Things Are in Full Swing

Things are finally feeling like they are in full swing! Mooney is growing everyday and she is playing more and more. She now seems to be awake more then she sleeps. But she's just like a pup, she wants to bite and taste everything. I can' wait till Penny feels like she can play with Mooney full-speed. Maybe by Thanksgiving.

As far as Nicole and I, we are finally starting to feel like we have our feet on the ground from the beginning of both our school years. Nicole is progressing quite well in her courses and I am starting to feel more confident with my lesson plans. This year is my first year teaching English and I have had to get over the initial shock of teaching a subject that I am not too familiar with. But now I am doing Epic Poetry and its giving me an opportunity to bring in the historical side to texts. The kiddos I have this year are great and most respect what I'm trying to do. I have also already had some great experiences and look forward to what's ahead.

See ya all,

Our New Puppy!!!!

Matt and I brought home our new puppy last night! We had been thinking about getting another dog ever since the last one didn't work out. We saw an add in the paper last week and decided to go with it. She is a Miniature Schnauzer, she's 7 wks. and we named her Moony. I know...it sounds funny but it's special to us. It's a nickname of a Harry Potter character and it suits her well :) She's tiny right now but she'll get to be somewhere between 15-20 lbs. The breeder that we got her from was a local woman. She was very nice and clearly loved all her dogs. Matt told me she had quite a few :) The place was clean and that matters most. Anyways, she's already got a great personality and we're really excited to have her. Enjoy the pic! We'll get more soon!

The End of Summer

Well everyone....we finally have a house! We've moved in completely and have at least part of the house put away :) It's such a nice place...it's perfect for us.

Life is about to begin again for Matt and I. Matt goes back to work on Monday, August 17th and I go back to school on the 24th. Things will get busy again...but we all have to do the grind. Matt will be teaching an English class this year. It will be cool because the both of us will get to read a lot more together. We've both discussed it and Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire will have to wait until next summer ;) I'm excited to start school again. The classes just keep getting better. I'm almost postive that there will be at least one professor I'll dislike this year, but that's life.

Hope everyone has had a good summer. We know we have!

Mi Casa Es Su Casa!

It's Sunday!!...and the house is supposed to close by Thursday. If all goes well (which it should), then Matt and I will have the keys to our new place on 16th. We're going to have to move, of course, but luckily..I've packed most of the house already. It shouldn't be too bad. Matt and I have some small jobs here and there we need to get done too. But other than that...we should be completly moved into our new place by the end of July. We'll take some pictures and send you guys some. I'll also give everyone an address update once we have the keys :)

Also, in case you didn't get to see it...here is what our house looks like

The Begining of the End

Well Everyone,

We finally signed a contract for a final offer on the house we wanted! This is the first step in getting the ball rolling to close on the house. Once we close, we own it. We're both really happy that this is moving along. We actually had some issues with the seller's and their agent. Some unethical incidences happened. We ended up having to switch real estate agents (not the last one's fault) but we like her a lot. We have gotten through, and we still have more ahead. We need to get the place inspected and appraised. Paperwork is going to have to shuffled through. There is also a small possibility that we could close on the house by the middle of July. Moving sucks, but this should be the last time we move in a long while :) Sooooo....just letting you all know.

We're so excited about owning our first home...we'll let you all know as move forward.

Love you all!!!

P.S. We're having a good summer, hope you guys are too!

Happy Father's Day!

Okay...so I'm about 4 days late on the whole "Happy Father's Day" thing. But...I wanted to tell everybody how nice it was to be able to spend Father's Day with my in-laws. Matt and I went to visit the folks last Saturday so we could spend some time with each other. Phil and Matt shot Dad's rifle...he got a new scope and was adjusting it...and while they were outside, at least Matt got bit up bad by mosquitoes. It was perfect weather for those suckers...humid, damp, warm..blah! Anyways, we had dinner...the best dinner. Thanks to the boys who are grillin' freaks :) We really had a great time.

The other half of this is meant for the house update. Matt and I have found a house that we like very much. We put in an offer...they counter offered...more back-and-forth....THEN we finally both agreed on a selling price. So they are in the process now of making up the final offer and then Matt and I will sign the price contract. NOW, for those of you have never gone through this process before, it takes a while to close and there are still more hoops to jump through before this place will even be close to owning. Having said that...Matt and I are taking this very slow. The house still has to be appraised and meet the banks standards. Then it will have to still be inspected. So we hope there is nothing seriously wrong with the house. So, if all goes smoothly...hopefully we will be closed on the place by July 30th. If the house doesn't meet approvals, then we keep looking. SOOO, that is the latest...we will keep you updated more as we go along.

