The Cox Family Christmas

Its that time again...for a family picture. Christmas was good and filled with new family, experiences, memories, and traditions. New York is an interesting place, as it was cloudy most of the time here and today for the first time since we arrived, it is now snowing. On Christmas day, we opened gifts and ate a formal Christmas dinner complete with all the trimmings. It was good. So, the thought for today is this: savor each new experience with joy, and keep the old ones dear in your heart. Enjoy the photos!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

Hello all!

We have finally made it to New York and it is rainy and blustery and not quite the winter wonderland...but hey, neither was Chicago yesterday. Since Christmas is only 3 days away, I think its time to revisit some of my Christmas favorites...maybe they are yours too...

Song: "O come, O come Emmanuel"

Movie: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story

Memory (one of them): When I was 3 years old - Lying in the bed at my grandparents house on Christmas eve while hearing Santa's reindeer "landing" on the roof. Mysteriously, my dad was missing in this memory...haha. I always got this ticklish feeling of excitement in my stomach when this happened.

Food: my Aunt Hazel's baked macaroni and cheese

Smell: cinnamon baked apples at my grandma's

Gift: Super Nintendo (I know this sounds lame now)

So...now my first married Christmas is fast approaching and I know that it will be special and different all at the same time. Until then, try to remember the magic of your childhood, and cherish those memories close to your heart.

Chicago...Chicago...

I love being home, and I love my family and my little white dog sitting on my lap. This morning, my dad read this to me and I thought that I just had to share. After growing up near this city, you can really relate to a lot of this. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!




Forget Rednecks.....here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about.... Chicago


If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in Chicago

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Chicago

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Chicago.

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in Chicago

If " Vacation" means going anywhere south of I - 80 for the weekend, you live in Chicago.

If you measure distance in hours, you live in Chicago.

If you have switched from "Heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again, you live in Chicago

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Chicago


If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in Chicago

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in Chicago

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in Chicago

If driving is better in the winter because the pot holes are filled with snow, you live in Chicago

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in Chicago.

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in Chicago

If you find 10 degrees "a little chilly", you live in Chicago

If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all your friends & others, you live in Chicago

Have a great day, and Stay Warm!

Holiday giving...

I was thinking just the other day about how many people often feel compelled to give around the holidays, whether that be to friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, or in this case, cheritable organizations. Many of the cherities out there often send out people into the cold this time of year to try to encourage more donations, but after pondering this a bit and learning more about a cause that is close to my heart, I am thinking of Christmas in a different light this year. Maybe after hearing this story, you will too.

I have babysat for my neighbors' little girls, Erica and Emily, since the oldest was only one month old. I would spend many of my weekends in middle and high school caring for these little girls and their family became near and dear to my heart. I admired both of their parents for their character and for how they encouraged their daughters to love Jesus from such a young age.

Just yesterday, I learned the their mother, Amy, is now very sick with cancer and has less than a month to live. Her daughters are both in elementary school and it has been about four years since I have babysat them. This broke my heart, as I admired their family very much and knew how much love she had for life. I also learned yesterday that about 80 neighbors in my community where I grew up decorated their house to to the hilt this Christmas. It looks spectacular and is the shining star of the neighborhood at night!

If you get a chance, please keep Amy and her husband and daughters in your prayers. If you are interested in viewing her website, viewing the pictures of the house and family, and reading about how/where your cheritable giving can go to further cancer research this Christmas, I encourage you to do so. It can be found here. Her faith has always been an example to me, and this Christmas, I KNOW that each one of us has a lot to be thankful for.

Cool drum site

Have you ever wanted to learn how to play the drums? My friend Nate can teach you how to be a pro for free. His site is onlinedrummer.com and if you learn from his lessons and practice, I am sure that he can turn you into a drumming genious. The best part is, he is a teacher at my school...which makes him even cooler. Give his site a try and watch your skills skyrocket.

It has been so long since my last post that I cannot even begin to state how many things have been going on. So, we'll pick up with the adventures of this past weekend with Ryan and Amber in Cleveland. We went to the Christmas story house in downtown Cleveland and quite truly, we saw more of this city this past weekend than we have ever seen in the past 6 months of living here.

In our attempts to get on top of the Christmas card scene, we spent about 20 minutes trying to set up the "perfect" picture. So here it is, just to prove to you all the we are alive and well in Cleveland. I love Christmas and am excited to rest, relax, and see our families. I have 4 more days of school til Christmas break...and that is so good!

More very soon...I hope...

First Voice Lesson

Tonight I had my first voice lesson with Dr. Fuji-Pankert at Cleveland Institute of Music. This was very exciting for me, since this is my first lesson since college. I am also happy to say that my dear friend Abbie is now in town and we get to hang out every week, since she is a student at the conervatory. We enjoyed chai tea together and I am so happy to have one friend (pre-Ohio) days living here.

One of my eighth grade students enlightened me today by saying that there is a disorder which causes people to have different tastes in their mouth when hearing music. Anyone ever heard of this? I certainly haven't but since many of them said it was true, I had to go with it in class. They said it was on Dateline...I will get back to you with more details. So for now, taste the music!

Aaargh, thar be scurvy abound- avast!

Kyle sent me this from work yesterday. He surely must be working hard...

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From the WIKIPEDIA article on Scurvy:

Scurvy awareness

On several American college campuses, such as those of Johns Hopkins University and Carnegie Mellon University, students come together to flamboyantly spread awareness of scurvy. One reason for this may include the general association of scurvy with pirates (an iconic favorite of many college students), who, along with sailors, originally used limes as a somewhat less perishable source of Vitamin C to ward off the condition. The members of the Science Fiction Association of Johns Hopkins University (or Hopsfa) as such are known to dress as pirates (or wear pirate paraphernalia) while handing out free limes, oranges, and lemons to fellow students to keep its campus "scurvy-free." Another reason for the celebration of scurvy awareness may be a humorous allusion to the sometimes vitamin-deficient eating habits of students on college campuses.
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My first post

So yes, I gave in and created a blog. Kyle convinced me that this would be a good idea for me so our families could catch up with our lives. In just 1 day, I will be an official teacher with my very own classes. This is exciting and I am eager to work with the middle schoolers. I have been at school every day this past week getting ready for the year but somehow, I still feel like I am forgetting something. Today at school, the band director asked me if I would be interested in singing with his jazz combo on a regular basis. This made me excited because as you know, I love to sing! He said that we would perform at parties and local venues...this will be fun!

As for current happenings, I am now making Kyle and I dinner and attempting to be a savvy cook....well, as savvy as Corn Flake coated chicken goes. I found the recipe in my grandma's recipe box so it must be good, right? I will let you know how it goes.

I have been thinking about Hope College lately because it is that time of year that I would usually go back. I miss college a lot...friends, choir, class, worship team, and my professors. Now all of a sudden, I am the teacher who will facilitate classes. This is an exciting yet nostalgic feeling. I really liked being a student, and I am hoping to take voice lessons this fall at CIM with Abbie. Always singing...and now to see about that dinner...