Party in the USA

Elite Party Planners: Kirsten & Paul + mucho Facebook correspondence
= one surprised* guy *other adjectives to describe Tanner = amazed, astounded, blown away, bewildered, dazed, dazzled, dumbfounded, electrified, flabbergasted, floored, jarred, jolted, overwhelmed, shocked, stunned, stupefied, taken aback.

We had a surprise b-day party at Kitchen in DC for Tanner. He was seriously surprised since he thought he was going to my work party (lame-o) and it was held 6 days before his actual birthday (what?!). He had no idea, which I was very proud of since it's hard for me to keep a secret. Lots of lying, deception, and sneaking around occurred which was definitely difficult for Miss Honest Abigail. I guess it made it a little easier since we started planning literally 2 days in advance. Here are a few photos from the monumental night:

Hope all your dreams come true!

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Fall, Friends & Football

Our wonderful friends the Galbraiths came to visit us back in October. I am a terrible blogger lately but I wanted to link to Nikki's blog. Click here and here for her blog posts from the trip. Thanks Nikki :)

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Scrapbook 2008

I was so excited to finish and get my scrapbook from last year FINALLY!
Dear Internet: I will start my 2009 yearbook this month, no excuses. Read more...

Halloween!!

This year we thought it would be fun to dress up and carve pumpkins on Halloween Eve. Here is Border Patrol Jen with her two captives Tequila Shooter Tanner and Happy McMexican Blake.Kirsten reffed the pumpkin carving and the dogs even dressed up against their will Jack as a cute pumpkin for maybe the 3rd year in a row, Baxter sported an orange T, Chip was a bee, and Dale a cow.

And finally we have Dorothy and Toto

Chris and Nance didn't dress up but Chris somewhat resembles Zac Morris...maybe that's what he was going for.

In the Kirsten and Tanner Cooley household it is ALWAYS my idea to carve pumpkins and I ALWAYS manage to forget how much work carving pumpkins really is. Unfortunately for everyone else I had already resorted to complaining and swearing as I was scooping out the pumpkin guts. Here is everyone happily beginning to carve.

Here we have everyone diligently finishing they're masterpieces....and I am in full fire drill mode demanding better tools to catch up. Soon after this in my despair Tanner took over and finished my jack-o-lantern before I had a meltdown.

My mood quickly turned around when the pumpkin was complete and it was time for a photo ;)

Here are a couple of our finished products lit up. Tanner's football and my ghost.

Chris's skull, Nance's scary pumpkin, and Blake's awesome bat creation.

And here are a few more photos for your viewing pleasure.

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Couples Retreat

Why is it so hot? Because we're in the city where the heat is on.

We went down to Miami to visit two of our favorite people, the Eckers, a few weeks ago. It was so amazing to spend the weekend with someone (Tyler) whose favorite thing to do is....nothing. No joke, that is just what we needed a weekend full of nothing!Who would have thought that the first four hours we spent in Miami would be at the Chili's Take & Go Restaurant in the airport. Sounds awful, huh? But between the margarita's, the people watching (Tanner said, "Look at that kid," and captured my reaction after I saw one of the ugliest children I had EVER seen in real life),

reading magazines, me nearly falling asleep on the bench (then realizing that I am not a bum so that is so not cool), taking photos, talking and laughing it was really pretty fun. I feel like we hardly see each other these days so it was refreshing to spend some mindless hours together.

We made it outside to the hot, wonderful paradise and as we were shielding the blazing sun from our eyes we couldn't have been happier to see Tyler's classic black truck roll up. We met Becca and went to a restaurant on the bay literally five minutes from their apartment. By the way this is the view from their apartment...uh, can you say amazing? Must be horrible to wake up to this everyday :)
The next day was spent at the gym and a long, lazy day at the pool. Tanner demonstrated some amazing pool feats, including his underwater breath-holding technique. Becca and I were having a heart attack when he didn't come up for air for two minutes! And he still had the energy to scare his swimming lessonless, water-phobic wife by pretending to dunk me and get water on my face.

This was followed by a night on the town. We went to Lincoln Road, which was a really great strip of restaurants and bars. Everyone there was so happy and beautiful, to paint a picture of what we were seeing...imagine that guy at your gym who groans and yells when lifting weights while staring at himself in the mirror, that was the typical male on Lincoln Road. Although tonight he had showered and was sporting a muscle t, a faux hawk, and a skinny, pretty girl with implants. This along with tall grandpas led to some pretty fascinating people-watching experiences for all of us.

Oh...I almost forgot the best part of the night. We were sitting at dinner outside and a man on his phone and his tiny daughter passed by our table. Something intrigued the tiny girl to stop and say hi. She was so adorable as she explained to us that she was 3 years old and was wearing her favorite dress and minnie mouse sunglasses. She was so tiny that I was surprised by how smart and comfortable she was to be having a conversation with strangers. And to top it off when her dad said it was time to go we all said, "Bye" and she pressed her hands together, nodded her head, and said, "Namaste." What the?! Officially the cutest 3 year old on the face of the earth.

The rest of the weekend was spent binge-ing at greasy sports bars while feeding our football addiction. We went to an official Michigan (University de Tyler and Becca) bar to watch Michigan bring in a win.

And to an amazing little sports bar on Sunday to watch Chris and the Redskins pique our interests in the first half and then unfortunately endure a loss against the Panthers. There was some unhappy men at our table so I thought it would be good to suggest ice cream to boost the morale. As we were pulling up to DQ, Tanner gave me a puzzled look and asked where we were going. I said, we're getting ice cream! Oh, well I don't want any. He must have been really upset to not want ice cream. Although he won't admit it the cookie dough and lizard hunt really helped him forget why he was so grumpy.

This was the perfect retreat. Sometimes you need a weekend to lay low, eat snacks, play 'would you rather?' and enjoy life.

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St. Northwest

I came home early from work today to get Tanner to the airport for a 7 pm flight. In the midst of packing Tanner decided to take another look at his itinerary. "Kirstennnnn!" I ran downstairs to find my 6 foot 2 hubby in a panic. "My flight left at 3:40!" I shot a glance at the clock that painfully showed 5:20. I guess last night in the stress of the quick booking he read the times wrong. He threw the last few things in his bag and we ran out the door.

On the way to the airport I was dialing Delta and Expedia trying to figure out how we were going to get Tanner from Dulles to his connecting flight in Minneapolis so he could make his flight to Billings tonight. Really the only positive that came out of these two calls was being able to listen to calming elevator music...besides that they were absolutely useless.

When we got to the airport we went to the airline of his original missed flight which just so happened to be on the complete opposite side of the terminal. It is really hard to stay poised when you are so stressed, but Tanner did well, I only saw a few beads of sweat. Even when we thought Miss United was finding him a flight when come to find out she was just wasting our valuable time as she was struggling to get her computer to find his itinerary the entire time. She sent us away disappointed because her airline could not get him to his destination until tomorrow night, which would be too late to make his grandpa's funeral at 10 am.

We walked away disappointed...but we didn't give up. We made our next plan while speed-walking back to the opposite side of the terminal. Good thing I wasn't wearing heels this afternoon ;) "Okay babe I'll go to Delta you go to Northwest," I said I as I ran up to the Delta desk. I explained our situation in great detail to the Delta representative only to hear the response that there were no more connecting flights out of Dulles tonight. I thanked her and walk/ran over to Tanner and his Northwest lady had found a flight....so LUCKY!! Or so I thought...that is until she mentioned that all she had was a $1,000 one-way first class ticket. And by booking this it would cancel the flight we already booked for $711 and he would have to book another flight home.

This seemed risky and expensive to me but I could see Tanner attempting to reach for his wallet. Fortunately, the lady was having problems setting up the flight for him and went to her associate for help. Her associate, we'll call him St. Northwest, began typing away at his computer with a smirk on his face. The next thing we know St. Northwest said, "I just saved you a ton of money. I did this and that and you only have to pay a $50 change fee." Uh yeah he did. We looked at each other in awe, we could not believe our ears! This guy not only saved us money he saved the day.

Now time to focus and what is really important. Tanner got on that flight and was able to spend time with his family during this tough time. I'm sure there will be tears, and I'm sure there will be smiles, and there will be lots of time spent remembering and celebrating their 'Gramps' life.

I only had the chance to spend a few moments with him here and there over the past 7 years but I really enjoyed his company. He was such a sarcastic, funny old guy. Always saying things to make us all laugh. Tanner has told me stories of many good times spent at his Gran & Gramps house over the years. I know he loved him a lot and will truly miss him. I am far from Wyoming right now but I will have Tanner and his family in my thoughts. Read more...

Laughter is the best medicine

Last night Austin and I were, in Tanner's words, losing our minds.

We were all pretty down after the Redskins loss. It's usually a little easier to deal with, but Sunday after we played the Chiefs it was a completely different feeling. It was just so disappointing! We are all behind the team and want them to win :(

But that is not the point of my post. The point of my post is to relive a snippet of our night. The two of us plus Austin peeled ourselves off the couch and went to Nick's Grill for good eats and drinks after the game. Not sure how we got on the subject but Austin came up with an intelligent piece of information I had never considered. Austin was saying how Tanner was in his 24th year of life (even though he won't be 24 until November 24th...omg it's his golden birthday, I love golden birthdays!!). Austin was arguing since he was born in 1985 one would assume that his birthday has already occurred and that he was 24 since it's so close to the end of the year.

That was kind of stretch for me, but I could see what he was getting at....Tanner on the other hand would not buy into this logic. So, I thought if I put it in my words then Tanner would agree. I explained what I thought Austin was saying and that yes Tanner was 23 but in his 24th year of life...and he was like no, absolutely not, I'm 23! He was being so stubborn about it. Austin was not using his inside voice and was like yeah its your 24th year and I was busting out the napkin to draw it out: from 0-1 is your 1st year, from 1-2 is your 2nd year, from 2-3 is your 3rd year....from 23-24 is your 24th year!!

We were both blue in the face trying to talk him into our way of thinking. But he was so adamant about his opinion on the matter. Which made the situation hilarious for some reason. Austin and I were literally DYING of laughter. By the end Tanner joined in, and for a moment we had forgotten how bad the Redskins suck. Read more...

Saturday Night Shuffle

I dedicate this post to my dear friend, Paul: the questionably straight, bobblehead attorney who sports his infamous embroidary shirt -but only when all his hood-shirts are in the laundry.

Nats season is over :( and I definitely didn't go to enough games but this one was phenomenal....

...and not because they won
...and not because the weather was nice ...and not because of the service (we ordered these in the 2nd inning, they were delivered in the 9th) ...it was phenomenal because some old guy began awkwardly serenading us in the bull pen and it was enhanced by the more awkward shuffle that Paul whipped out....it was phenomenal because we found out that charles would be playing his heart out during a sax solo for the entertainment of the private bar we were at. ...it was phenomenal because of the constant banter and harrassment between my mature husband and his 10 years his senior ultra-mature friend.

...it was phenomenal because we hung out with a stereotypical crowd including: duvet cover hood shirt guy, the comedian, the wine connoisseur, the military man who hasn't seen many women lately, the non-union serious girl, the terrorist slash wannabe porn star, the unique saxophone player, the sarcastic class clown, and the quiet girl taking it all in. I'm not sure I saw one play but it was a memorable game

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Morale Booster

This morning when I left the house I had no idea the adventures that were in store for me. Today was not a normal Friday, our entire office planned to participate in a firm-wide volunteer effort to give back to the community.

I don't know why it's always so nerve racking to drive new places around here, maybe because I'm used to the good ol' grid system. I found myself at exit 39 in Maryland which Google maps told me to take, then up ahead there was exit 39A AND exit 39B?! Google maps failed to mention this decision on my route. I swiftly picked up the trusty cell phone to ask Jen which one was right. Too bad my phone said 'S.O.S. Service Only' which was the type of service I was desiring yet the phone would not dial her number, so it literally came down to a Goofy Movie style decision...aaand...I chose to take 39B on the right. I drove for a few miles not quite confident I had made the correct decision. I caught a glimpse of my navigation system that had been searching for satellites the entire morning...until THAT moment. I had chosen the right road. Thanks NAV, I could have used your services ten minutes ago when I was having a panic attack.

But what was I supposed to do now? I was headed to pick up my friend Jen so she could show me where to park so I wouldn't get ticketed or towed...apparently its an art or learned by experience, skills I unfortunately do not have. Two problems, I had no idea which apartment was hers and no cell service. How did we ever survive without cell phones?....I thought back to those times and remembered PAYPHONE! Do they still exist? Let's hope. I drove for a while and then I spotted the grimy calling machine on the wall of 7Eleven. I gathered up all the change I could find in my car and there I was standing outside the SEV with the nasty phone pressed against my ear hoping Jen would decide to pick up the unknown number, oh and did I mention it was raining? By the 6th ring I was beginning to get pretty nervous but then I heard, "Hello?"

I got through that dilemma just to be faced with another...Jen was like "Oh a park!" I looked to where she was pointing and thought, well I have a small car but how the hell am I getting it in there?! There was only one way...the dreaded parallel park. My only experience with parallel parking was 1) when I failed my driver's test and 2) when I retook the test and the instructor from the DMV chose to ignore the fact that my car was pushing over a garbage can. Parallel parking is dangerous with the wrong person behind the wheel. Good thing I had a wise and patient coach. Because I was all, "I can't do this!" and she was all, "You're doing great!" And after about 5 tries and 5 freakouts I got my civic into its temporary home.

Usually the source of some serious stress is the use of the public transportation system, the Metro, but unusually that was not the case today. Because today I was with a pro so I just relaxed and let her take control. She successfully got us on and off like a nervous mother with her child and that ended up being the quietest time of my morning.

2 hours after my departure we finally made it to our destination. Our National office is where one of the many volunteer efforts was taking place. We went upstairs to meet with a group from Fairfax that provides mentoring, guidance and fun to teenage kids in the adoption system. We were each given a packet full of photos of a child and were provided with some really thoughtful information about each of them from a lady that works for the company and spends a great deal of time with the kids. It was sweet to hear how enthusiastic she was and you could really tell how much she loved all of them. I had never heard anyone use so many amazing adjectives and stories to describe a person. I think she is perfect for her job and her job is perfect for her.

We got chance to create about 40 scrapbooks with those photos and stories, 1 for each of the kids that they would receive as a Christmas present. It was such a fulfilling experience to know that we could do something to touch their lives without even getting to meet them. It also made me stop and think of how grateful I am for what I have...my experiences, my family, my friends, my job. At first I thought taking a full day to slow down like this right in the middle of such a busy time at seemed kind of ridiculous considering the amount of work I had on my desk. But after this day I was really glad I spent my time doing something that meant something instead of just doing something.

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