Cool Dad: On August 29, 2008, we boarded a plane in Orlando, FL with two suitcases, two backpacks, a car seat, and the idea of turning our lives upside down. We landed in Philadelphia, took an hour-long train ride that seemed three times as long, and arrived in New York City.
We’ve told our story on this blog and will continue to tell it as it happens. If you want to catch up, here’s how we left nearly everything we had and everyone we loved in Florida for the unknown challenges of NYC: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Part 4 to come.
Cool Mum: Within the first few weeks in NYC, I was already dreaming of staying here longer than our original one-year plan would allow. I fell in love. Dirt, dog poop, smoke, and all. I came here mainly to take away all I could from the city – life experiences and photo opportunities – and now I am more and more inspired to give, to reach out, to seek God here. Thank you, God, for this opportunity and for putting the desire in our hearts to move here!
CD: We’d like to give you an anniversary gift. Here is a slideshow of Year 1 of the Cool NYC Adventure, set to the song that we’ve listened to the most over the last 365 days: ‘Life in Technicolor ii’ by Coldplay.
CM: I told Cool Dad that I wanted “Dare You to Move” by Switchfoot to be the theme song for the slideshow. My clever and humorous-to-me idea was rejected. But still, I do dare you to move to that place that God puts in your heart, whether it is a new friendship, a new city, or a new country.
CD: We hope that the second year will be even more fun – for both you and us. Thanks for being cool and sticking around. Turns your lights low and your volume high…
[RSS readers: link to embedded video on YouTube]
Related posts:
- One year: Movin’ on up yet staying in place
- How God brought us to NYC: part 1
- How God brought us to NYC, Part 4: I get a job (sort of)
- The rest of our NYC story: How we got from there to here, Part 2
- The year-end awsc? TPS report – 2007
You guys are so cute!!!
Wait – was that Kenneth?
Anyway, I love this. I love that you dared to move (and no offense to Coldplay or CD, but I like that song for the video, too). I love that you share your adventure with us. And I love that if I get myself to NYC one of these days, I’ll have friends who can tell me the coolest places to visit!
Seriously. Happy NY anniversary.
Yup, they were filming 30 Rock when we went to Rockefeller Center the other day. Very fun.
Thanks for keeping up with us, Mary. Let us know as soon as you book your tickets to NYC!
Thanks Mary!
Very fun! Cracked me up, when as I was watching it my cell phone rang (my ring is Life in Technicolor). I got all confused for a second.
What a great song – it hasn’t left my head for long in over a year.
nice!
I LOVE the Cool Family!! So wishing we could spend some time in person, again. As grownups.
As always, you all are an inspiration. We love your story, thank you for sharing your journey with us!
You mean we weren’t grownups in college? I guess not – that’s probably when I was the most like a kid.
Will we ever meet in person? I hope so! For now, good idea on the reunion chat!
P.S. – May I request a Cool Chat reunion in honor of the first anniversary? Pleeeease?
ooo, that sounds fun…
Awesome!! I admire your adventurous and willing spirit. As Sinatra so famously sang, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere…” Am wishing you all the best in the years to come!
Wishing the same for you as well! Some very smart company will come knocking soon – worry not.
mad props to cool dad for single-handedly bringing home the bacon all year! wait, did i just say “mad props”?
I’m at Danielle’s – just finished watching the Pats beat the Skins with a Gostowski field goal. Danielle is asleep but I’m preparing for my first of four fantasy football drafts tomorrow.
I just watched your slideshow and I must say: I couldn’t be a more proud brother, brother-in-law, and, of course, uncle.
Warren
Thank you so much – that means more to me than I can express in a simple blog comment.
aw, thanks warren!
You have a beautiful family, this was a great way for me to catch up on the past year since this is the first time I’ve been to your site!
I look forward to reading more.
Thank you, Scott!
glad you stopped by!
LOVED LOVED LOVED the picture slide show! amazing! miss you guys, but just so happy that you are there together, best friends with each other, blessed by your freakin cute and cool son, and just living the life!
we are overwhelmed with God’s provision for us this year…praise God that CD found a job so that we could stay.
God is so good.
God is so good.
That was definitely a cool slideshow. Makes me want to move to NYC too!
Thanks for sharing guys.
yes, I call this our commercial for “Uproot Your Family and Move to NYC with No Job Prospects”!
LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!! So happy for you guys and your exciting adventure! Thanks for sharing.
you have been so encouraging from day one. thank you for that!
I’ve watched this video twice so far. I really love it and feel it expresses our first year in NY as well… So cool you guys!
I’m now waiting for the Jessica Simpson/Chris Martin video… =)
We hope that next year’s will have plenty of you guys in it!
CB is the cutest thing ever. Awesome pictures (:
thanks raquel!
He takes after his cool mum. aww…
STANDING OVATION!!!!
Haha. In two years of blogging, that’s the first standing O we’ve ever gotten. We should do this kind of thing more often!
Hi Cool Fam! What a great video! Loved it. Thanks for sharing with us. I’ve been on a little hiatus–I can’t believe it’s been a year! But I moved almost a year ago as well. Wow. Time flys.
Time is flying for sure. We hope to make the most of it!
So do you like your new location better than the old one?
Yes cool mum! We love it here. It’s much more affordable than s. florida, schools are great, and we have had to really depend on each other. God is good and put us just where we needed to be,–to learn, grow and to provide for our fam of 6! thanks for asking!
I love it! Can you imagine how many more pics you all are going to have for your 2 year anniversary slideshow?! You guys are great – way to LIVE life!
P.S. How did the Cool Grandparents take the news of the extension?
The Cool Grandparents have been checking out our blog and I think they think it’s cool, looking back, that we did this. But we are working on ways to see them more often this year.
so cool! you guys are such a blessing!
YOU guys are! Thanks for warmly welcoming us to NYC and church.
What a great slideshow! Thanks for sharing your lives in NYC with us!
You’re next, right?
you guys really are THE COOL FAM!!!
Thanks, Tam.
We don’t wanna just be posers, you know?
Yep. I can confirm it… that was a good movie.
(I don’t care how many points you have, you are still cool.)
Maybe there’s a Blog Slideshow of the Year award that we can win somewhere.
Commenting cos it’s about time I did I think : this is SO cool.
I heart NYC.
You make it ever cooler
We heart NYC, too, and doing our best to make it a cooler place, our lack of fashion sense and constant deal-hunting notwithstanding.