angela's blog

My friend Josh posted this on his website and I just HAD to give those friends of mine who do not visit Josh's blog a chance to see this. So without further ado ... click here for the soluble song.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/26/2005 06:45:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Lately I've been very into the food network. For those of you who have never experienced the food network it's around the clock TV all about recipes and how to make certain dishes and all of them are really yummy. My personal favorites on food network are Everyday Italian, Good Eats, on occasion 30-minute meals (although Rachael Ray's voice is obnoxious) and Iron Chef (more about that later). But as a result of food network I have become much more adventurous in my cooking. Case in point tonight we're having lasagna classico which I learned from Everyday Italian. Layers of ground meat, ricotta cheese, spinach, pasta and grated mozzarella and parmesan. Yum. Hopefully. We haven't tried it yet. Next week I'm going to try and make a spinach, mushroom and ricotta ravioli. Plus, I already have a lovely bruschetta recipe thanks to my future mother-in-law so it's a perfect accompaniment to all of our Italian adventures. I have also discovered that I'm bad a desserts. I don't do well with the dainty, creamy, berry-ness that is desserts. But I'm great at entrees and main dishes - hearty things like lasagna, pasta dishes, rice dishes, and on occasion, meat dishes can be done with reasonable ability. So onward and upward - to Foodland we go!

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/26/2005 11:40:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

It used to be that summer meant a number of things: no school, ice cream trucks coming down our street, and starting the year I went to college it meant the fresh tomato and mozzarella salad at Bread Co. Picture this if you will ... fresh tomatoes, chunks of soft, fresh mozzarella, red onions, a little bit of basil all tossed together with yummy thick balsamic vinaigrette and served on a bed of rosemary onion focaccia bread. Mmmmmmmmmmm. Well ... things have changed. Starting about when I was 8 years old we had "school" with my mom every summer. The day started at 8 or 9 (I can't remember) and we did things like study math and had reading time. We had a break every hour or so and incorporated into it was time to practice piano, and later violin. We had a lunch hour and also our music lessons and at the end of the day we had exercise - swimming and whatever else. So it was like we had school without ever going to school and of course we took a family vacation every year but our family was one of those families that packed in the fun from sun up to sun down so we always saw a lot of stuff but trips that involved going someplace and just laying there on the beach or on a back deck were pretty unheard of. Now, summer is summer school (teaching it) and reading and planning out the next school year. This summer it's the wedding and the receptions. Ice cream from ice cream trucks is now like 4 bucks an ice cream bar. You can get a whole box of ice cream bars for 7 bucks for something like 6 bars in the frozen food section at your local grocery store. And then, today I went to Bread Co. and it's well into May, almost June, and ... the fresh tomato and mozzarella salad isn't there! They've discontinued it! WHY????? I'm bummed. I might be forced to buy my own tomatoes and cheese and dressing and make my own. I actually think it might have something to do with the cost of tomatoes but I also think it was one of the most popular salads that Bread Co carried on their summer menu so who knows what happened to my most favoritest salad, all I know is that it's gone. Boo. Today it's wonderfully cloudy and stormy looking outside. Hopefully it will break tonight and storm like crazy. I heart thunderstorms.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/24/2005 10:36:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

The whole proud family of the grad 

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/23/2005 10:15:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Proud family of the grad ...  

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/23/2005 10:12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Silly brother and sister at graduation 

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/23/2005 10:12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Genna Ray Cooper 

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/23/2005 10:11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

