Voiceless, DayQuil and Snow Squalls

The title of this one sums it up. Today and I sick with a cold, blowing my nose a LOT, my voice sounds cracks like an adolescent boy, occasionally coughing, taking DayQuil and looking at the forecast for this area which is under a Lake Effect Snow Warning and whose farcast for the next two days calls far 6-12 inches of snow with snow squalls. Snow sqaulls...seriously? Ugh. Never before has that been the sole descriptor in the forecast. Not good.

Here's what the Weather Channel said for this area:
"LAKE EFFECT SNOW WILL BECOME HEAVIER THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT AND CONTINUE UNTIL LATE FRIDAY NIGHT BEFORE STARTING TO TAPER OFF. THUNDER MAY ALSO OCCUR IN SOME OF THE HEAVIER SQUALLS ALONG WITH AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.

SNOW ACCUMULATION TODAY MAY REACH UP TO 3 INCHES LOCALLY IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN. ACCUMULATION TONIGHT OF 1 TO 4 INCHES IS EXPECTED WITH LOCALLY 6 INCHES POSSIBLE IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN WITH SIMILAR AMOUNTS EXPECTED FRIDAY. BY SATURDAY MORNING... SOME AREAS COULD SEE BETWEEN ONE AND ONE AND A HALF FEET OF SNOW FROM THIS LAKE EFFECT EVENT."

Isn't it funny that they like to put the warnings in all CAPS? I also laugh because they called it a "lake effect event." So, I'd better go get more NyQuil before these squalls find me. Boo to snow!

Laughs, Snow and Stress twinges

I chuckled to myself as I started this post because just about this time every year I post about the same thing...pending holiday performances, long evenings of conferences, lake effect snow falling, papers and projects to culminate the semester and as always, this little twinge of stress starts to creep back into my life. I knew when I wanted to be a music teacher that the holidays bring concerts, concerts bring joy to concert-goers and concerts bring the twinge of stress. What I would describe as that small anxious feeling always there at the back of your stomach, causing you to eat less, run around more and have this feeling that no matter how much time and effort is put into trying to get everything done exactly how you want it to, no single thing is ever as good/perfect as one would hope. This also is the time of year when we do music fundraisers. How I wish I would never have to be involved with one again!

Some positives in the midst of the madness are that I just found out that my college friend Jon Ornee's band is coming to Mentor, OH this weekend! I was sitting at lunch in the teacher's lounge today and saw a flyer laying on the table about AgSilver. I was so happy and I told the other teachers that I knew them and most of the band members went to college with me. What a small world! After further investigation, I found out one of the teachers in my prayer group is hosting many of the band members at her house. Kyle and I are excited to see them HERE this weekend!

Other positives are that the twinge of stress in my life always makes my jeans fit a little looser this time of year. Kyle commented last week, "You look really skinny. That always happens when you have a recital or a big paper due." Haha. Oh grad school...how I need to get away from thee. After this semester, I am half finished. My hope is to be done by the fall of 2010. I hope that becomes a reality.

Last night it started to snow here. I didn't think much of it when I drove to work this morning without my scraper or mini shovel. Poor choice. I spent about 6 minutes wiping the snow off my car with my thinly gloved hand as the kids drove by on their buses and waved (and probably laughed at me). All the while, my car was VERY low on gas and I was concerned the defroster would run out my gas and I wouldn't make it to fill up at Sam's Club. I'm sure you will be happy to know that I made it (with gas at $1.89) and that we are currently under a lake effect snow warning. I don't like snow...it tends to complicate my life. Moral of the story = PUT A SCRAPER IN YOUR CAR NOW!

The verse that keeps me going through the craziness: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)

I hope this gave you a good laugh, a story to relate to and a word of encouragement. Have a blessed day!

Happy 25th, Kyle!

I love you so much and I feel so blessed to share this adventure of life with you! Happy birthday and many many more!

Happy birthday, Dad!

We are so thankful to have you as our Dad! We love you so much and hope that this birthday is one of the best yet!

Riley and Amber

I love this picture! Its just plain perfect and it makes me so happy. We love you, Amber!

