anywhere in the city. Cosette was a little overwhelmed by the mass of people everywhere, but a short train ride would lull her to sleep.

Cosette in doggy heaven at FAO Schwartz. So many giant doggies she could hardly contain herself.
Giant piano from the movie BIG. Although, We didn't have the jumping range to play chopsticks.
Mitcheal couldn't help himself but to pretend to feed our baby to the giant T-Rex skeleton. Who could resist?

New England

2011-04-13T19:57:00.004-05:00

In March we took a little trip to Connecticut to visit some of Mitcheal's family. We had a wonderful time visiting. We ate some great chowder and visited the Yale Law School campus. After spending a few days in Connecticut, we took the train into New York City for a few days. More pictures and details to come.

The Yale campus was much different than I thought it would be. I'm sure it is ivy-covered and beautiful in the summer. However, we toured the campus on an exceptionally rainy, dreary and somewhat creepy day. The campus is intertwined with the downtown area of New Haven. All of the architecture was very gothic and heavy. The interior of the law building was heavily paneled with dark wood and there was detailed ironwork everywhere. As one of the best schools in the country, I imagined it would made up of inspiring architecture and art. While the gothic architecture was beautiful and interesting, it all felt very oppressive. Maybe it was just the dreary New England weather...I just got a vibe.

The above image shows a woman's face in the middle (presumably the victim of a crime), flanked on either side by two depicted criminals, one has a gun over his head. The two men on either end are police officers blowing whistles and holding weapons. The campus was full of this stuff, interesting, but made for the above mentioned creepy, oppressive vibe.

Mitcheal and his Uncle Eddy, a New England native
We went to a local seafood joint and I was set on having the whole 'New England experience'. So, we ordered the lobster dinner and it came on a bed of steamed clams. After dismembering the lobster with our bare hands, it didn't taste quite as good. I don't think we'll be ordering that again. Poor guy looked like he was about to climb right off our plate.

Mitcheal and Cosette with Mithceal's mom, uncle and grandmother.
Cosette made a new best friend in Uncle Eddy. She followed him around the whole three days we were there.
Cosette with her great grandmother. I think I see a little picture of her in the background. Stay tuned for the pictures from our trip to New York.

home sweet home

2011-01-29T22:41:00.007-06:00

About six months before we moved to Logan, I started doing a little online house hunting in Florida. I would scour the listings and compile lists of houses I liked. We had set up a week in April to fly out and find a house. About a month before that, i made a list of a few of my favorite houses and sent my mom, my sister and my brother-in-law(who was our realtor) to go check a few out and rule any off the list. After seeing several dives and possible haunted houses, they called me while they were going through one and said, "This house is so perfect! It's 108 years old and just like a little dollhouse!"
Turns out, the house had only been on the market for 6 days and had about a dozen showings booked for the upcoming weekend. We decided it wouldn't stay on the marked long and took a leap of faith and made an offer without ever seeing the house in person. So, our April house hunting trip turned into a 'let's find out what we bought' and house projects trip! Sounds a little crazy, but it was absolutely the right decision. We love our home and our neighborhood. The house was in really great condition, we just got to do the fun stuff like painting, wallpapering, etc. We have a basement apartment that we rent out, a great tiny little yard, neighbors so close we could high five through our windows and wish we could stay here forever.

Here are a few pictures I took when we had all our Christmas decorations up.

entryway

you can see how close our neighbors are through the window

Cosette's room

It took me about 16 hours online to find just the right wallpaper

Pretty much the extent of our kitchen storage

Our bathtub/shower is tucked away in a tiny little alcove

Hope you enjoyed pictures of our home. I left out pictures of our spare room because it is currently a work in progress. I should have it finished in a few weeks and I'll post some more pictures!

The last few months..

2011-01-20T21:21:00.002-06:00

Wow, it has been six months since my last post! Well, we love being back in Logan. Life is a little busier here, but it's great being so close to family. Cosette has turned into a full blown kid! How does that happen so quickly?

Back in October we went to Colorado springs so Mitcheal could get eye surgery at the Air Force Academy. He had PRK (kind of like lasik) and we spent nearly two weeks of fun! (except for the whole scraping off the outer layer of your cornea part....but no more contacts! yay)

We went to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and spent quite a bit of time with the giraffes.
We took a cog train to the top of Pikes Peak (the mountain that inspired the song, America the Beautiful)
Cosette wasn't so sure about the Giraffes.

