Fate

“Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quotes

  

Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009 in Alpharetta, Ga. (PHOTO/Jackie Reedy, jackiereedy@gmail.com)

Beyond Horizons

“A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed…It feels an impulsion…this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.”
 

~Richard Bach (American Writer, author of ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’)

The sun sets behind my house in Alpharetta, Ga., on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009. (PHOTO/Jackie Reedy, jackiereedy@gmail.com)

A Successful Cookie Day 2009

Cookie Day 2009

Cookies

28 dozen green tree cookies

10 dozen craisin-white chocolate cookies

6 dozen peanut butter cookies

4 dozen sugar cookies

4 reindeer chocolate-chip cookies

2 dozen heath bar crunch bars

2 ginger bread houses

Lots of M&M window panes

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APPROXIMATE GRAND TOTAL:  648 cookies

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Attendees

1. Lisa
2. Christina
3. Betsy
4. Jessi
5. Taylor
6. Heather
7. Amanda
8. Vanessa
9. Lauren
10. Ana
11. Me
12. Dad
13. Mom
14. Nicole
15. Janine
16. Jeramy
17. Lillian
18. Gabriel
19. Aunt Adele
20. Uncle Kerry
21. Dr. Rosenielli
22. Jill
23. Joe
24. Nicole
25. Abby
26. Dillian
27. Debbie
28. Dave
29. Debbie’s daughter
30. Coach Kim
31. Blake

Get-Away-Baby

(PHOTO/Jackie Reedy, jackiereedy@gmail.com)

A Very Merry Christmas Party

Nicole Reedy, 18, a freshman at the University of Mississippi from Alpharetta, Ga., sits with Gabriel Beck at his school Christmas party on Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. Beck and his classmates decorated cookies and stockings to celebrate the holiday season. (PHOTO/Jackie Reedy, jackiereedy@gmail.com)

Documentary on Athens Church

Click the image to watch my documentary on Athens Church.

John Cochran: President of Terrapin Beer Co.

(Published in The University of Georgia Magazine December 2009 * Vol 89, No. 1)

Taking it to a new level
John Cochran turned his home brewing into an (almost) overnight sensation
By Jackie Reedy

(Photo/ Jackie Reedy, jackiereedy@gmail.com)

John Cochran is a beer geek. He loves the taste of beer, the smell of beer, and he loves sharing and talking about beer with others. Cochran (BBA ’93) is the co-founder and president of Terrapin Beer Company.

Cochran started home brewing in college, but it wasn’t until he moved to Seattle to sell life insurance that he realized his fascination and awe for the brewery business.

“I was amazed by the number of breweries in the Northwest,” Cochran says. “There was such a variety and quality to the beers, and I knew I wanted to play a part in bringing that to the South.”

So Cochran moved back to his home in the peach state and started volunteering in Atlanta microbreweries, sweeping floors, cleaning kegs, and working on the bottling line, anything to learn the ropes of the beer business.

In 1998, he met Brian “Spike” Buckowski, another home brewer. The two men developed a plan to open their own brewery. Buckowski would work on the formulas, and Cochran would do the marketing and long-term strategic planning.

Having no luck attracting investors, they started the company as a contract brewery, using other companies’ equipment to brew their beer. In Spring 2002, they released their first beer, the Terrapin Rye Pale Ale, at the Classic City Brewfest. Six months later the Rye Pale Ale was awarded the American Pale Ale Gold Medal at the 2002 Great American Beer Festival.

“It was so cool because people started calling us and wanting to find out where they could get the best American Pale Ale, and I just kept telling them, they’d have to come to Athens because that was the only place selling it on tap,” Cochran says.

In January 2008, Cochran and Buckowski opened their new 45,000 square foot Terrapin brewery, named after Buckowski’s favorite Grateful Dead album “Terrapin Station.” Cochran said they knew they had to be located in Athens. “It’s a great beer town with a great music scene,” he says. Terrapin went from producing 160 barrels of beer in 2002 to about 12,000 in 2008.

Terrapin gives tours on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. “There’s always live music and beer sampling,” Cochran says. “It is a great time and for us, a way to showcase our beer and tell people how we got started.”

The Terrapin tasting room is meant to jump start the evening. “People can come and taste our beer, and then from here, they hopefully go out and buy beer and food from our clients downtown,” he says.

While the company still can grow, Cochran says it will stay local.

“It is unreal to walk into a place that was your idea, and see that your dream came into fruition,” he says.

Athens Church

Laura Arline, 21, a political science and international affairs major and Athens Church host team coordinator from Roswell, Ga., talks with Carlen Elliott, 20, a linguistics ad comparative literature major from Roswell, Ga., and other host team leaders after the Athens Church service on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 in Athens, Ga. (PHOTO/ Jackie Reedy, jackiereedy@gmail.com)

Kristin Marlow, 40, a dental hygienist from Conyers, Ga., talks with Laura Arline, 21, a political science and international affairs major from Roswell, Ga., and other host team leaders after the Athens Church service on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 in Athens, Ga. (PHOTO/ Jackie Reedy, jackiereedy@gmail.com)

Finals

Good luck studying for your finals…

http://survivingtheworld.net/Lesson186.html

You know how there are some classes that if you just don’t get it, you just don’t get it, so why bother studying? Then there’s also classes where you’re going to be thrown a severe number of curveballs on the test, so you’re going to be screwed anyway. And then there’s classes where you can BS your way through the entire thing and still get a good grade.

Finally, there are classes where studying actually matters.

DISCLAIMER: Our advice cannot be used as an acceptable excuse to your parents if you fail a final.

<http://survivingtheworld.net/Lesson186.html>

‘Tis The Season

Outside the Classic Center on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 in Athens, Ga. (PHOTO/ Jackie Reedy, jackiereedy@gmail.com)

Inside the Classic Center on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 in Athens, Ga. (PHOTO/ Jackie Reedy, jackiereedy@gmail.com)