Meet your neighbor: Ashley Cowen

Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Monticello is a small city, and while we may not have a lot of people, we certainly have the best people! One of those fine people that helps make up our wonderful town is Ashley Cowen. Cowen has lived in Monticello for two years, having been born and raised in nearby Tallahassee. Her family used to take weekend day trips to Monticello when she was a little girl and Ashley eventually moved here, drawn in by the charm of the small town life, and currently lives just off of Old Lloyd Road, just under six miles from the courthouse.
Ashley has been married to her soulmate, Jason Cowen, for five years, and the pair have two children together, Emma, age 11, and Logan, age three. Ashley also has a bonus (step) daughter named Rebekah, who is Jason's twin. (The two entered into a look-alike contest for Father's Day this year and won!)
Ashley Cowen enjoys thrifting for fun. She shops at any yard sale, thrift store and flea market she can find! When she goes on a thrifting adventure, Cowen especially keeps her eyes peeled for Uranium glass, old telephone/electric insulators, Guardian service ware and Fire King lusterware. Her most prized treasure she has found while thrifting is her Uranium glass collection. Uranium glass, also called Vaseline glass, is glass that has had uranium, usually in oxide diuranate form, to a glass mix before melting for coloration. How can you tell if your glass is uranium glass or if it is just green? A blacklight is the easiest way to identify the uranium in vaseline glass; it will glow!
Cowen enjoys keeping about 90 percent of her finds, and gives the rest away as gifts, or to her mother, who also finds enjoyment in similar items. When she isn't thrifting, Cowen enjoys baking, photography, graphic design, makeup and coffee.
It is hard for her to find just one favorite thing about Monticello. “That's tough.” Says Cowen. “I have so many favorites! Definitely one would be the community. Seeing people come together and having that feeling of “home”. I love the rich history, the beautiful foliage in bloom and all of the amazing historic buildings.” There is lots to love about our small town. Cowen thinks the best part of living in a small town is how easy it is to get to know people. “It is very easy to make friends!” She says.
To relax, Cowen enjoys cuddling up with fuzzy blankets on her couch and watching movies with her kids or listening to one of her favorite vinyl records with a cup of coffee on her porch.
She is also a big fan of aviation, having flown airplanes with her grandfather since she was 10 years old. “I have over 600 hours logged in small engine planes like Cessna's. My favorite airplane was the Piper Arrow my grandfather co-owned with a bunch of his pilot buddies. Learning to fly also gave me the opportunity to become close friends with an Astronaut, Winston Scott. I wanted to be an astronaut and pilot when I was younger.”
Cowen currently works a little closer to the ground, however, as the Executive Assistant to a Criminal Defense Attorney in Tallahassee, where she has worked for five years. Outside of that, she and her husband have long dreamed of owning their own business, and it would seem that dreams do come true! A long awaited goal, the Cowens will soon be opening a coffee shop here in Downtown Monticello that they plan to call the CowHaus Coffee Company!
Monticello is full of folks who each bring that extra something to the community; who each bring a little more charm, but certainly no small measure of big dreams for this little town, and everyone in it.