We had a great Christmas with family and just got back from a week in Georgia.
Cosette dressed up as an angel

I have a lot of catching up to do in the next few weeks, but soon to come...pictures of our 108 year old house! Finally.

Cosette is one!

2010-08-15T22:23:00.005-05:00

Well, Cosette is one! I can't believe it has been a year. Wow, life changes when you have a baby, but it is so worth it. She is such a character, with a big personality. We had our family over for a great party, great food and most importantly, lots of toys! Cosette had a great time, although she wasn't quite sure what to do with her cake. We love being back in Logan, but I'll post more about that later!

Goodbye, Florida. We'll miss you.

2010-06-04T20:40:00.007-05:00

Well, last week we said goodbye to the beautiful Gulf Coast and made our 36 hour trek across the country. Now we're back in Utah! We are so happy to be closer to family and friends and the wonderful mountains. However, this joyous move is tinged with a bit of sadness. We will miss our first home, we will miss the Waste Management system (it is the best thing that has ever happened to garbage!!), we will miss Publix (the world's most friendly grocery store), we will miss the most beautiful beaches in the world (especially knowing they will never be the same, with the ever increasing amount of crude oil encroaching daily on our Emerald Coast), but most of all, we will miss the people. We made so many great friends and will miss the southern hospitality and openness. Even strangers at the grocery store seem like old friends. The Gulf Coast of Florida will always be such a special place to me. It's where Mitcheal and I started our lives together, where we got our first 'real jobs', and where our beautiful baby was born. I feel like I really learned to be a grown up, a very independent person and most importantly, a Mother. We are so excited for the new adventures ahead. Logan, here we come...Again.

We took some family photos on the beach before we left. I'm so glad we had the chance to take these priceless pictures. The beaches on the Gulf Coast are amazing. We are praying every day that the crisis in the Gulf will, at some point, get under control and that when Cosette is older she will be able to enjoy these beautiful beaches.

Smiles

2010-03-17T20:20:00.003-05:00

It's starting to feel a little like springtime here in Florida, and we're loving it. Cosette is now seven months old! How did that happen so fast? We'll be in Utah next week and can't wait to see everyone. In the meantime, we will be enjoying having this smiley little girl all to ourselves.

Snowpocalypse!

2010-03-02T19:24:00.004-06:00

Snowpaocalypse, Snowmageddon! The crazy snow storms that have been sweeping the country have come to Florida! They said it was coming, but I didn't believe it... snow in Florida? No way. We had an actual snow storm here on the Gulf Coast. It only lasted about an hour and nothing stuck to the ground, but it sure caused a lot of commotion. School was canceled, a few stores closed, everyone was terrified of the dangerous snowy roads. But, after about an hour of flurry, the sun came out and we were back in Florida.

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T21:11:00.002-06:00

Everything is so much more fun when you have a cute little baby girl... especially holidays centered around love, hearts, and the colors pink and red. I know my posts have been a little heavy on photos and a little light on words. The photos are for adoring Nana, Papa, aunts, uncles and friends who are heartbroken to be so far away from Cosette. Hopefully soon I can add a few more thoughts to all the photos. Hope everyone had a great Valentines Day.

Back to the Blog

2010-02-04T15:45:00.008-06:00

After a little hiatus, I'm back to the blog. So, we've been doing a lot the last few months.

We went to Washington D.C. and visited Georgetown, The Smithsonian Museum of American History and got a private tour of the capital building!

We went to Utah for Christmas and had a blast going to Bear Lake and visiting family and friends.
Cosette is getting cuter by the day.

Also, BIG NEWS BIG NEWS, we are moving back to Utah the beginning of June! Yay! Mitcheal is going to be teaching ROTC at Utah State. We'll miss Florida, but we can't wait to be back a little closer to family and friends!

Deck the Halls!

2009-12-01T17:11:00.007-06:00

I put up Christmas decorations a few weeks ago. I love the way lights and ornaments make everything feel cozy and warm. I have never posted pictures of our home before. I'm not sure why, I guess I've just never gotten around to it. I absolutely love our home. It is hardly recognizable as the same place we bought two years ago. We have really made it ours. I only took pictures of the front room for now, but over the next little while I will post pictures of the rest of our home.

more pictures!

