Coop's 1st Birthday

Yesterday our puppy turned 1! They grow up so fast. :)

We [Julie (me) mostly] wanted to make sure he had a great birthday. Cooper seemed to really enjoy his 1st Birthday and his two long walks!

I wanted to share a couple pictures of Cooper enjoying his special day.

With his new toy from his Momma.

Giving him his gift.

Sitting nicely waiting for his gift from his Papa.

Loving it!

Taking a well deserved Birthday nap with his Momma.

Enjoying a little birthday cake (and no worries I didn't eat off that fork).

Yet another well deserved Birthday nap!

Cooper wants to thank you for taking time to read about his 1st Birthday!

D.C.

That's right. Graduation has come and gone. My husband is now a D.C. I like to call him Doctor and refer to myself as Mrs. Dr. Nathan. After 7+ years of hard work he definitely deserves it!

Nate's mother and sister, Christina, made it to Davenport for the ceremony. It was about an 1 1/2 hours long. I am proud to say that I only almost cried once.
After graduation, we stopped at one of the local bars to celebrate with one quick drink. We headed back to Iowa City and Nate's brother, Cory, and our friends, Caleb and Amanda, met up with us for a celebratory supper at Atlas. After we ate we headed out on the town.
It was great to have family and friends come to show their support and help Nate celebrate. The next day was Nate's Birthday. We had a great time tailgating in Iowa City, watching the game, and going out to eat for his day. Then on Sunday we headed to Tama to meet up with my family. All in all the weekend flew by!
Way to go Nate! You know how extremely proud and happy for you I am!
Here are a couple of pictures from graduation...

Celebration!

Nate and Luke.

The Graduate.

Tessa O'Brien

While I know this is a little late....Welcome baby Tessa! Congrats Chris, Kelly, Brody, Easton, and Taryn on the addition to the O'brien family!

The Wednesday before Nate and I moved, Nate's sister Kelly brought this beautiful baby girl into the family. After Nate and I moved Friday and Saturday, we drove Sunday to meet this little bundle of joy. It was great to see everyone, and we were sad our visit had to be so short. We cannot wait to see them all again!

Home Sweet Home...

Nate, Cooper, and myself have made the move!

I would be lying if I said this last week hasn't been stressful. Between moving, a new job, graduation, a new niece, and Nate's Birthday the days got lost. I cannot complain though with all of those wonderful things happening.

I am just getting some pictures from Nate's graduation uploaded tonight, and I plan to update you all with the details of this weekend soon. What an amazing accomplishment. I am so proud and happy for him.

So far, being back in Iowa City has been great. I am looking forward to things dying down a little this week so I can enjoy being settled in some where again. We have been living with another couple the last nine months, so we just finally have begun to use all of our wedding gifts. We LOVE them all! On that note we are starting on thank-yous this week. I feel awful about how late they are, I'm just hoping that between just finally getting our pictures back and the move you can all find it in your hearts to forgive us.

I hope you all had an amazing weekend, I know we did. We feel truly blessed!

I won't go... you can't make me!

I have been trying to refrain from my Cooper posts, but I just couldn't help it today. It amazes me how much Cooper will pick up on things going on. When we get ready to go home for a weekend he goes crazy. One sight of a suitcase and he is jumping up and down until we leave. Or when Nate gets a tie out to put on he runs quickly to the bed and lays down, as if to plea that he will just lay there the whole time we are gone and won't get into any trouble.

Cooper was SO excited when Nate got back last night. He has literally not left Nate's side. Which is nice because I have been telling Nate how hard it is to get packed with Cooper constantly at my side. He just does not understand what is going on with all of our stuff.

Well, Nate sent me these pictures this morning. Cooper is laying on Nate's clothes as he packs them, and apparently is not going to move!

Not even going to budge!

Isn't he sweet? I hope he does well with the move tomorrow. I hope you all have a great day!

Keep Going!

First off, Happy Anniversary to my sister and her husband! Aren't they cute?

I have been pretty busy this week. It is my last week working in the Quad Cities. Nate stayed home to work for his Dad this week, leaving me feeling like a single working mom who has no time to pack! I am trying my best to get everything done, but luckily Nate is coming back tonight.

Also, my sister-in-law Kelly maybe be blessing us with a niece today. All very exciting, and I cannot wait to update you on all of the details!

Just Dance

I just HAD to share this picture. One of my friends got married this weekend, and this was taken at the dance. I just LOVE this picture and the fact that I found someone who will dance silly with me forever. I personally could not ask for more.

The Fred Factor...

At Palmer's homecoming this year, one of the speakers told a story about a guy named Fred. He was THE nicest guy he had ever met, and even when people were rotten to him he remained kind. Fred was hugely successful and well liked.

I believe there is some truth to "killing people with kindness". Since I work in customer service I try to live by this motto. I try my hardest to treat people the way I would like to be treated, and I truly believe that what "comes around goes around". The speaker called it the "Fred factor".

It has been three months since Nate and I tied the "knot". I just got our pictures back this morning (hence no thank yous out yet, and I apologize). They are AMAZING! I will admit I was getting frustrated with waiting for them to be done, but I remained kind and thoughtful. How would I want to be treated if I were the photographer?

Well, my patience paid off. Not only to I love the pictures, the photographer gave us all the rights to our photos as a way of saying thank you for being patient.

So, thank you "Fred factor" I will continue to use you and treat others the way I wish to be treated.

Here are just a few of my favorites of Nate and I. I figured I would share those first, since of course it was our day.

Megan & Zach

A couple of weekends ago Nate and I went to KC to visit our friends Zach and Megan, and to go to a Chiefs game. While we were there they let me take their engagement photos! I was so excited and honored. Here are couple of the pictures, enjoy and let me know which ones are your favorites!

Nathan and I are taking this little love story of ours back to where it all began, Iowa City. I am really excited to be moving back there, although things will be a little bit different. Considering this time we are married and not 2 young college students without any cares in the world. I am extremely excited to be living close to some of our closest friends! We will keep you posted!

Sorry for the lack of blogging as of lately, and unfortunately I just have the same excuse as usual, super duper busy! More posts to come....