The Cox Family

This is crazy!  I can't believe that I am almost 1/2 way done with my degree already!  I am in week 8 of 11 in the 3rd term!  One more term and I'll be at my 1/2 way point.  So far the classes I have taken have been: Health Information Law and Ethics Medical Terminology A & P (had another name can't remember it right now) Pathophysiology Anatomy and Pharmacology Computer Applications and Business Systems Concepts Currently taking: Career Development Icd-10-cm Coding Health Insurance & Billing Crazy!  And I've gotten all A's except 1 class so far!  Made the Deans list last term with straight A's and a GPA of 3.73.  Working very hard to keep these grades up as high as possible. So for thanksgiving, I'm praying I can get all caught up on my homework that is due tomorrow and then knock out all of next weeks work in the first 2 days of the week so that I can enjoy the holiday with my family. Back to work for me just wanted to updat...

Yep, my little girl is growing up too fast!  Just the other day, Kenzie asked me about her 5th grade graduation!  I just can't believe how fast she's growing up!  Before we know it, she will be the one in college!  She's wanting to plan what she's gonna wear for her graduation.  I just can't get over how grown up she's becomming. Madison on the other hand wants nothing to do with growing up at all!  She's happy being the baby.  But, being that she's 8 years old, not 8 months old, it's time she learns that it's time to become "Daddy's big girl".  Time for changes! Ryan is pretty much status quo.  He's not happy with the snow and freezing weather in Northern Indiana right now.  (He got lucky enough to get to work up there just as the storms were starting to come through) And I have begun the job search.  I'm starting to apply for any positions that will put my foot in the door so that when I graduate and sit for the RHIT...

I wasn't planning on making another post so soon.  God has other things in his plan.  When he speaks, I listen.  So here's what happened: I finished the last post, got my homework done, pureed pumpkin to take to a friend tomorrow, got the kids showered and in bed.  I laid in there watching The Bible on netflix via my tablet.  I just couldn't quite get relaxed into it tonight.  So with sleeping children in the house, I went in for a relaxing hot bath.  Normally this will calm me right?  Well, as I lay there in the hot water, conditioner in my hair, I heard these words, "YOU are more PRECIOUS than RUBIES"  and I knew that the Lord was telling me the truth for my next lie!  Lie #2:  I am an unlovable, worthless person.  TRUTH:  Proverbs 3: 15-- She is more precious than jewels and nothing you desire can compare with her.  Proverbs 31:10-- An excellent wife who can find?  She is FAR more precious than jewels....

This is a question I have been asking since as far back as I can remember.  I never really understood who I was.  I never really took a stand for who I was.  Never really said this is me take it or leave it.  I more of just kind of melted into the crowd.  Did what others deemed acceptable not what I deemed acceptable.  Over the last few years, this just continued on a downward spiral.  I allowed others to dictate who I should be.  This is not what I wanted in my life.  After years of this abusive behavior I had decided that I needed to reach out to a friend.  I did this a few weeks ago while she was on a mission trip.  I was too embarrassed by the fact that I needed help that I couldn't even find the bravery to go ahead and talk to her while she was here.  I had to cop out and wait til she was gone.  I know, it's the looser's way out right?  NOPE!  That's a lie that the enemy wants me to believe, well, let me t...

Over the last month and a half or so, there have been many lessons.  One main one is that it sucks to be sick!  Yep, I've been very sick with allergies, sinuses, and a cold.  Put it all together for a recipe of nasty stew that results in migranes so bad that I can't wear my glasses because the frames put too much pressure on my sinuses which in turn make the headache worse.  Yep, I'm just a big ole mess!  In the mean time, I've lost track of how much I haven't blogged, but I've finished my 2nd term with college.  I can't wait to see what my GPA is now that I finished this term with straight A's!  The girls are back in school and so we are getting into a routine of Chores, Dinner, Homework, Baths and Bed.  It's been a struggle because our tweenager has decided she doesn't have to listen to parentals at all, that she knows it all.  One day my sweet, one day!  Then there are the lessons coming from God himself.  Wow!  That's...

As a mom, and wife, we have always kind of split the chores, but since our roommates are no longer living with us, it's just Ryan, Kenzie, Maddie and myself.  This is a blessing for all of us.  We have more space, but we miss the dog.  We have more time with the girls it seems, but we miss our friends too.  With all that said, I never realized how much work it is on a huge property.  Right now we are renting a 3 bedroom on a lake.  We have 4.56 acres and about 2.5 of that is in a lake, so that leaves me with about 1.5 to take care of plus the normal housewife work inside the house.  This past week has been a week of spring cleaning.  I started and I still am not finished because in the evenings, when it cools off enough, I have to go outside and mow.  I've had to chunk off parts of the grass an hour at a time.  I can't tolerate mowing during the heat of the day or I would have it done all on one day.  So I work on my school work, ta...

 Such a beautiful Waterfall!  And it was the girl's first time swimming in natural waters that were not the sandy beaches of Florida.  They loved it!

 We had a ton of fun at Jump Off Rock!  Lots of pics to remember our trip came from this location.    This has got to be my favorite pic!  While this was not the shot I was trying to get, I wanted both girls to give daddy a kiss on the cheek, Madison really showed her personality while Kenzie kissed her daddy!  I think I need to get this one framed for sure!  Mackenzie went for a short hike with her daddy, and I was able to get a few pics off the beaten path with them.  This was a great thing because as you see, I don't have a lot of current pics of the family so I am happy to have this opportunity.    Look at the view behind these two!  Amazing!    Love when they play peek a boo around trees for me!    Yai Yai's girls! And the newest pic of me and Ryan.  I have to admit, it is one of the best we have done in a long time!  Thank you Yai Yai for taking i...

 One day, we took the girls to Asheville.  They loved it!  We started the day by eating at the "Soda Fountain".  We had a blast!  The girls loved the 50's inspired decor and that it was inside a building that houses local artists work.  We then headed to the play.  They got to see Charlotte's Web.  While we didn't get to all sit together for this, it was really cute!  And now I have a couple of girls who love going to plays!  How else could a day end in Asheville without a visit to the Chocolate store?  So, that's what we did!  And let me tell you, they had some really yummy treats in there!

 Our Summer Vacation this year was not really planned out but while Yai Yai and Pappy were in town the last time, they asked us to come up to their condo in North Carolina, so we did.  Ryan and I drove the girls up for a week of beautiful weather, awesome views, and REST!  Above you see the view from Pretty Place.  Below there are a few photo's I took while at Pretty Place.  If you ever get the chance to go, it's beautiful!  Here, Pappy is sitting at the base of the cross and just looking out at the view!  It was spectacular!  Here is just the cross.  I couldn't get over this being a church errected on top of a mountain.  It was just awesome! And this too made me want to really thank God for the beauty he gives us.  The reflection in Pappy's sunglasses was pretty cool!

This summer has been chock full of decisions... Decisions for our future.  The Lord is preparing us for future endeavors.  While we can't say yet what that entails, I just needed to get a few things off of my chest: *This summer taught me to ALWAYS take a vacation!  No matter how much $ you have, make sure you go and do something with your family.  You won't regret it!  (A post on our Summmer Vacation will be posted later) *Remain open to new ideas.  When we do this, the Lord can speak to our hearts in a much clearer way. *Never take for granted what you have.  It can be taken from you in the blink of an eye. *Trust your neighbors only as far as you can throw them.  I know this goes against the grain, but I have one of those neighbors who makes themselves appear nice on the outside, but is conniving on the inside. *Everything material is replaceable.  While things may be left behind or forgotten about things are replacable people ar...

While I have been missing in action, I haven't been sitting idly by.  So much is happening in our lives, that it's CRAZY! Firstly, we moved.  We found a much better home for us.  This is a temporary thing.  It was to get us into a better position for the girls and keep them in the school they were already in.  While it's not permenant, it will work for now. Kenzie is now in 5th grade!  woah!  Crazy I know!  She's going to Summer Science Camp this week.  She got to go to Starkey Environmental Center and go on a hike with her friends from school today.  She decided to sit tomorrow out of the week due to the fact that she has been to the Energy Marine Center 2 times in the last year already.  And on Wednesday she will go to SafetyTown's Environmental Center followed by the Florida Aquarium on Thursday!  Such a busy kiddo! Maddie is going into 2nd grade already and I can't believe how the time has flown right by.  She cr...

even though it's Super Bowl Sunday, here I sit blogging.  Lots of things go on in my life on a daily basis that I often forget to blog.  My apologies for that.  Here's a glimpse into all the crazy ness: Kenzie started Chorus Ryan has been snowed in tons up in P.A. Scott got started at his new company. Juanita and I have been scrapbooking TONS! Maddie has been maddie, what can I say! We were looking into a mobile home to purchase, but that fell through, so we are on to other options.  We are looking for something that is an owner finance, that will allow us to put a 2nd residence on the same property.  This way we are all set, the kids get a large yard, scott and juanita get their place, and we get ours.  We will see where God leads us. Taxes got filed.  They were accepted, and processed in record time!  Wow!  And that's about it for now.  I'll try and post some fun pics here in a few days!

As you can see, we are planning!  This is simply the wording my friend Juanita wants for her vow renewal ceremony!  Here ya go chickie!  Pin away!!!

 Since it's been a while since I've shared pics of our girls, I thought I would give you some of their cheering shots from this past fall!  They were cheering for the South Pasco Steelers.  They had tons of fun as you can see, but being that we live a little far for all of the traveling with this league, among other things, we will not be returning to the Steelers.  Maddie has decided she wants to take some Gymnastics, and Kenzie wants to try soccer!  Again, they loved it, and did an amazing job with their first sport, YES, CHEERLEADING IS A SPORT!, they just want to see if there's something out there they will like more. In the above shot, this was taken at Kenzie's first game!  She was having a blast with Morgan, Annabelle, and Jalissa!  In this shot, which i love, her coach had seen this done and wanted to try it with Kenzie's squad.  While you can't tell who's legs are who's I can tell you that kenzie's legs are at the bottom of the hea...

While I was going to be changing this blog over to wordpress, I decided there's no sense in doing that, so we just updated the url and I'm changing things as I have a few minutes here and there.  So, for our first post of the week here we go : Monday-- Report card day!  We had our report card day and I'm happy to report that both of the girls grades are coming up!  This is a huge thing because I don't settle for second best with the girls and school. At the previous school, Kenzie was being bullied by her "best" friend, when we moved there was a falling out and we are no longer in communication with that family after the loss of material possessions and lots of  emotions, it is best.  So back to the report cards, their grades are on the rebound and I can't wait to see how well they improve between now and the next report card! Tuesday-- Lots of working on the dollhouse-- details to come on that one! Wednesday-- the same Thursday-- the same Friday...

As we enter the next chapter of our lives, I will be posting here once more to give you the new blog address.  I'm going to be going through and saving all of the posts we have here to my computer to keep on hand, but we are going to be starting a new blog to document from this point in our lives on.  I think it's time for new ness, and I can't wait for this chapter to begin. With the beginning of this chapter we have an 11 year old, and almost 8 year old.  Preteen and full blown diva!  a full time work at home mom.  a full time work wherever they will send me dad.  uncle scott, aunt juanita and teddy have rejoined our family.  and there are all kinds of fun things going on!  i can't wait to be able to blog about them in the new blog! If you wish to keep up with us, you will want to go to our new blog address.  No, I don't know what it will be as of yet, but I will be sure to post it here once I get to it!!!  Thanks for being loyal f...