... Genna's counterpart ... Longlong Dylan Liu 

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/23/2005 10:10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well, we made it. JJ and I made it to my brother's graduation and back all in one piece. Now, being fed and relaxed a little, I'm not too far from going to bed but am awake enough to post a little about the trip. Thursday night was a little bit of a mess for my parents as they had had a Murphy's Law sort of day. My mom woke up and found that she had lost the stone in her ring so after they spent awhile looking for it they finally got on the road. Once on the road, just outside of Columbia, MO they ran into a huge traffic jam. Apparently a cement truck had overturned, the cement mixer part of it had rolled off and as you might imagine, total chaos ensued, which led to stopped traffic for around 2 hours. While they were stuck in the traffic jam I called to tell them that our flight had been delayed because of bad weather. When we arrived, we called and they came to the airport to get us which was also when we found out that the hotel suite my dad had reserved over 2 months ago (knowing that all of St. Louis would be graduating yesterday) was not available so the 2 bedroom, living room, 2 bath and kitchenette, non-smoking suite we were supposed to get was offered to us as 2 bedrooms each with 2 double beds smoking. Not. OK. We finally found a hotel room that was arranged as a bedroom with 2 double beds, and a small living room area, 1 bathroom that was non-smoking and available. So me, JJ, my parents and my grandmother all stayed in that room. As my dad put it, "Cozy." My parents and my grandmother slept on the 2 double beds, I slept on the pullout couch and JJ on the floor. Not too bad in the end actually. Yesterday my brother graduated from college and I got to see my campus again. I miss Wash U ... although now seeing it again reminds me that I have graduated and while I love it, it's going to continue changing and it will never be exactly as it was while I was there. After commencement (speaker: Dick Gephardt) we met up with Bryant and JJ enjoyed his first Ted Drewes experience. Strawberry Ted Drewes. Yum. And THEN -- I saw Laura Hemmer! And Jenny Holmes! And Bitta and Alecia and Natalie ... and then while we were congratulating Bryant we saw Sarah! And Jess! Which was a lot of fun. I haven't seen them in awhile and they are coming to the wedding in July. We went with Bryant to the Earth and Planetary Sciences reception where we found out that there were 5 graduates so he knew everyone and they had cake and champagne. Later on JJ and I went and JJ met Brad and John and it was a lot of fun. We headed over to help Bryant clean up a little and while we were there Bryant's roommate of 3 years, Keith, and his parents were getting him packed up and moved out. As we were leaving JJ said that Keith's dad was looking at him (JJ) and looking at us (the Wongs) and thinking "Which one of these is not like the other ... which one of these just doesn't belong." And now that I think about it we never explained that JJ and I were engaged although they probably figured it out. Last night we had dinner at the Melting Pot. I'll go so far as to say it was a fun experience, but is not something we will be doing often, if ever again, on our own. Looking back on the last couple of days I suddenly am so aware of the passing of time. While I don't consider it aging, seeing the new library, the new football field and stands, new dorms all alongside the old pool, the old AC and the same old people makes me realize that change is happening all around us. I've never been shy of change. While I love the stability of my life, I have also never thought about my life as fraught with change and seeing all the new alongside the existing made me realize that my life IS fraught with change ... it's just change that I'm not there to witness. But I guess if you think about it, lives change, places change, people change and the important thing isn't whether things are changing are not ... it's whether you're changing with them. And if you are there's a good chance you'll still love the old place with the new changes as much as you did the old place itself.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/21/2005 08:09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

My brother is graduating from college Friday. That makes 2 of us. It's funny how he and I have turned out. We both graduated from the same program from the same high school, we will, as of Friday, graduate from the same university, my beloved Washington University in St. Louis. Our whole lives my brother has been the one to take the edge off stuff. He's even keeled, unless he's been wronged, and he'll be quick to tell you if that's the case. He taught me about what is fair and what is not - he was rational long before I was, it seems. There are some things about my brother that are uniquely him: his affinity for solitude, his loyalty, his desire and ability to keep friendships going. And there are some things about my brother that define him: his sense of humor, his amazing video game and technology abilities, and his fascination with his hobbies. It's not surprising that the man I'm going to marry has a lot of the same qualities as my brother because my brother is one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. It's hard for me to imagine that he's really graduating the day after tomorrow. When people asked me what my very first memory was (and this happens a lot when you take as many memory classes in college and grad school as I do) it was always of my brother's first day of school. I remember that he was wearing shorts and was carrying his rectangular backpack with the red and brown stripes and silver buckles, running down the sidewalk towards Collegiate which is where we both started our academic careers. But if you ask me what my favorite memories are of my brother well I am ashamed to say that most of them are from more recent years because it wasn't until I grew up that I realized how great he really is. So here they are ... some favorite memories ... ** sharing one set of headphones while running errands with my mom - we ran into someone we knew and he made fun of us because I had one earphone and my brother had the other "What, you guys have to be attached to each other so you don't get lost? ** all the nights at Danny's house that included 2 video game sets, Danny's big screen TV, lots and lots of movie watching, Tetris Attack, going to movies like Ocean's 11, and the first 2 Star Wars movies ** finding out Bryant was coming to Wash U, too ** when Bryant came to visit me my freshman year in college for spring break - running 1/2 a mile up Big Bend while it was raining ** East High orchestra Congrats, Bryant. I'm proud of you.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/18/2005 12:40:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Today I went to Sabrina to Mad Hatter's for lunch. I had to go turn in a deposit for our wedding cake and since I had never eaten there before, I decided to give it a whirl. I had the Thai Chicken Wrap which had vegetables, chicken, rice, cucumbers and a yummy yummy peanut sauce. It came with a really good pasta salad. There are, however, quite a few more items on the menu I'd like to try so if you're ever in the mood for a trip to Mad Hatter's you've got my blog. Moo Shu Pork Wrap : Spinach tortilla stuffed with pork strips marinated in sesame, rice, Asian vegetables and hoisin sauce. Mozzarella and Tomato Sandwich: Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil pesto, and baby greens drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar and olive oil served on a french baguette (there's actually some peppers and other stuff on it, but this is what I would want on it). Caesar Salad Baby Spinach Pizza: spinach, fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and tomato sauce. Plus their lovely baked goods - cookies, and baby cheesecakes, and cupcakes, and raspberry concoctions and strawberry shortcake and ... mmmmmmmmmmmm. Yum. Yummy. Yummy Yummy. Thanks to Sabrina for introducing me to such a wonderful place to eat. *drool*