Pictures from our summer vacation to the Smokies

Yes, this summer was incredibly busy with more grad school and travels. I thought the fall wouldn't be as bad but the amount of mayhem at the start of the school year and the rush towards an onslaught of holiday concerts always takes me by storm. Nevertheless, I wanted to share with you some of our pictures from the August trip we took to Smoky Mountain National Park.

On our way to the Smokies, we met my parents for lunch in Berea, Kentucky, one of Kyle's home towns and where my mom went to college. We ate in a restaurant/hotel that is owned by Berea College called Boone Tavern. The food was delicious and I enjoyed trying the famous spoon bread that I had heard about all my life. We then took a walk through the college campus and my mom pointed out some of the places that meant a lot to her when she was there. On our campus tour, we were able to get into the chapel where my parents got married and Kyle got a few pictures before the security guards asked what were we up to. It was great to see them even if it was only for a little while.

As always, vacations with any member of the Cox family always involve some sort of adventure. On our way into the park, I stopped and asked a young teenage girl to take the traditional picture by the sign. Immediately after that, Kyle found a 4 inch long millipede. Gross!


After hearing about the fun Ryan and Amber had a few years ago on their trip to the Smokies (which was so weird because we stayed in the EXACT same cabin), we decided this sounded like a fun trip for us to try. I had been to the park a few years ago with my parents and my aunt but this was Kyle's first time. Ryan and Amber inspired us to try to take on a LOT of hiking trails.
One was a loop trail which I thought would be fun because we wouldn't have to retrace our steps. However, to both of our surprise, it was a huge loop straight up and straight down a big mountain.
My legs were so on fire and even though this memory is a little old, I still laugh about the fact that the only people we passed on this trail were an middle aged couple who look us straight in the eye and said, "You've got a long way to go still." What words of encouragement, right? Just when you think you've gasped long enough and were close to the top of the mountain, there was still a long way to go. That trail was intense and took us about 5 hours.

We decided to take it easy the next day and hikes smaller trails only one or two miles long. It was really lucky that Kyle and I decided to take that loop trail instead of the Rainbow Falls trail we were going to take because that very day, a 8-year-old boy was attacked on the trail head by a bear. After watching that on the news, Kyle decided we should take it more easy at the end of the trip.

Overall, it was a great vacation and has obviously left vivid memories with me. If you visit the park, stay in one of the many cabin rentals. They are so cute, have a great view of the mountains, most have hot tubs, and they really make us feel like we really got away from the craziness of everyday life. Hope this vacation recap made you smile, want to visit the Smokies (it would be REALLY fun to go in the fall), and remind you of the warmer days of summer.

Fall colors and family

This past weekend, Kyle and I took a quick trip up to NY to visit our friend Abbie in Buffalo and Kyle's parents in Syracuse. We could not have asked for better weather or a better weekend. On Thursday night, Kyle and I left for Buffalo. We had such a great time visiting with Abbie, eating Thai food and playing the Wii. It was just like we were in college again. Riley got along great with Abbie's kitten and I think if he was ever given a long term opportunity to befriend a cat, they could be great friends. Since I am allergic to cats, I couldn't hold her sweet kitten so I made Kyle do it for me. Kyle is sad for the cute kitty. It is interesting to me that although her poor baby kitten is going blind, her whiskers are growing really long to compensate for the disability. Isn't that neat?

While in Buffalo, Abbie took Kyle and I to see her church. The organ is HUGE and the building has great resonance. The stained glass windows were so pretty too. She also took us to see a famous (now uninhabited) insane assylum in the city. We went at night so it was a little creepy but the architecture was really neat.


After our short visit with Abbie, we continued north to Syracuse. The leaves were GORGEOUS and the colors were so beautiful. Within our first couple hours of arriving, Kyle requested that we visit Chittenango Falls. This has become one of the places we frequent each visit and it was fun to get some pictures there in autumn.


The next day, we took a short car ride to Skaneateles Lake. The town is very quaint and borders the 15 mile long lake. We ate yummy fish sandwiches at a local restaurant and decided it would be fun to take a drive all the way around the lake. I LOVE this lake! It is nestled in between very tall hills which Kyle's dad said were cut by glaciers. On one side of the lake, cliffs backed right up to the water. It was so beautiful! On the way home, we stopped at an apple orchard to pick up a few honey crisp apples.


In the evenings, we played our new Wii. Kyle's parents were becoming very good Wii bowlers (but sometimes the dogs got in the way). It was a great weekend had by all. Thanks, Momo and Dad!

