He's HERE!!

Mason Dylan Cozzens - 10 lbs 9 oz. 22 inches long. Born 12:10 am May 19, 2010.

More to come later, but for now.......

j

Waiting......

I am not a patient person. And I am going CRAZY waiting for this baby boy to get here!! Kassidy and I keep hoping he will decide to come out soon, but he is letting the anticipation build...
So in the mean time, Kassidy and I found a new interest...FISHING!
We headed out on Saturday morning for a fun day of exploration in the sunshine. Without any specific destination in mind we packed up the fishing poles and gear and started driving. We soon came across a promising spot on Goose Creek. We blazed a trail off the main road and found ourselves in a peaceful, serene spot we never knew existed this close to home...

We unpacked the gear, tied up the lines and so began our first day of fishing.

Despite the spectacular sunshine, wonderful views, and friendly neighbors, the fishing aspect of the day was....well....less than satisfactory. We lost 3 hooks, several yards of line, and reeled in 0 fish. Kassidy did manage to catch a large piece of moss though. Weary, tanned, and happy we cast one last time, then called it a day and headed to taco bell.

Although we were outfished by the Mexican man next to us fishing with a simple line and worm, we thoroughly enjoyed the day and I'm sure many more of our summer adventures will include a least an hour or two of fishing.

So we continue to impatiently await our new arrival....updates (with pics) as soon as he gets here! Stay tuned for more....

Other stuff to catch up...

Ok also in our (online) absence, our baby boy has continued to grow (inside Kassidy's belly of course) and hopefully soon he will be ready to come chill with me! I am FREAKIN EXCITED! The whole pregnancy thing hasn't really seemed real for me until just recently. I know Kassidy has been ready for a long time, but I am just now realizing that we are gonna have a new little dude to love! Anyways, it has been tons of fun getting ready for him (except the whole barfing and pain stuff for kassidy). Luckily all I have had to deal with is mostly finding cool stuff for him. So here's what we've got so far.
Since we don't really have a lot of space for a crib right now, we decided to go with this moses basket and rocker. Hopefully it will work and he will like to sleep....like me.

Also, his first pair of Jordans!!!!!!!

and of course some good clothes.....

Well that's all I've got for you guys for now! Hopefully this baby will come soon so we can teach him how to enjoy life on this earth to the fullest! We're still working on names, so any last minute suggestions will get at least passing consideration....

j

March, or should we just call that month Puerto Rico?

March was ridiculously amazing. For our postponed honeymoon/thebarexamisovercelebration, we got to go to Puerto Rico for a week. Man that was amazing. While it was still cold and rainy here in VA and in Utah, Kassidy and I packed our bags and flew first class to San Juan. I thought I would be happy just spending the week flying around in those first class seats, but I needed a tan so we got off the plane. Kassidy and I had both been to Puerto Rico before, so we had some idea what to expect, but let me just say, 26" rims on our taxi to the hotel took our breath away.

Well we got to the Conrad hotel right on the water and so began the best week of our lives. I will probably just let the pictures tell this story....
THE VIEW FROM OUR ROOM...

OLD SAN JUAN...

FLIGHT TO CULEBRA

THE BEAUTIFUL PARADISE - CULEBRA

And that, was March. I'm sure some other stuff happened (like BYU's basketball excellence) but nothing else matters besides a beach like that!!

j

i am bad

ok everyone. i apologize. I officially stink at being a blogger. The thing is, judging by the delay in posting (it's been what, 4+ months since my last real post?!?) some of you might think I am super busy with no time to update you all on our latest ramblings, but nope, i don't even have a job!! I have no excuses. Only apologies, as I know that so many of you probably check this blog multiple times daily, salivating at the thought of a new KnJ blog post. I am deeply and sincerely sorry and I intend to strive to make things right.
Ok, WOW, I just looked and my last post was just after watching twilight, i mean that movie is on DVD already!! Well I guess I have a lot to catch up on.
As usual, the month of December was a blur (actually most of my life is a blur) but luckily there are distinctly clear moments I can recall and share with you. Like Christmas. I know there was a Christmas somewhere in there. I have NO idea what happened, but since it was Christmas I'm sure it was awesome.

 New years too. Oh actually I do kinda remember new years! We went to Ashley Haddow's annual New Years party. It was pretty fun. Lots of games and great people. Highlight was definitely IHOP with Adam and Whitney, and Mark and KHadds. So that counts for the december/january update.
Moving on the February. Mmmmmmmm....let's see. Valentine's day? Oh and I took the bar exam. That was a BLAST.
March is when things finally get interesting again. Actually, March deserves its own post. Well, thanks for reading about 3 months of our lives in 32 seconds. I love you guys.

back soon...

I am back! I promise a full post VERY SOON chronicling every detail of our most recent (and not so recent since i haven't posted in like 3 months) adventures. however, i am waiting until i get tired enough to actually be funny. But, get ready because it's coming soon. Here's a small taste of what's to come...