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/16/2005 04:58:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

It's the end of another weekend and whew, it was busy. It's been awhile since we had a busy, but fairly social and multi-event weekend. Friday during the day we find that Heidi is babysitting for the Kelley kids while they're out for their anniversary so we go over and keep her company. The three of us watched Sideways, which, by the way, is an excellent movie. I highly recommend it. Paul Giamatti is brilliant. Anyway, Benji has a lovely big screen, HDtv so we watched Sideways on his widescreen. Whee! Halfway through Benji and Amy Lynn came home and Amy watched the rest of the movie with us. Yesterday JJ took me out for dinner and crossed one of the items off of my "10 things I don't have time to do" list - we had really good Chinese food at a restaurant near JJ's apartment called Eastern Lights. Yum. Kung Pao chicken for JJ and beef and broccoli for me. Jasmine rice. Potstickers. Yum Yum. Jamie called around 8 and asked if we wanted to hang out and so around 9:30 she and Rob came over to JJ's apartment and we watched episodes of Greg the Bunny and then Iron Chef America, plus part of the clam episode of the original Iron Chef. It was a very fun, giggly sort of evening. Tonight we went out to dinner with Michele and Dylan. Dylan is the cutest kid EVER. In case you disagree, click here, and you'll see that I'm right. We went to the new Carolina Ale House, which I bet you anything is going to kill off Varsity Ale House before too long. It was fun and Michele and Dylan are a couple of our favorite people so it was a good end to a good weekend. During the day today we went house shopping. We looked at a variety of townhouses and while we didn't find any that we were totally in love with, it was definitely a good start. Tomorrow I'm meeting Sabrina for lunch at the lovely Mad Hatter's when I will also be putting down a deposit on our wedding cake. Maybe I will splurge and buy a piece of one of their lovely deserts, like one of their slices of blueberry cream cheese cake or strawberry shortcake. Yum.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/15/2005 09:07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

For Christmas JJ and I got a Christian Wedding Planner as a present and while this planner has been helpful in outlining some of the major things that need to be done (along with the help of our wonderful wedding coordinators Sara and Reese) some of the details crack me up - they're so ... stiff and formal sounding. Allow me to demonstrate: The flower girl is usually a bit nervous or emotional; this can cause one or two tense mements right before she walks down the aisle .... if she is having her hair cut it should be done 2 weeks before the wedding so that she can wear it naturally for the ceremony. The ring bearer is a small boy who carries a pillow on which plastic rings are sewn ... etc. etc. ..... usually he and the flower girl steal the show. The bride should send letters to the bridesmaids to let them know of your latest plans. The groom should follow his fiancee's instructions on how to make a guest list limiting his guests to the number that she has allotted him and giving it to her by the date she has set. If you have been invited to the wedding and you are a close friend, you may call the bride's mother to express your happiness. Some women decide not to change their last names. If you take this path it is important to notify your friends of this decision but expect some negative reactions to your choice. For your signature on informal documents you may sign your first name and married last name "Jane Smith". Underneath it you may put "Mrs. John" You may wish to establish your own line of credit rather than be designated an "authorized user" of your husband's credit cards.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/11/2005 12:13:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Thought it was time to resurrect this ... ah the glory days. It's not about getting a scholarship, getting drafted, or making SportsCenter. It's a deep need in us that comes from the heart. We need to practice, to play, to lift, to hustle, to sweat. We do it all for our teammates and for the student in our calculus class that we don't even know. We don't practice with a future major league first baseman; we practice with a future sports agent. We don't lift weights with a future Olympic wrestler; we lift with a future doctor. We don't run with a future Wimbledon champion; we run with a future CEO. It's a bigger part of us than our friends and family can understand. Sometimes we play for 2,000 fans; sometimes 25. But we still play hard. You cheer for us because you know us. You know more than just our names. Like all of you, we are students first. We don't sign autographs. But we do sign graduate school applications, MCAT exams, and student body petitions. When we miss a kick or strike out, we don't let down an entire state. We only let down our teammates, coaches, and fans. But the hurt is still the same. We train hard, lift, throw, run, kick, tackle, shoot, dribble, and lift some more, and in the morning we go to class. And in that class we are nothing more than students. It's about pride--in ourselves, in our school. It's about our love and passion for the game. And when it's over, when we walk off that court or field for the last time, our hearts crumble. Those tears are real. But deep down inside, we are very proud of ourselves. We will forever be what few can claim...college athletes.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/11/2005 09:23:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