Car trouble at the orchard

A couple of weeks ago, I decided it would be so fun to go to the local apple orchard/pumpkin farm to get some fresh honey crisp apples. I love going apple picking and the sixty degree day was just perfect. We got to the orchard and got our apples and went in the building to get cider and donuts and no sooner had we stepped into the building then the power went off. Altough the line was long and kids were starting to get cranky around us, we still got our cider and donuts and ate them happily while sitting on a hay bale.

We were quite happy with our quick trip to the orchard and when we got back to Kyle's car and tried to turn the ignition key, it just wouldn't start. Nothing. No lights, no sound, nothing. So, we called the AT&T roadside assistance and had them send someone (which I hoped would be a tow truck) to jump us. Instead, it was a family in a mini van and all would have gone well if the jump actually took. But it didn't. This took about 2 hours.

So now back on the phone (which had only 1 bar left of power) to try to explain the new need of a tow truck to roadside assistance. After my phone cut at least 3 operators off because of bad reception, I began to get nervous. Families were slowly leaving the apple farm and the fields became more and more desolate. Finally I got a hold of the tow truck company that AT&T had contacted and we were starting to gain some hope...and the sun was starting to set. Eventually, all of the visitors to the apple farm had left and we were the only ones still parked in the field until 6 deer appeard out of the woods to join us.



To both of our happiness, the tow truck man brought a battery that would work in our car and installed it there for us. We were thrilled! So, a 2 hour trip to the apple farm turned into a 7 hour trip to the orchard. It could always be worse...

New friends

This past summer, I was very lucky to find someone that lived out on the East side to carpool with to class at CSU everyday and again each week in the fall. Josh teaches middle school band in a neighboring town and the first time that he and his wife Courtney invited Kyle and I over for dinner, we knew that we would all become great friends. They have two children under the age of four so our dinners with them are quite entertaining. A few weeks ago, we celebrated both of their kids' September birthdays with delicious cake (seriously, it was the most stunning and delicious birthday cake I have ever seen/eaten). Kyle brought his camera and took some great pictures of Cammie (now 3) and Brogan (who just turned 1).

Courtney is a very talented baker and she now has her own cake business (see the link on the side of the blog). Every week over the summer and now into the fall, we have made it a point to get together for dinner with Josh and Courtney. They both are very talented chefs and we have tried everything from baby back ribs on the grill, grilled pesto chicken sandwiches, homemade lasagna, burgers and chili. They have inspired Kyle and I with their cooking greatness and we usually bring sides or salad.

Pontooning puppy

Our dog Riley LOVED the pontoon this summer at Devil's Lake. I think he looks a bit like a lake mascot, don't you?

He loved looking out the front as the boat moved across the lake and letting his ears blow in the wind. He is precious.

Visiting Abbie in Buffalo

I miss my friend Abbie so much! Kyle and I were very happy that when we moved to Cleveland we had one Hope friend that came here with us. Abbie just moved to Buffalo, NY where she has taken a job as the music director and organist at a cathedral. During my brief one night stay, Abbie and I packed in as much activity as possible. We ate a a Thai restaurant (and then ended up in the middle of a 5K run), she helped me with my analysis of Brahms and Debussy, and we even went to Canada for an hour to see Niagara Falls. I had never seen the Falls or been to Canada so it was very exciting for me. I love Abbie and I am so happy that she lives so close to us.


The misty Falls

Here we are in Canada at the Falls!

Here is Abbie's organ...just the console. It sounds so majestic!

This is her new kitten Baby Maude. If I wasn't allergic to cats, this would be the one for me.

This is Abbie in front of her cathedral.

Dog Park

My neighbor Heather has always been so kind to watch Riley for us when we go out of town and cannot take him. A few Saturdays ago, she suggested that we take our dogs to the park. Riley and his best friend Jack (yorkie-poo) had the best time. It was adorable! He needed a bath when he got home but it was well worth it.

Summertime at Devil's Lake

This summer has seemed to pass by incredibly fast and with all of the classes and switching schools, my photo updates on the blog have suffered. These are some assorted snippets of summer with the Cox family at Devil's Lake. We love the lake and it has been so fun to have a central place to get together and relax. Enjoy!