Hope everyone is doing well....enjoy the summer!

P.S. This is the only picture I'm going to show...this is just the outside view of the house we're trying to buy. It's looks a little dorky (maybe), but it has a lot of personality!

What's Gone On So Far???

Soooo, searching for the right house, Matt and I are starting to learn, is not an easy process. We began by looking at a trailer on 3 acres, but that didn't work out. We've driven by at least 7-10 places just to see if the neighborhood was worth living in. Some of them we could throw out immediately and others, we scheduled a time to see the interior. We found another place near Millersberg that had great land AND it was a newer place. But the second we tried to schedule at time to look at it, there was already an offer. That's happened twice now, lol. We've been able to narrow it down to about 3 places. Two of them are off of Route B near Hallsville and the other is near the Lake of the Woods area. Fortunately for us, our real estate agent threw us a listing with no picture and told us we should check it out. It's in the country on the outskirts of Columbia. Matt and I drove by and just from the outside alone, it's nice. We got to peak inside the windows and the interior looks decent too. So we scheduled an appointment to look at it today. If this one has no serious problems with it, we'll probably end up taking this one. If it falls through, Matt and I will most likely choose one of them off of Rt. B. Either way, we should be moving forward with a decision by the end of this week or next. That is what has gone on so far. Sorry we haven't filled you in sooner but since there is so much uncertainty, you don't want to always fill people in :) Hopefully, by the next time we talk, we should have a decision made on a house!

Love you all!!!

My Sister's Birthday!

Today is a special day. First, it is my sister Judy's birthday! She deserves a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I love you! She's gonna have a talkin' with me for putting this pic up of her, lol. Second, today is the day all televisions change to digital instead of analog television. Sure it's creating a GIANT hassle, having to buy all the crap needed to still watch your TV. We watch most of our TV on our Internet anyway :) Nevertheless, there has never been a transition like this in history since black & white TV turned to color. And even then, they didn't have to do this much work, lol. We'll always remember this transition.

It's been a while since we've been able to share information with the family. Even though life is still kinda busy, it's the same old game...just a different day. Still not much is happening, but we enjoy it while it lasts. Soon, our lives will be busy with paperwork, moving, school stuff, etc. We should enjoy it while it lasts. This weekend, Matt and I are going to experiment BBQ'ing a pork loin roast. Wish us some luck, I don't see how it can go wrong.

Hope everyone is doing well. We keep you all in our thoughts.

The Month of June

Hi everybody,

Here is what Matt and I have planned for the month of June! We just got pre-approved for a mortgage loan so we're on the next step which is to set up an appointment to look at the place we feel is most beneficial to us. However, finding a time for everybody is a little hard to do :) But, we'll get through it. If we like the place we'll still need a home inspection. If we don't like the place, we look onto the others that we have picked out. June with let us go through the process. The one thing I'm NOT looking forward to is the moving, blah! There are only like 2 pieces of furniture Matt and I cannot move together. I'm recruiting now...anyone who wants to help, let us know, lol. Either way, we'll keep you all updated as we go along.

June is also my sister Judy's birthday. She will be 37, although she doesn't look like it one bit. I'll send her a Happy Birthday blog when it comes around. My bestest friend Krystle got married about a week ago. I'm jealous I couldn't be there with her, but she had over 200 people as guests, there would be no way to spend time with her. Plus, Maryland is a little way a way to just venture :) We had planned on going to visit her and Tim in July, but with buying a house...that might not happen anymore. We'll just have to do a looongg road trip next year.

June still keeps Matt busy with summer school. They have about twice the amount of students making up credits this year than last. He has another teacher helping him out this year too so it helps ease the chaos. This year, he gets to leave once the last student is done with the program. So he might be finished in 3 weeks for all we know.

Hope everyone is doing grand and enjoying their summer so far. Stay cool too, it's gonna be a HOT summa!

"Schooool's...Out..For..Summer"

It's that time of the year again, where Matt & I don't have worry about a thing. We can relax, do stuff outside, enjoy indoor activities or do absolutely nothing. Now, poor Matt does have summer school to teach, but that only consists of month of June. But luckily, it's only a half day and he'll be home by noon. I will have to continue to work everyday of the summer at the preschool, but my shift is mostly from 2-5pm so it's not an all day endeavor.

But all that's old news. Now our summer is going to consist of looking for a house. Yes, Matt and I have decided that this is the right time to buy our first house and we are more than ready for it. It will be a lot of work and very time consuming. It will also involve moving, which is always the worst part, heh. BUT...it will be sooo worth it in the end :) We're looking to stay in the area, we don't really want to leave. We're just looking for someplace a little more quieter than what we have now. So, wish us the best of luck and we'll let you all know how the process is coming along just as soon as we know ourselves. We are excited ourselves and hopes that everything works out for the best!

Mother's Day!

After Thursday for me (Nicole) it's, "School's Out For Summer"! Yeah! Matt will be done by the end of next week and then he gets to work on Summer School stuff, woo hoo! Either way, we will both be less stressed out and able to relax a lot more. We've got plans to look for a house if at all possible this summer. We hope to take a trip to Virginia and Maryland to see some close friends and family. Of course I still work all summer, but we'll have fun with the kids playing outside all day! Mother's Day was this past Sunday!! Matt and I had my mommy come visit and stay with us, so we thew a BBQ bash for her, Brenda (Matt's mom) and my sister Michelle. We had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, my mom took all the pictures so I have to wait for her to send them to me before I post them. Hope all the other mommy's had a great Mother's Day! I know I miss my mommy already :) Matt and I are also very excited to see Allen and Amber when they come down for Memorial weekend. We miss you guys tons!!!!!!!

Anyways, we're doing well and that's what matters.

Teacher Appreciation Week

As some of you may not know this week is Teacher Appreciation Week. With me(Matt) being a teacher I feel that this week is a time to express to teachers how much they have impacted your lives. It is ironic that this week one of my co-workers passed away from a long battle with cancer. The reason I bring this up is the fact that I know there are many kids that never got the chance to truely express how much she meant to them. So I encourage all of you, if there is anyone who has made an impact on your lives, to go ahead and thank them for all they've done. You never know when you might miss out on an imporatant opportunity.

Love you all,

Sad News

Bad news everyone...Matt and I had to take Sammy (our dog) to the Humane Society on Friday. Thursday night I (Nicole) went to pick him up while he was lying in the corner and he growled and bit my wrist/arm. This isn't the first time he's bit. Matt and I were wanting a dog and his co-worker had offered us Sammy because she was trying to find him a good home after he had bit her daughter for no reason. The daughter had come into her mom (Matt's co-worker) to give her a hug and Sammy bit her. Usually, if a dog bites once, they can never be trusted again. Since Sammy had bit three times, he can't be trusted around anyone. So I took him to the Columbia Humane Society, told them the whole story. They said he might get put to sleep but that they would give him a week long agrression evaluation to see if he was probable to be adopted. I don't know what's been of him since. It was really hard to give him up, but we did only have him for three months and we took him in on the note that we were trying to rehabilitate him. We agreeded that this would be the route taken if he bit again. BUT, we will miss him and no more puppies for a little bit.
Just thought we ought to let you all know.

Summer & TV Shows Online

Well it's a good old fashion Monday, and it's rainy. It's what I call a "double whammy". However, the good news is that I (Nicole) only have 2 more weeks of school and then it's Summer for me. Matt has maybe 4 more weeks PLUS every Friday off in May so he's on the downhill slope for Summer. Summer school is still up in the air, but he'll most likely get it.

Matt and I just got Netflix and so far, it's really great. If you want to rent movies, it's the only way to go. Even better than the "Redboxes" or whatever they are, lol. We can watch movies on our laptop AND get them sent to our house at the same time. Since we also got rid of cable, we watch all our shows online now. It's crazy, we are paying less than before BUT now we have more to watch to the point where we don't have time to watch everything, lol. The only downfall is the sound, but we can always get speakers for the computer. With people trying to cut corners though, this is the best way to cut. We have a list of links on the website, on the right side column, please feel free to click on them and watch your TV shows. Also, let me know if there are better ones to add to the link list :) Enjoy!

A Very Busy Saturday

Saturday April 18th, 2009 was a VERY busy day! I cleaned my house and did laundy all morning and afternoon. I had to make a large amount of pasta salad for later that evening and that all happened BEFORE noon. After noon, me, Alison (lower right) and Kayla (top middle) who are my coworkers at the preschool, all had to drive an hour and a half to an old coworkers wedding. We had a blast spending most of our time on the road, lol. We all three made it back to my house by 5:30 pm where I then picked up Matt and all of us went to our other coworkers house where she was having a going away/engagement party-BBQ. Jesse (blue shirt) is our head teacher at the preschool and is leaving to move to Chicago with her finace. Jen (far left) is our other coworker. Matt and I had a blast hangin' with the ladies. Luckily for Matt, there were maybe three other guys he could at least converse with. We had buffalo steaks and hamburgers for the first time. It was VERY delicious! Matt and I didn't make it home until after 11:30pm. That is the latest we've stayed up in a LOONNGG time :) Anyways....I'm gonna miss Jesse, and we'll have to see just how work will function with her gone :(

Happy Anniversary!!!