25 minutes. Approximately the length of my upcoming marriage ceremony. It's the ceremony that will unite JJ and me forever. And I am looking forward to that 25 minutes more than I've ever looked forward to anything else in my entire life. But ... just that 25 minutes. All the rest of it ... well, all the rest of it is one big 3 ring circus I've been trying to plan for the last 6 months. If I had known that wedding planning grates this heavily upon one's nerves, or that wedding planning really isn't at all about what you want but about making approximately half a dozen other people, who, granted, really want to see you happy, but still all have their own ideas about your wedding, happy or creating a 3-way compromise between some and a 6-way compromise between others, I would have put my foot down and just said no wedding. Not that I've forgotten why it is I'm doing this but I seriously question what good it does to put on this massive show just to marry JJ. JJ's argument is that he wants to celebrate our marriage vows with our friends and family. That's cool. I can do that. But why does it have to involve flowers and receptions and dresses (don't even get me started on the dresses), tuxes and 15 other details that I don't give a hoot about, but somehow need to be done. It all leads to 25 minutes. 25 minutes worth of ceremony that I'm really looking forward to. For these 25 minutes, I have to haul myself out of bed earlier than I'm used to, let someone I don't know poke and prod at first my hair, and then my face for an hour. The day before I will be letting someone I don't know poke and prod at my hands and feet. Then I have to sit around in an uncomfortable dress taking pictures (one of my least favorite activities ever). Following that, is the whole entrance of the wedding party and bride thing where some-odd 200 people are going to staring at me and singing "Here comes the bride" to themselves in their heads. Start the stopwatch ... the 25 minutes have begun. Benji will unite JJ and me in the sight of God ... and 200 other people. And then the 25 minutes will be gone. I'll be married and you'd think I could call it a day. Got up, got made over, got married. Seems like a good day's work to me. Oh no, it's just beginning. After another hour of photographs, by which point I'm sure I will be exhausted and just thoroughly tired of smiling for the small black box, we will head to the reception. *Note that it has been roughly ... 7 hours since I've awakened and I have yet to spend 3 seconds by myself. Nor will I get to probably until sometime that evening when JJ will, presumably, at some point, need to use the restroom.* When we get to the reception we suddenly have the responsibility of trying to make small talk with the aforementioned some-odd 200 people so that no one feels like he or she has been jilted out of his or her 30 seconds with the bride and groom. And apparently we have to dance, or something. And while I think that's a great idea, I don't know that we'll necessarily be able to pull off what we intended to do (dance to "All I Need" by Sara Groves) and will end up doing some version of the high school shuffle. Of course there comes also the cutting of the cake, where more people watch as I nervously try not to spill anything, on myself or my groom. Remember, by now I've had breakfast probably about 7 hours ago, lucky if I had lunch. Depending on how well the dress fits, I may be permanently reshaped. Finally, roughly 11 hours after I woke up that morning I get to go home. 11 hours. 11 hours for 25 minutes of the sacredness of the marriage ceremony. That better be the best 25 minutes of my life. I guess to say that I was never the type to dream about a wedding is sort of silly at this point. I feel like that's quite obvious. My real problem isn't with the wedding. It's more about wanting to do things the way I'm comfortable with them and the way that I really want them to be done. Just like JJ's proposal, which was perfect in every way, I want to be able to remember my wedding day as one of the best moments of my life. But for whatever reason I have to share the absolute most sacred ceremony of our lives (mine and JJ's) with 200 something people. JJ knew that if he proposed in front of more than 0 people that he would have been tempting fate. As far as the wedding goes, it's true that I'm only going to do this once in my life. I will never be able to imagine my life without JJ and I cannot wait to be married to him. But then shouldn't what I envision as my perfect wedding count for something? Shouldn't what my idea of the romantic exchange of vows play into this? It's one of those situations where tradition rules supreme ... and where the girl who wants to make everyone else happy knows that if she doesn't do this the traditional way that everyone else will regret it. She won't ... but then again, she doesn't want 200 people regretting something because of her. 25 minutes. Between me, JJ, God ... and I have to share it with everyone. It's not my 25 minutes anymore, is it?