Soon. Soon. I love you all.

j

Temporary Retirement...

If anybody actually reads this or expects frequent updates, I apologize. I like to read. I like football. I like my wife. I like to sit outside and look up at the sky. So writing this blog takes a backseat to many activities. BUT, here is the latest installment....
This past week was a fun one, full of family, friends, football, food, and flying kites. Kensie and Mitch (In case I have never clarified, Kensie is my wife Kassidy's sister, and Mitch is her new husband. I don't mean new, like he replaced an old one. I just mean that it is a recent marriage!) anyways they came out here to VA to get more presents...I mean have a wedding reception out here in VA so all the home friends and family could come congratulate them. There was a LOT of chocolate. I guess that's what happens when your wedding colors are green and brown. I suppose I should be thankful that they chose brown food and treats to serve instead of trays full of broccoli, spinach, and asparagus. Regardless, I now hate chocolate even more than before. But, it was nice having all of Kassidy's family together again for a while. We played some games, tried to see which newly married couple could gross out the younger brothers worse, told some stories and jokes, and essentially enjoyed life together. Also we watched new moon. I get it. Edward loves bella. Six-pack boy loves bella. And Bella REALLY wants Edward to kiss her. Good show.

Thanksgiving ROCKED. Me and Kassidy's little brothers got up at 6am to go to the 'hardcore players' turkey bowl an hour early. The swamp we played in made for some fun sliding around with a ball flying around somewhere in all the mess.

 After fully wearing ourselves out, we went back to the house to put up some lights, hang out, but mostly nap. Then...WE ATE. I can't even describe the eating. It was amazing. All the boys dressed up like Indians, wearing only loincloths and headdresses, and all the females wore pilgrim attire. After the meal we had a HUGE battle, which, despite the superior artillery in use by the pilgrims (girls) the indians won by utilizing their intellect and sneakiness. Kassidy and I hurried back home to meet Kassi, some girl out visiting cory. We ate some more.

Friday morning dawned VERY early, and we (now with my family) loaded up the bikes and kites and headed down for a cold season weekend at the Outer Banks. We got in friday afternoon and enjoyed a nice brisk walk to the end of the dock and back before bundling up inside against the whistling winds and watching a movie.

We got up early on Saturday and headed straight to the beach for some quality kite air-time. The breeze was a little light, but luckily one of our kites came with a dvd which helped us to hone our skills even in the light wind.

The storm a few weeks earlier had washed a lot of cool stuff up onto the beach in addition to wreaking havoc on most of the beach side gazebos and docks. We had a lot of fun jumping off busted up stairways and collecting ocean crap.

Sunday morning we went to church with the TINY beach branch and hustled home to fish and fly some more kites. Overall the weekend was amazing.

But, even without the beach, the kites, and the beautiful weather, the weekend would have been perfect. Why? Only one thing to say...  26-23. In case that reference is too obscure for you, allow me to illustrate...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Nice work boys!
Ok, my wife is harassing me to go to bed, so until next time...peace, love, and victory.

j

The dreary details...

Well I just realized something. Most of my posts, I really just want to talk about the food I ate, but I have to describe the event/activity I was participating in to put the meal in context. This post is just about the everyday life of a couple deep in love, but I am writing it to let you guys know about the excellent cooking that's been going on at our house lately! We've been on rotating cooking assignments, and Pop's been trying out the cookbook that came with our new microwave, creating such delicacies as cashew chicken, swiss steak and stuffed peppers. Kassidy and I made Chicken Parm last night. And life is generally good.
The CA trip wore us out a little, so Kassidy and I skipped work on Monday. It had the potential of being a nice relaxing day, but we spent most of the evening in urgent care while they re-hydrated Kassidy with a couple IVs. Wednesday we went to the new TGR ski movie at Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse. It showcased some amazing skiers, but the format of the movie left us wanting.

Regardless, the skiing was inspirational and really got me excited about getting in shape and getting back out to Utah SOON. The funny part of the night came when Kassidy showed the bouncer her ID and he refused to let us in. I pleaded with him, telling him I could be her guardian since I am her husband, but apparently that doesn't fly. Finally, after a long, drawn-out discussion with the manager, he X-ed our hands and let us in. I love my wife.

Well, the weekend was laid back. We had planned to go camp again, but lost motivation when we woke up saturday still dead tired. We hung around the house and went over the Kassidy's family's home to watch the BYU game. It was a good football weekend, with BYU, TCU (hey they might as well win out and make the conference look good since we aren't doing it) and the Redskins all winning! I also got some perverse pleasure out of the Bengals victory over the Steelers, which is odd because I normally like the Steelers. Hmmm...
Church was good. Now we're both back to work. I substitute teach right now while I look for a real job, so it doesn't really count as work.
And that, is the life of Kassidy and Jo on a week when we don't go on any real adventures. Time to kick the trips back in gear so we get some good stories to tell I guess...

Ooops. I'm Back!

So somebody once told me that you have to do something 21 days in a row for it to become habit. Therefore, you can't blame me for the HUGE gap in blog updates this early in my blog writing career. It's just not a habit for me yet!
Anyways, there's a lot to update I guess. So sit down, get comfortable, pop open a mountain dew and do some eye warm-ups to prevent the strain sure to come from dancing those pupils across the page. Here comes a long one... ('that's what she said' jokes unnecessary)
Well, we had a cool visitor on the night of Thursday November 5. Kalai, on his way back from a Penn State concert decided to crash at our house before his flight home from Dulles the next morning. He got in way late so there wasn't a lot of time to chill, but it was nice to feel like we were able to help out such a good guy. Hopefully his show schedule out here on the east coast will pick up soon!
Early early early on November 6, Kassidy and I awoke and headed to the airport ourselves, where we met up with Jake, Kolby and Dan to fly out to Sacramento for Kensie and Mitch's wedding. Even though we were dead tired, we spent the long flight in an intense trivia battle, with my only real challenge coming from the dark and mysterious strangers in seats 14d and 28a. We survived the flight (despite a heartfelt lecture on the Right to Recline by the 5 foot tall Asian dude in front of me. Apparently it's one of the constitutional amendments that I forgot to read.) and disembarked in Sacramento on a beautiful California Friday afternoon. Actually I think it was raining, but a trip to CA sounds way better when I say the weather was sunny and beautiful. Oh well...

We dropped off our bags at the hotel (Kassidy and I got a HUGE suite) and headed straight over to help Bustle Butt (my mother-in-law) and her sisters get the church pavilion set up for the reception. Picture me on ladders with a staple gun, hanging branches and other crap by satin ribbons...(i'll give you a moment to get the picture in your mind)...and you basically were there for the entire day. Finally, around 1am California time, which was 4am to my body, we were set free to get a few hours of rest. Not that I'm complaining of course...
Saturday dawned bright and beautiful and I spent several leisurely hours relaxing in my King sized hotel room next to my wife, gazing out the window at the spectacular vista spread before me. Rows upon rows of splendid mountains, interspersed with lakes, rivers, and soaring eagles unfolded in the distance as I contemplated the benefits of spending the day fly-fishing, over stretching out the skiing muscles and launching a few ski-base jumps in the nearby cliffs. Then, the dreaded knock on the door came and the dream wilted away with the realization that there were no mountains, rivers, fly poles or skis, in fact there wasn't even sun. I was in California, but it was another overcast day in Sacramento. As I rolled out of bed, harshly snapped out of my wistful day-dream, I stretched my over-worked stapling hand and slowly slid open the curtain only to be greeted by a view of 2 freeways, some used car lots, and one bright spot on the landscape, a Del-Taco!

We got dressed and headed over to Kassidy's grandma's house for the wedding.
I would describe it, but I can't really remember. Everything about the weekend is kind of overcome by my memories of the gestational glory of the wedding food and the 3 Del-Taco/Carl's Jr. trips I took. I remember the wedding was brown and green, I think there was a wreath, I remember a photographer, and I'm positive that my wife looked sensational in her duties as maid-of-honor. Kensie and Mitch got married as I chilled with my excellent new cousins Jordyn and Kaden. My camera was violated with pictures of Amy and Janna's cleavage and, I believe, some butt cracks. And the two love-birds were joined happily ever after.
Later that evening, after some last-minute prep, came the reception. After standing still for two hours only a month earlier, greeting and fake-smiling and holding in a massive dump at my own reception, I was NOT excited for another. I had forgotten that when it's not your wedding, all you have to do is EAT!!!! and it ROCKED!!!! I ate about 34 brownies, several tons of cupcakes, and even some chips and salsa. The price of partaking in that delicacy? Posing for 4 pictures with the Bride's family. Sweet huh?! I freaking LOVE receptions when they aren't mine!
Saturday night after the reception, we had Amy and Todd come over to watch The Hangover (still as hilarious as it was the first time).
Well Sunday morning rolled around and the time came to get back on the plane. I self-medicated in the most ghetto of ways (6 tylenols and 3 ibuprofen) and survived the flight back, again winning several rounds of Delta  Trivia. And we were back in VA, only slightly worse for the wear.When I think back on the trip, several feelings emerge...Janna rocks. Amy and Todd and their family rock. Ele rocks. Wedding food is tasty. Sac-town is NOT scenic (although oddly enough, northern CA still really feels like home to me).
And, we're home.

Sacramento...

So, we're heading to Sacramento tomorrow morning for Kensie (Kassidy's sis) and Mitch's wedding...
Should be fun. Will report when we get back!

j