Four of the best people in the world!
Happy Anniversary to both couples who just so happen to be celebrating it on the same day (April 16th). On the left is my Mommy and her husband, Gary. They have been married for a year now and are completely in love with each other, WOOT! On the right are my other parents (Matt's Mommy & Daddy) and they have been married for a whopping 33 years. And you guessed it, still completely head over heels for one another, yea! Sooooo, this is my tribute to you both and a reminder for me what love truly is!

Love you guys (miss you mommy)!

A Happy Easter Weekend

Sooo, Matt and I were prepared for this Easter weekend...or so we thought. It began Friday night when I thought everything was fine, until I threw up late that night. Somehow (with all my preschoolers being sick) I caught a 24 hr. flu bug. I threw up all night (no sleep) and continued somewhat into the next day. Poor Matt worked on schoolwork (grading, test making, etc.) from 9am to 6pm. Also, he took care of the dog (feeding, walking, disciplining) AND cleaned the kitchen for me. We were very tired. Sunday rolled around and I was feeling better, Whew! We didn't get to sleep in though. We drove 20 mins north to drop Sammy off at the folks' house then we (the family) drove to church. It was peaceful being with Matt's family and at their local church so that made up for alot of Saturday. We chilled the rest of our Sunday with my in-laws and had a great Easter dinner. I was starving as you could imagine. Brenda (Matt's mom) made a GREAT loin roast that she had experimented on for the first time. It was fantastic! Then Matt and I went home and passed out at 9pm. It was quite the eventful weekend. Now today is Monday and I have two exams today that I didn't have the chance to study for this weekend, so the term "wingin' it" comes into play. All I have to say is I can't wait until next Fri. and Sat. so I can just sleep in. Matt is alive, so no worries. He'll be busy until the end of the week too.

We love you all and hope every had a Happy Easter! We know we did!

DanActive: A Great Way to Boost Your Immune System

Matt and I began to drink DanActive back in December. I have a VERY poor immune system and both Matt and I work in a school setting where sickness spreads easily. Since we have taken DanActive, neither one of us has been sick to the point where we can't function. We've gotten a small sore throat but that just means our white blood cells are fighting the infection, so they're good signs. The point is you'll not get flu sick, which will impare most of you from working. A word of caution, DanActive is what I call a "yogurt shot". In other words, use it as a meal suplement not a meal replacement. Drink one a day (or more) and you'll be good to go. If you want more information I've got the link at the bottom of the post.

Trust me, you need all the boosts for your immune system that you can get. AND it's great for the kids!

http://danactive.com/

Grilling Tips

In Missouri, the weather has been starting to become consistently warmer. Everyone knows what this means....break-out-the-grill time! Matt and I LOVE grilling, and take pride in our many techniques. A while back, Matt found a wok (3 in a package) that is used specifically for grilling. We hadn't used it until yesterday, and may I say, when you make a stir fry in the wok on the grill...you will never go back to other stir fry's! I didn't do anything different, it was the grill taste that made it so good. I marinated stewing beef and fresh veggies in an Asian salad dressing and stuck it on a med-low heat and BAM! Put it on some rice and you are good to go!

Just an idea for all of you who love to grill as much as Matt and I do :)

The Dog Doing His Thang

Matt and I just recorded Sammy doing this last night. We give him a raw hide at least once a night to help keep his gums healthy. He gets bones too but it's only the "knee caps" that he feels the need to hide. Not sure why, but it's so cute! So this is a video of him hiding his raw hide.

Enjoy!

The Cooley's 1st Site

Okay...so maybe to Allen and Amber and my sister in-law Dolly, this might look a little familiar. Kudos to both for giving us the idea! Matt and I have too many people to keep in contact with and this is a great way to share all our thoughts, moments, or any other interesting tidbits going on in our lives with all who are close to us. Of all people, we understand the meaning of "too busy" and we don't even have children like some of you out there :) However, anytime any of you get the chance, please feel free to check up and see how our small family is doing. We will update this website as often as possible.
Hope you all enjoy and we love you guys always!