Saturday, November 24, 2012

Blessed.

During this time of Thanksgiving, I am reminded of all that we have been given & the blessings that flow so freely. I have so many things to be thankful for that it can often be easy to become numb to them. We are blessed with wonderful family that pour into us and care so deeply about us individually and our marriage; with friends who will drive miles to see us and support us in important events, with a fruitful year of work for Will and so many more things. Oh, we are so thankful!

I am once again reminded of the blessings we have & pray that we can be a blessing to others. I hope that we can bring joy, happiness & crazy love to all those we encounter. 

Will and I have always said this, but I'll say it again, we are blessed in relationships & somehow the friendships and blessings just keep flowing.

Monday, November 19, 2012

COLOR me

I spent the weekend in Charlotte visiting with wonderful friends and family. Some of my college roommates came into town for a race-- "the color run." We had a sleepover just like old times and spent half the night telling stories and laughing. It was such a blast to be reunited with some of my favorite people! Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to Concord for the race. You may wonder, as Will did, what is the point of this color run... well, basically just to have fun, coat yourself in powder paint and laugh a LOT. Also, it benefitted Habitat for Humanity, which is great.

We danced, skipped and rolled our way through the course. I can always count of these girls to act carefree with me. Oh how I am thankful for these friendships.



It was a bit cold, but no one seemed to care.

pure joy.




... and this is why i love them.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Out of the Darkness

This past weekend, we were joined by family and friends to walk for a cause. Wrightsville Beach hosted their first "Out of the Darkness" walk in collaboration with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention http://www.afsp.org/. We were walking to bring awareness, raise money for research and remember those whose lives were ended too early. We feel strongly about this cause and want to encourage people to begin talking about suicide. In 2008, Will's mom took her life. From that day forward, we have vowed as a couple & as a family to help others and find anyway to prevent another suicide.

The weather was perfect & we were astounded by how many people came out. Wilmington, as a community, raised over $42,000 which was incredible! We were thankful to be a part of the first (annual) walk & so appreciative for friends and family that traveled long distances to join us.

My first attempt at a panorama shot on my iphone.. kind of worked? But it shows the crowd! 

Walking for sweet Kim


The whole Cooper crew, including Will's aunt



Love all these men

Blessed to have friends that drive down for the day to walk with us

If you are interested in finding an "Out of the Darkness" walk near you, check out the full listing here:


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Halloween Festivities.

We hosted our first annual Halloween party the other night. The annual part was added towards the end of the party when Will announced that next year would be bigger and better. So there ya go-- next year, y'all just wait. The Coopers will indeed go big.

This year we just cooked up two big pots of soup and invited some of our sweet friends over. We discovered that Will is a pro at putting up cobwebs and should maybe consider set dressing if this whole camera operator doesn't work out for him. Everyone came decked out in costumes & we had a blast!

We decided to be the main characters from Moonrise Kingdom. If you haven't seen the movie, do it. Its so cute! A few pics from our party:



Captain & Coke:

Lighthouse Beer & Wine:


Freaks & Geeks:


Trying to act like our characters...

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Nichols family time

This past weekend we took a quick trip up to Gaithersburg, Maryland for my cousin's wedding. We enjoyed seeing all of the Nichols side of my family & visiting with all of my aunts, uncles & cousins. Will was a little under the weather, but he was a trooper. The bride is half Thai and her family owns a thai restaurant in town, so the reception was held there. There was so much food & all of it was delicious, authentic thai cuisine. YUM.


The hotel was surrounded by tons of shops & restaurants, as well as a little lake with a walking path. Will and I enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and walked around a bit during the day.


I was so happy to see all of my family there! Its rare for every single member of a large family to be at an event, but our family doesn't miss weddings so we were all there in full force.




Even Grannie made the trek up!


Sausage Corn Chowder

Y'all, it is COLD! I am already beginning my annual complaining, shivering and commentating about how I hate cold weather. I realize we live in Wilmington, but if you only knew how low my tolerance is to chilly temps. You can find me in flannel pajama pants with fluffy slippers wrapped in a blanket at all times while I'm home. Since I'm cold natured, I love anything to warm me up, especially soups. This corn chowder is one of my favorite meals & reminds me of being home. I used to beg my mom to make it for me after a frigid track practice [outside!] in the middle of winter. Toast a piece of fresh, crusty bread and enjoy!

Here's what you need:
1 lb sausage-- I like to use the "hot" kind, but if you prefer milder go for it
1 med onion
1/3 c. green pepper
1 can cream of celery
2 cans creamed corn
3 c. milk
1/2 bag of frozen hash browns [the square ones, not the shredded hash browns]
4-6 oz. cheddar cheese


Dice the onion and green pepper & begin cooking in a large pan. Add the sausage & cook until it is browned. You may want to drain the sausage if it appears to have a lot of fat. I find it does seem to help to drain it slightly, but its not a big deal if you're feeling lazy. Add cream of celery, creamed corn, hash browns & milk. Be careful when adding the milk that it doesn't curdle. Bring this to a boil and then reduce heat and let it simmer, covered, for about 20 min. Basically just until the potatoes are tender. Then add shredded cheddar cheese on top. 

This soup is hearty & will warm you right up! It even freezes well so you can save some for another cold day.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Five reasons I married you

1. You smoke a pipe and act like you're 75.


2. Your sweet heart & generosity towards everyone.

3. You have incredible work ethic. There are few people that work 80 hours a week and even fewer that have manual labor jobs. (P.S. I love this picture-- probably taken at 3:30 am on a long night shoot).


4. You'll act like a food snob with me.

5. Despite little time together, you know just the way to my heart. Thankful for our little notes & that crafty keeps yogurt covered pretzels on set.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Fall has arrived



Temps in the 40's tonight-- fall is here! Will is at work so I'm wearing his big, toasty slippers and eating roasted red pepper tomato soup. 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Weekend getaway

Will's work is so demanding and the hours are crazy (14-15 hrs a day is normal). Most weeks we only see each other long enough for a kiss and a quick update on our days. Fortunately, technology helps & texts throughout the day are the way we handle it. Will is really good about setting aside intentional time for us and planning little events for us to look forward to on hard weeks. In August, he booked tickets for a concert in Charleston on October 6th for the two of us and we planned a weekend getaway. 

We stayed in a quaint bed and breakfast called the Elliott House Inn. I got super excited that they do in fact deliver breakfast to your room so you can actually enjoy breakfast in bed. It was lovely! 

After sleeping in and grabbing lunch in Wilmington, we headed down to one of our favorite cities. We had a delicious dinner at FIG (highly recommend!) and then went to the Andrew Bird concert. He is incredibly talented & we so enjoyed listening. After a nibbling on a light breakfast provided by the inn and then falling back asleep for another hour or two, we were hungry for brunch. Brunch is pretty much our favorite thing, especially a good southern one. We ate at Poogan's Porch and enjoyed shrimp n' grits and the country breakfast with hot tea (my favorite). 

We had such a blast that we hardly took time to take any pictures, which is rare for us since Will is always snapping away... but, here are a few from Sunday brunch.





Thursday, October 4, 2012

Chicken & Zucchini Parmesan

Pinterest, you never fail me. I found this recipe on pinterest & decided to make it the other night. Will had mentioned that he wanted some sort of chicken dish so I thought I'd give it a whirl. You see, its rare for me to try new recipes on just the two of us. I have a horrible habit of testing out new recipes on other people...surprisingly, it hasn't failed. I'm sure the day that it does I will quit doing that. 

Anyway, we gave it a try & loved the recipe. Will really enjoyed it and I think it was pretty healthy so thats a plus. 

Heres what you need:

3-4 large chicken breasts
1 can tomato sauce
1 med zucchini
Mozzarella cheese (buy the good kind)
2-3 tsp. olive oil
fresh basil
fresh garlic


I used my Le Creuset skillet for this whole recipe & it was awesome. Basically any large skillet (with a lid) would work. 

First, I cut the chicken breasts in half. I pounded them (with a potato masher, resourceful, eh?) just once or twice to tenderize. Then I put them in the skillet with 2-3 tsp of olive oil. I added in some fresh (minced) garlic as well. Once the chicken breasts were browned, I added in the tomato sauce. **I did not drain some of the liquid from the chicken, but I would suggest draining it a little** Place the lid on & put it on low-med low and let it simmer for about 30 min. Then, add basil, sliced zucchini and mozzarella. I cut the mozzarella into slices and laid those on top of the chicken breasts. Cover and cook on low for 15 more min.

The flavor was awesome & this recipe was super easy! Had the leftovers for lunch today :)

...And a little shot from while it was cooking.





Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Love is in the air

We are becoming quite the wedding folks. After attending six so far this year, we can definitely say that we love weddings! The food, lovely people & yes, the dancing, even though we are awful. Last weekend we celebrated another wonderful start for our friends Mike & Elizabeth. They started dating just a month before we did so I have fond memories of discussing relationship details with Elizabeth and moving from friends to dating to the thought of marrying our men to engagement. 

The DJ had a competition to see which couple had been married the longest. We clearly didn't last too long, but we loved watching it play out. The winner were grandparents of the groom & had been married for 67 years. Incredible! We sure hope we're out on that dance floor in 67 years.

The venue (Angus Barn) was awesome, but the people were even better. Congrats to the Houstons!



Susie, Laura & me

the luce reunites



Mr. & Mrs. Houston!







love this: philip & will dancing

cheerwine in glass bottles- the BEST!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Little things

Flowers and a surprise visit at work?... Always make for a great work day. Thankful for these beautiful flowers & a thoughtful husband.





I am also thankful for beautiful sunsets in the Port City & Will's photography skills.



Monday, September 24, 2012

I-74

Oh the trip to Charlotte from Wilmington... its goes a little like this: 45mph, 70, 35, stop light. 70, stop light... traffic in Monroe... 

We sure do hate the drive from Wilmington to Charlotte, but it is SO worth it to see the people. I enjoyed spending time with my sweet family this past weekend! Here are a few snapshots from the weekend.



Date night with Grannie: "The King's Speech" and dinner


Lunch outside with the family (minus Will)

...and Prissy pretended she was sitting outside.



we love this boy.