Pennsylvania Homecoming

I finally managed to get back to Pennsylvania last week with Cara in tow for her first trip there, and we had a wonderful time! The weather was perfect (mid- to upper-70's, and upper 50's at night), my parents had done a fantastic job with the house (both inside and out with the massive amount of flowers my Mom planted everywhere), and my brother and Tracy were in with their youngsters for a few of the days we were there too.

We started off flying in Friday to the little University Park airport (Penn State's local airport), and drove the hour home to the quaint little Sugar Valley where I was born and raised. Although I may be a bit genetically biased (my family has lived in the valley for 200+ years), the Valley truly is a little piece of heaven. If it was close to a big city, the mountains would surely be littered with summer homes and track housing!

The next day Cara got to meet some of the relatives she never met before, both the Cooper and the Weaver side, at the annual Community Picnic and down at our camp at night. I also took Cara up in the woods behind the house for a little off-road hiking, where we saw some turkeys and climbed to the top of the mountain. Here's a pic of Cara waist deep in grass up above our house:

We did a tour of the valley on Sunday, getting to see the western valley, the covered bridge, plenty of Amish farms, and our family's hunting grounds with a little off-road 4WD in my Dad's truck. Here's a pic of the usual road signs up and down the valley:

Coincidentally, they do need those signs because the only car wreck i've ever been in has been with an Amish buggy! (his fault, not mine)

My brother's family came in Sunday, and it was good to finally see the kids after not seeing them since our wedding, and getting to see the youngest Cole for the first time. The kids were super playful, and Sydney definitely liked playing with her Aunt Cara. Here's the kids in the wagon after my mom took them down the road to feed my grandpa's horses (Sydney in back, Cole in the middle, and Zane up front):

We got delayed heading home for a few extra days thanks to Tropical Storm Fay, so the more time to hang out with the family! The storm was a little stressful, since Cara had a meeting in San Fran for work and had to change her plane ticket to fly directly out there from PA, and we were worried about our pets since they were in Miami (thanks Marilyn for watching them!). Because she changed her flight, we spent an afternoon shopping for her to get some dress clothes so she didn't have to wear shorts and t-shirts when meeting with the donor of her new job. Shopping went well and my beautiful wife picked herself out an excellent outfit without too much hassle. But it all worked out in the end, and neither Miami nor Sarasota/Anna Maria got hit by Fay. So after 5 days for Cara and 6 days for me, we had to say our good byes to my home town. But we are definitely planning on heading back a bit more frequently now since it is such a peaceful place to visit!

_

To see some more pics from the trip, check out our Picasa Site.

Six Years

By now you have figured out that some of our posts are informative, some are funny, some are sappy... This one will be a sappy one - a tribute to my husband who has been packing up the house and keeping our "kids" in line while I've been here in Sarasota.

This week marks our six year anniversary (we celebrate two - our wedding and our "first date"). Six years ago this week I was crazy enough to fly out to Boulder, CO to help Wade move to Miami... after only knowing him a few weeks. But hey, I've always thought if you're going to do great things with your life you have to take big chances - good thing I did because he definitely turned out to be a great thing!


Our first date was camping in the Indian Peaks Wilderness next to the Rocky Mountains National Park and I got violently ill from altitude sickness (and drinking twice my body weight in water... no, really). We then proceeded to drive cross-county in a gigantic Penske truck towing his Subaru (see photo from that fateful week) and stopped in Kansas City to see his brother and sister-in-law. After there we headed to Waynesville, NC to see my Mom and step-dad. En route, Wade got food poisoning and I had to take over driving the truck in rush hour traffic through downtown Nashville (did I mention the highway was under construction so the lanes were pinched together too?). We finally made it to my Mom's and Wade was able to recoup by sleeping for a day. Next was Atlanta to see my dad and step-mom, but on the way there we got lost on the Blue-Ridge Parkway near the Georgia/NC border, a place that looked like time had forgotten it - beautiful mist-covered mountains, but not a road sign for miles. After Atlanta, we finally made it to Miami in one piece. We had seen each other at our worst (nothing like puking repeatedly on your first date!), gotten lost, seen some interesting parts of the country through the windshield of a moving truck, and we still liked each other - I always laugh and say that's when I knew he was the one - after all that (and meeting my parents already) he still wanted to be with me!


So, happy six years honey - I look forward to many more years of adventure to come!

Week One in Sarasota/Anna Maria

Well, I have finished my first week of work in Sarasota and so far so good. My office is in a big executive complex which means I have my own office (with a door) in a complex of 73 other offices. All the offices share a common room and kitchen plus some administrative staff. It's nice to have a kitchenette to prep lunch in - plus a dishwasher for dishes! (A big change from my office at the Park!) I spent last week setting up my office, learning about the company, and I already edited my first report (corals and climate change), which Wade, Marilyn, and Alette have been kind enough to contribute photos for. There are three other people in my office - two that work on climate change issues in Florida and one that is working on fisheries issues in Florida. They are really nice and it'll be fun getting to know everyone.



The whole week I had something even more fun to look forward to though - a visit from Wade and the "kids". :) They came into town on Friday and left this morning. Friday night we went out to dinner to one of our favorite restaurants on Anna Maria called The Waterfront. We had a big dinner to celebrate my first week of work and Wade's arrival. That night we watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics and WOW. It was amazing how they choreographed so many thousands of people! Saturday we woke to a bad thunderstorm that cut the power to the house, so Wade and I spent the day looking for places to rent in Sarasota. We saw a few things with promise so we made two appointments for Sunday to see the insides. That evening we came home and the power was still off, so we ordered a pizza, made rum and cokes (thanks for the awesome rum Jimmy!) and lounged by the pool.



Sunday morning we got up and headed down to Sarasota to look around some more and see the first place we had on our list. About 1/3 of the places we've called didn't want to take dogs, another 1/3 didn't have a washer/dryer(??), and the last third were ok, but not ideal. We had seen pictures of the inside of the first place we saw but were a little worried because it's smaller than where we live now. But, it had this incredible yard, looked really cute, and was in a really convenient part of town. After looking around inside we were sold. The landlord is really nice (loves dogs!), the house is cute inside, has a decent floor plan (2/1 plus little Florida room and laundry room) and kitchen, lots of windows, and it has a magnificent yard that is twice the size of our current yard(!) and is filled with trees and a huge deck with a built-in jacuzzi(!). The place is also only about a mile and a half from my office, half mile from the YMCA, and about 2 blocks from a beautifully wooded local (dog-friendly) park. So we're going to have to pair down some of our stuff, but we can make it work and ultimately being more environmentally friendly means living with less space and less stuff, so we're game. (Which also means moving less stuff!) I'm excited to bike to work and Wade's excited to bike to the Y to swim laps and work out. He's also thrilled that we'll have a dishwasher again so no more dish duty for him!

The front of the house... (yes, those are huge live oaks behind the house)

Our killer deck/jacuzzi/back yard. :) (It looks even bigger in person) Can you see the tiki torches already?





After seeing the house we stopped by my office so Wade could see it. That night after dinner we walked to the beach (around the corner from where we were married, and where our title picture was taken) to hang out until the sunset - this time of year it's about 8:15 when the sun goes down, which I love. We took some pictures, watched a couple get married, and watched a flock of gulls, terns, and skimmers chased each other around. (See our new "the coastal coopers" picture to the right for one of the pics) The sunset fizzled, but we enjoyed the show and the weather anyway. It was just so nice to have Wade around to hang out with again. I can't wait until he moves up to join me!




Sadly, Wade and the kids headed home this morning, but he'll be back on Thursday because we fly out to see Wade's family in Pennsylvania on Friday morning. We'll be there for five days and I'm really excited to see where Wade grew up and to meet more of his family that couldn't make it to the wedding.

Finally got to meet Trey!

Last night Megan and Jimmy had me up for dinner at their house in Tampa. It was a great time - good food and friends and I finally got to meet sweet little Trey (he was born 6.8.08 - before we started the blog). He has adorable cheeks and does not want to miss a minute of life (read: does not really care for naps). It was pretty funny watching him fight to stay awake even though he was clearly tired. He would start to daze off then jolt awake like "I'm awake! No, I wasn't sleeping!" He was great and I relished keeping Trey entertained while Meg and Jimmy made dinner. : ) I look forward to being able to watch him grow up now that I'll be living over here!!



Dinner with the Ellis family was the perfect way to cap off my first day here. I got to Anna Maria around lunch time and spent the afternoon settling in. Today I will be doing laundry and hopefully will hit the beach. :) I'm really lucky that my mom and step-dad are kind enough to let me have their house to stay in while they are in NC. I'll be here until Wade can join me in mid-September. Although, I think Wade's getting the raw end of things since I have a little tiki bar by the pool and hot tub here (really!), and I'm about 3 blocks from the beach. Not a bad life!!



Tomorrow is my first day of work in Sarasota - wish me luck!!

A Toast

Since it is the night before I am about to embark on my new adventure, I thought I'd get a little sentimental and give a "toast", so here goes.

I raise my (margarita) glass....

To those who helped me laugh when life in Miami was not funny...


To those who showed me what the good life in South Florida could be like: sunning on the beach, drinking rum runners, diving the reef, exploring the Everglades, and relishing in the spring festival season...


To those who had sage advice and something optimistic to say during my job search...


To those who served as roommates over the years without killing me (and are still friends!)...


To those who were our furry kids' "aunts" and "uncles" when we went on trips...


To those who have stayed in the CooperCabana, and have been kind enough to return the favor when we visited...


To those who were brave enough to go camping in the Everglades for my birthday...


To those sorority sisters who helped make me who I am and broke me of my tomboy ways (sort of)...

To those that welcomed my nerdy sci-fi side with open arms...

To the city that made me who I am (for better and worse) and that introduced me to Wade...

...THANK YOU everyone for your friendship, laughter, love, and support over the years - I can't believe I've been here 11 years straight and am finally leaving! Snif... moving away from everyone is the one thing that makes the move tough.


Please know that you've each been a character in our book of life and as we start this new chapter I fully expect you to be there too! :) Did I mention we have fantastic beaches over there that you'll want to visit??


To those already on the west coast of Florida... here we come!! Adios Miami!



(Here's a view of downtown Miami that I took this week - on the far right you'll see the cruiseship terminal where I worked my senior year of undergrad)