2009-11-22T20:01:00.003-06:00

My wonderful sister in law took some pictures of Cosette for me in her Halloween costume and in her blessing dress. She did such a wonderful job and I absolutely love the photos. Here are a few of them, check out Alyssia's photography blog here. Also, I decorated for Christmas... I know, it's not after Thanksgiving yet... oh well. Later this week I will finally post some photos of our house in all it's Christmas glory.

update

2009-11-15T20:49:00.002-06:00

Finally, a little blog update. Cosette is already three months old. Wow! Time is flying by.

playing so hard she fell asleep

   Nana and baby Halloween skunk
   Stinky little skunk
   Hank and Cosette, she loves her cousin
   matching outfits!

more pictures!

2009-09-16T20:50:00.001-05:00

The cupcake is already a month old! Here are some pictures that are melting my heart.

family of three!

2009-08-25T19:56:00.006-05:00

Finally, baby cooksey decided to come one week late! Cosette Isabel Cooksey was born August 13th at 7:11 pm. I went in for a check up when I was a week over due and her heart rate wasn't looking so great. So, they decided to keep me and induce me that night. I was trying to have a 'natural' birth, but, after about 20 hours of induced labor I got an epidural. A few more hours went by and and the baby's heart rate kept dropping. So, just as they were rushing me off to an emergency c-section, they decided to check me one last time and... I was ready to push. 15 minutes later, Cosette was here!

about 30 seconds old

cute outfit aunt ashlee made

35 weeks

2009-07-05T21:04:00.004-05:00

I promised my family I would post a new picture of my ever expanding self. So, here is me at 35 weeks. For some reason I have the song Gestan sings on Beauty and the Beast stuck in my head... "and i'm roughly the size of a baaarrrge..."

wedding cake!

2009-07-05T20:53:00.003-05:00

After being married a year and half, we finally thawed out and ate the top of our wedding cake. Yum. It has been sitting in my parents freezer, unable to find its way to Florida. So, when we were in Utah a few weeks ago we decided it was due time to have some anniversary wedding cake.

baby cooksey's room

2009-06-28T20:32:00.003-05:00

The baby's room is starting to come together. Still to do: put things up on the walls, finish making bedding, wait for baby!

belly update

2009-05-03T18:14:00.003-05:00

Here is a tummy picture at 25 weeks pregnant. This was taken almost two weeks ago and I'm starting to get to the point where I can actually watch my belly grow before my eyes! For those of you who didn't know, we are having a baby girl. Yay for girls!

More St. Augustine photos

2009-04-21T10:38:00.004-05:00

The Alligator Farm was absolutely amazing!
I think this one's missing an eye..eww..

waiting to be fed

I felt like we were at a dinosaur farm

An albino alligator

Yay for free root beer!

Magnolia Avenue

Easter in St. Augustine

2009-04-15T11:11:00.005-05:00

St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States founded in 1565, 42 years before Jamestown, VA. Interesting fact: It is the oldest city in the United States, but... not the first. Pensacola was the first city in the U.S. founded in 1559, but three weeks after being settled everything was wiped out from a hurricane and the city was not rebuilt until later.

We spent four days in St. Augustine over Easter weekend and had such a great time! There is an endless amount to do there. We loved walking the huge historic district which includes the oldest house and the oldest school house in the country.

   What used to be the world famous Ponce de Leon hotel is now Flagler College   The Castillo de San Marcos (Spanish Fort from the 1500's)
   Cannon firing at the old Spanish fort

   Favorite street performer

   Yummy Spanish bakery
   We've been deprived of Mexican food
   Riding the trolley!
   Baby Cooksey tummy picture!

Florida Road Signs

2009-04-08T12:00:00.004-05:00

One of the many reasons I love Florida... the road signs. Alligators patiently wait for pedestrians to 'move to the side of the road'. This is one road I will not be hiking/biking on.

Tres Amigos

2009-03-20T11:00:00.016-05:00

I was just looking through some pictures and found some winners. The infamous Halloween 2006. Although it is nowhere near Halloween, these pictures bring a smile to my face. What a great night. Too bad Kjersten wasn't there, because i'm sure she would've looked just as attractive as the rest of us.

Blah Blah Blogging...

2009-03-13T09:38:00.003-05:00

I am a blogging slacker. However, I am resolved to better document our time here in Florida. For my lack of blogging, here are two funny videos that I'm sure make up for my absence of new posts.

I love my Mac!

2008-12-15T13:14:00.003-06:00

So, last week we went to a Christmas party for Mitcheal's work. It wasn't the best Christmas party I've every been too (it started at 11am, but everyone pretended it was an evening party). There was a 'talent show' and employees turned in videos of themselves doing funny and or talented/not so talented things. It was a recipe for disaster with people filming their kids singing things like "Grandma Got Ranover by a Reindeer", only somthing their own parents would find hysterical. However, there was one bright shining moment during the afternoon christmas cheer. A woman that Mitcheal works with belongs to a group called the retromaccast. She created this lovely little video for all the mac lovers, and I believe she won a contest with mac for it. Enjoy!

Hello Polaroid!

2008-11-26T12:07:00.003-06:00

I have a new favorite application for my mac! We all love the beautiful vintage look of polaroid pictures. And unfortunately, polaroid announced that they will be discontinuing their polaroid film early next year. But, not to worry, THIS wonderful website has an application you

can download and it turns your photos into polaroids. Not quite as cool as the real thing, but still produces some beautiful photos. I found the website via THIS lovely little blog. Here's a few I made today!

Lake Jackson

2008-10-28T22:23:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago we visited the beautiful Lake Jackson. It is in the little town of Florala, Alabama, about 40 minutes north of us. We had decided that we were going to go camping, but couldn't decide between Lake Jackson or the Chatahoochee River. I've always thought of the Chatahoochee as such a symbol of the South and thought it would definitely be the ideal place for a weekend camping trip. So, we called the state park and asked if campfires, swimming, dogs, etc. were allowed. To our excitement all of the above were permitted at Chatahoochee state park. However, the park ranger advised us against letting our dog swim.

"Why is that?", asked Mitcheal

"Well, you don't want him gittin eatin' by a gator." replied the unconcerned park ranger.

"Eaten by a gator? So, is that something that happens frequently?"

"Well, we had a dog git eatin' right off the dock last year."

"Wow", Mitcheal responded "So, you said it was okay to go swimming. If there are that many gators in the water, is there any danger of a human getting eaten by a gator?"

"Oh no," said the park ranger "If you see a big one, just get out".

So, it was decided! We were off to Lake Jackson, which after another phone conversation was deemed 'safe' because there were minimal gators (I would have been much happier with no gators, however, that is not easy to find in these parts). Only a 40 minute drive north and we found ourselves in a picturesque little town filled with historic southern homes and big front porches with rocking chairs. The town feels like it was frozen in a 1930's film about life in the south.

If anyone is taking a road trip through the southern states, Florala, Alabama is definitely worth a stop. We had a great time taking swimming and exploring and made it through the weekend gator free.

There were trees surrounding the lake

Lots of Spanish moss

Ozzy chasing the ducks

My favorite tree

2008-08-27T15:54:00.005-05:00

Finally, I have decided to be a responsible person and join the blogging world. Mitcheal and I are having far too many adventures out here to let them go undocumented. The Florida panhandle is indeed an interesting place that is steeped in southern culture.

Just a few crazy things that have happened in the last few weeks:

-I found a scorpion in my bathroom. Yes, a scorpion. I had no idea that scorpions could live in such a humid, swampy area. But, apparently they do. However, the scorpions in Florida aren't dangerous like the ones we have out west. They are regarded as more of a nuisance and there sting is similar to that of a bee.

This is not the actual scorpion (I wouldn't hold a scorpion in a million years, even if it was harmless), but just a picture of how small Florida scorpions are.

- I have a giant pot on my porch with a palm tree in it. Well, a few weeks ago I went to water the plants and after spraying water in the giant pot I noticed somthing sticking out the top. I moved in for a closer look, when I realized it was a giant green snake coiled up on the inside of the pot. I dropped the hose and ran inside to tell Mitcheal. He quickly came out and decided that he would need to pick the pot up and let the snake slither out into the forest across the street. As soon as he picked the pot up, the giant snake seemed to leap out of the pot towards Mitcheals face. He dropped the pot and we both ran inside and quickly locked the door, as if just shutting the door was not enough to keep us safe from the giant but most likely harmless snake.

-Tropical Storm Fay passed over the panhandle fairly uneventfully. Lots of rain and a few broken branches, but nothing too scary.