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/09/2005 02:52:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

In the spirit of the end of the semester I'm listing 10 things that I wish I had time to do now that supposedly school is over ... who knows, if I'm lucky maybe I'll even get around to them! 1. A spin around a hot tub -- a real hot tub with jets and all that, not just a hot bath. 2. A walk on the beach before it gets too hot. Or better yet, a walk on the beach at night. Now that's indulgence. 3. Really good Chinese food. 4. Swimming in a long course pool outside. 5. Playing Frisbee and having a picnic at Duke Gardens while the flowers are still pretty. 6. Rollerblading 7. Strawberry shortcake -- really good strawberry shortcake. 8. Watch The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King .... and all of the special features. 9. Go see a concert I want to see ... upcoming options are: Jeremy Camp @ Charlotte 6/24/2005; By The Tree @ Atlanta 6/18/2005; Rascal Flatts @ Raleigh 9/17/2005. And along the same lines - music. Money for lots and lots of music. It's been forever since I've bought a CD! Yes I am aware that Rascal Flatts is playing AFTER the new school year starts. But having tickets would definitely make me look forward to the school year a whole lot more. Plus, Charlotte and Atlanta are way too far to drive just for a concert ... in my opinion ... so this one is really a shot in the dark. If I were going to do these concerts it'd have to be a vacation weekend pretty much. But it's still fun. 10. Finally get a decent camera for actual photography ... so I can go out and take pictures. I have my lovely little Canon Powershot for snapshots but photography sounds like so much fun. 11. And one for good measure ... time to cook fun stuff, mess them up, and try them again.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/06/2005 09:12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

I thought about what I was going to write today or tomorrow for a long time. After all, whatever I decided to write would have to be heartfelt and thoughtful and nostalgic to a certain extent. See, tomorrow marks our first anniversary of ... well, dating I guess. And it's hard to imagine what I could possibly say that would mean anything, that would manage to encompass what the last year has been like. But I guess if I have to start somewhere it should start with what it was that got JJ and me together - he was sweet enough, even before we started dating, to worry about me driving because I was not feeling well. And so one night he drove me home, and the same night asked me out for Friday night. The next night we put together Kyra and Megan Mulder's bunk beds. That Friday night he took me to Macaroni Grill and then we watched the last episode of Friends. The next 3 months passed in something of a lovestruck blur. We were so busy getting to know each other and spending time together that I hardly remember what we actually did. I know we played video games and went out to eat a lot because we do enjoy eating out and we went to pools with our friends and got used to being a couple. At the end of 3 months he knew for certain that I was the one, and I knew that he was the one. I met his parents, Jackie and Terry for the first time in late July/early August and since then we've been good friends. The school year started back up for me and JJ and I still managed to find time to see each other. We spent more time together, got to know each other better and started building a stronger foundation. In November we celebrated our 6 month anniversary with dinner at 512 and JJ got us "The Five Love Languages" to read together. And then, on December 9th JJ set me up to get to the church early for a rehearsal and proposed with my beautiful diamond ring. We're getting married on July 9th. And this past year has been every possible emotion and thought known to man. We have both experienced ups and downs, separately and apart, and we have found that in the end the other one is always there. The other night we were talking and JJ looked at me and told me, "I was looking at you today and thought to myself 'how beautiful she is,'" and I have often looked at JJ and marveled at the fact that he chose me and how beautiful his heart and soul are. Tomorrow marks the year but I am waiting for July. Because come July every morning I will wake up and know that he chose me and that we will belong to each other ... forever. He is MY beautiful one, my JJ.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/03/2005 01:49:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

See my beautiful flower girl trying on her dresses ...

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/01/2005 08:08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

What can I say but awwwww ...  

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/01/2005 08:07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

At your service ...  

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/01/2005 08:07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

I am Princess ... hear me be cute! 

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/01/2005 08:06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

, , , but I look AWFULLY cute in THIS one ...  

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/01/2005 08:06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

"I don't think I'm old enough to wear this one ..." 

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 5/01/2005 08:06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments