Summer Update

This summer has been crazy, and it has gone by so fast! I cannot believe that we are already in August..summer is almost over! Here's an update of what's been going on in my world since June..

Taren and Colter's Wedding

My super awesome friend, Taren, finally married her childhood crush back in June. Taren has had the biggest crush on Colter since we were in elementary school! I knew that her wedding was going to be awesome and fun because that is just how she is. It was supposed to be outside, but due to rain, they had to move it indoors. The wedding was awesome--so fun, relaxed, and the atmosphere was perfect. She asked Ali to do her makeup, and she did an awesome job. Taren has been such a great support for Ali since Taren is also an esthetician. You guys are awesome, and I hope that you have many more years of happiness to come!

Summer Camp @ FBC

FBC has done their version of Vacation Bible School a little differently for the past few years. It is now called "Summer Camp" and it's at the Boys and Girls Club. This year, Summer Camp lasted 2 weeks and it was split up into 2 age groups. I was able to help with the first week of camp, and we had a blast! We had a great time of worship and small group bible study, and afterwards, had some fun playing various water games! Here are some pics from that fun week...

Girls Trip to San Antonio

My two aunts, Sarah and Emily, planned a girls only getaway to San Antonio for a few days. This was their graduation gift for Ali and me. We had an absolute blast! We stayed at the La Mansion del Rio on the Riverwalk and got top of the line service! It was so awesome. We did the whole riverwalk thing, chilled by the pool, and went to the outlet malls in San Marcos.

We were pulling into San Antonio on that Monday, and I received a call from the Snyder Elementary principal. She wanted to interview me for a job! Of course, I have been waiting on this ALL summer, and she calls when I am on vacation...naturally. But, she was totally flexible, and allowed me to do a phone interview. The interview went well, but the teacher that was supposed to be leaving decided to stay. So, I am back to square one on the job hunt. I know that God has a plan for me, and I know that He will place me exactly where he wants me to be. Just being patient is the hard part.

There is a shortened version of what has been going on with me lately! There have been a lot of other things going on, but I will blog about them later...that's all for now!

Centrifuge

I honestly cannot believe that it is mid-June already! They say that time flies when you are having fun, and I so believe that! This past week I had the opportunity to go with our church's youth group to Glorieta, New Mexico, to a camp called Centrifuge. Layne had asked me to go the previous week, and I really prayed and thought about it for a long time before I agreed to go. I now know why God wanted me to go with them.

Camps always seem to "refresh" your walk with Christ, but this time, I have vowed to keep that strong walk going past camp. Layne reminded us that camp is NOT our journey with Christ, but it is a part of our journey. I LOVED our speaker that was there with us all week. His name was Landon Dowden and he was from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is a true man of God, and he has a heart for knowing God and the word. The theme for Centrifuge was Move: The Faith Journey. Landon did an excellent job telling us about how we need to know the word and God personally, take a stand in our faith, move to tell the nations about Christ, and how we need to wait on what God calls us to do. This was just an incredible week, because it really reminded me of our great our God really is!

We also had a ton of fun while we were there. The weather was perfect...60s and 70s with a little rain, and the mountains were gorgeous! The kids had a great time doing all the different activities that the camp offered--paintball, ropes course, jewelry making, missions, hiking, mountain biking (just to name a few.) These activities gave them all opportunities to make new friends from other churches, and to grow with those of us from FBC Snyder.

The Prayer Garden

Mattie and Josh playing Laser Tag

One night at our NightLife activities we got to dress up in 70's athletic wear. Layne wore an old Snyder Tiger basketball jersey that his dad had when he coached high school basketball. I dressed as a vintage bowler, but I didn't have any great pictures of my outfit.

Worship with Addison Road!

We played a game with our church group where we had to get into 2 teams and line up on the floor. We passed 10 dog biscuits down the line using only clothespins that we had to keep in our mouths. It was a little challenging, but we still had fun. Then, when that was over, Morgan decided it would be cool to eat a dog biscuit, so of course we sat and cheered her on!

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint." --Isaiah 40:30-31

Caroline Elizabeth

So, I have some great news!!! My uncle Paul (dad's brother) and his sweet wife, Dawn, have welcomed a new baby girl to the Cox family! This is their 3rd child, and they decided not to find out the sex of the baby until the delivery day!! Caroline Elizabeth was born on May 27th at 9:05 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs. and 1 oz. and was 19 inches long. They have two sweet little boys, Samuel and Benjamin, that are so cute and definitely approve of their new baby sister. We are sooo excited to have a new girl in the family--we are going to spoil her rotten!!

We have not been able to see them very much because they were missionaries in Madrid, Spain. Luckily for us, they have returned to the States and live in Spring, TX (which is close to Houston.) We are so excited to welcome sweet little Caroline into our family. I am anxious to see what God has in store for her and her awesome family in the years to come.

The Hit Zone

I have mentioned this before, but my Dad and one of his friends put in indoor batting cages a couple of months ago, and as of today, I am now the "manager" of The Hit Zone!! I really enjoy spending time up there because I get to see a lot of people and watch the kids work on their game. I will be there pretty much every day now, so come see me!! :)

More Baseball...

The Tigers played in Lubbock tonight for the Area championship title. We made the trip to Lubbock a little early so we could run some errands and eat at Rosa's before the game. I was so excited because I got to see 2 of my students from Cooper West there! I have missed seeing all my sweet students everyday, so it was great to see and talk to them! They are just awesome. I love being able to make a difference in my student's lives, and tonight was just a small reminder of that.

The game didn't turn out just the way we wanted it though. We ended up losing to Andrews 15-4. Andrews just came out in the first inning and went to work, and unfortunately, Snyder couldn't keep up with them. We have a pretty young team, so I am proud of them for making it this far.

I am going to miss watching these boys play ball together. But, I know that there will be plenty of baseball to watch in the future!!

More Fun!

I haven't done very good with keeping up my 365 thing. (Shocker!!) So, I will just do a quick update! We have been very busy lately. It always seems that this time of the year is really busy with graduations, summer starting up, and extra-curricular activities.

In our case, baseball is the thing that keeps us busy this time of year. Hunter has been playing high school ball, and he is going to play on a select team out of Lubbock this summer. So, we will be watching plenty of baseball the next couple of months! Hunt has been playing baseball since he was able to stand up!!! He made varsity this year as a freshman, and he has really proven himself the past couple of weeks. He has been playing 3rd base and pitching. I am so proud of how he has been playing lately. He is the "baby" of our family (and the only boy), so we have spoiled him rotten. Him and I have been two peas in pod since the day he was born. Snyder won state last year, so Hunt has been real excited about this season. This past weekend, they played Perryton in Levelland. The weather was cold and rainy, but they ended up winning the series. The Tigers play tomorrow night against Andrews to see who will move on in the playoffs. I'm so glad that I've been able to watch him play ball this year.

Project 365--Day 1

Wow! I am such a slacker! I haven't posted Project 365 in FOREVER! I have decided that I am just going to post a picture for each day and write a little blurb about it instead of posting pictures for the entire week on Sundays. So, as of today, I am starting OVER!

Mom and I made a quick trip to Neff's Greenhouses in Colorado City this morning to pick up some palm trees that she had ordered. While we were there, we ended up purchasing some ferns, caladiums, and a fabulous hot pink hibiscus bush. We were loaded down by the time we left there.

When we got back, we lounged by the pool all day long. I LOVE my parent's backyard this time of year. We spend the majority of our time out there.