RIP Francisco & Eunice

We had a tragic thing to happen today. We lost both Francisco and Eunice in an unexpected accident. While their bowl was being cleaned out, the mistake was made of refilling the bowl with water from the sink, instead of distilled water. When I entered the scene Kirby told me what had happened and started questioning whether or not that was actually ok for the fish. We were unsure. Then, literally seconds later, Eunice started acting very strange. We became worried for the lives of our fish and quickly moved them over to distilled water. However, it was too late. They both slowly started going crazy and at 12:24pm we lost Eunice. Francisco fought a good fight, but we also lost him at 12:57pm.

Please take a moment to remember the short lives of Francisco and Eunice. I have provided a link to a video that will help to ease the pain you all are feeling. Please check out the video... do it for Francisco and Eunice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo_bn2blWSY

Snow

I woke up this morning and it was SNOWING!

THEREFORE, my 8:00am test was postponed until Tuesday. I was real happy and I didn't hesitate going straight back to bed! :) I tried to go outside this morning and take a picture or two (because I figure it won't stick around all day... I think it is supposed to warm up some) BUT because I ran outside in my thin tshirt, pajama shorts and barefoot I didn't get any good pictures. I was FREEZING and the effort of putting on more clothes at the time just wasn't very appealing. So instead, I kept my blurry pictures and went back to bed. :) So sorry.

The windchill is 9 right now. I'm not sure how much snow we have gotten so far, but we are expected to get 1-3 inches. If we actually do get quite a bit I may try to get some more pictures later.

Anyway, I have a VERY busy day ahead of me, so I guess I better get busy!

Dry Bones Story

This story was sent out in a Dry Bones "e-news" email and I thought it was worth sharing:

Ice Cold Generosity
by rebekah duke

As we walk through downtown each afternoon lately, it has not been uncommon for us to only get to see 4 or 5 of our friends who live on the streets. We have had some really wintry weather in the past few months and several days have been so bitterly cold. Our friends are hiding from the cold as much as they can.

One day last week, the temperature did not rise above 15 degrees all day. It practically hurt to be outside for even a few minutes. We stopped to talk with one of our friends who was playing his harmonica trying to make a little bit of money. His efforts had hardly paid off. After several hours of playing, he only had about $0.75 in his hat.

As we talked, one of our other friends who is also homeless walked up and joined in the conversation. He saw how little money our friend had in his hat, dug into his own pocket, and threw in about a dollar in change. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It amazes me how someone with so little can still find room in their "budget" to give to a friend in need.

It's my blog and I'll POST if I want to...

Its a crazy week! There has been a lot going on lately, but not too much worthy of sharing with the world. :) I wouldn't want to bore you all. However, there are some things that I think are worth sharing... whether or not you all agree doesn't really matter to me. It's my blog and I'll cry if I want to. I mean, post if I want to. :)

First of all, we got another fish. Her name is Eunice and she is much smaller than Francisco. Our major concern with them sharing a bowl was that Francisco would eat her... but so far so good. We have had her for almost a week now and they have been getting along just fine. I would take her picture but fish are kind of hard to get a picture of... so instead I just did a two minute drawing of her on paint. It looks just like her, so it's basically like looking at the real thing. :)



Secondly, I have some hilarious pictures to share with you. We have kind of been on a "puppy search" lately. There was one day this weekend where mom and I found a puppy that we really liked. We were just about ready to buy him when someone else called the shelter and adopted him first. We were kind of upset because he was really cute! Well then that night I was watching a movie with Kirby and Jessica when my mom called. She told me that I needed to check my email because she found a puppy that was real cute. I kept asking more questions trying to figure it out but she was being really secretive about it. She said it was a good "lap dog". Well when I finally got my email open, this is what I found...




Some lap dog, huh? Haha! She looks HUGE in these pictures! Her head looks to little for her body. It cracks me up. She is DEFINITELY spoiled! :)

Third, I scored 23 points in my basketball game tonight!!! I NEVER play that well! I actually played two games tonight. In our first game I scored either six or nine points; I don't remember. In our second game I was on fire! It was soooo much fun to be really good! Haha! Almost all of my points came from three pointers! I was almost always open for a few seconds behind the three point line, so as soon as the defenders would back off I would get the ball and put up the shot! My friends in the stands were going nuts cheering for me! I think it surprised everyone but it was SO much fun! And we won! :) The score was 46-23.

Fourth, I have some new music for you to check out! I'll just put the links on here and y'all can check them out if you want.
www.myspace.com/sarabareilles (matt is taking me to see her in March for my birthday!)
www.myspace.com/ingridmichaelson (she is at the concert too)
www.myspace.com/davebarnes
www.myspace.com/robblackledge
www.myspace.com/jonmclaughlin
www.myspace.com/warrenbarfield (this one isn't new, but he's real good!)
www.myspace.com/landonpigg (mainly the Coffee Shop song is real good - you may have heard it on a jewelry commercial...)

Fifth, I just have another picture to share. I think it is a good picture... Matt thinks he looks funny. :) I still like it though so I decided to share it anyway!




Sixth, I have a crazy rest of the week ahead of me. I have a Marketing test on Thursday. I also have a Pi officers meeting after lunch on Thursday. Then I have a "coffee date" with a girl who just got into Pi. She grew up at Park Avenue Church of Christ so we have a lot of friends in common but I've never actually gotten to hang out with her. So since she just got into Pi we decided to work out a time to hang out some. She seems like a really sweet girl. Then that night I am celebrating my birthday with my roommates and a few friends since I am going home on Friday. Then Friday morning I have two tests on my 21st birthday! After classes on Friday though I am heading home to relax and take it easy! I'm not sure that Friday can come soon enough! :)


Seventh (and lastly!), believe it or not, I am STILL working on my New Orleans post. It gets some attention every now and then. I'm sure that by the time I'm finished with it, nobody will care to read about it anymore! BUT I have some amazing stories to share from the trip, so you still have to read it when it comes out! ;)


Ok well I still haven't showered since our game (shoo woo Elijah!) so I'm going to get on that! Have a good night everyone!

RAFRICA

RAFRICA...

Apparently "RAFRICA" stands for "Rock Africa". OC is having an Invisible Children Schools for Schools Benefit Concert tomorrow night. (If you want to know more about what that is, check out http://s4s.invisiblechildren.com/info) Anyway, Matt and David (the drummer in the band) are coming up to play in it! They put flyers up on campus and I saw one today and.... well.... I stole it. :) I just thought it was fun to see their name up around campus so I stole one for myself. Kirby assisted me in the crime. So anyway, their name isn't all that big on the flyer but I took some pictures of it anyway. Yes, I know... I'm a cheesy girlfriend. Kirby and Jessica already informed me of that today. :) Here they are anyway...

THE MATT PORTER BAND!

The concert is from 10:00pm until 12:30am. It should be a loooong night! :) There are a few other bands playing as well, but I remain loyal to only one. Haha, plus I have listened to some of the other bands that are playing and... well... they're just not very good. I'm looking forward to it though! Go Matt Porter Band! :)

Francisco

For some reason I am completely unmotivated to finish my post about our New Orleans trip, even though we had a really great time. Anyway, it is still in the making... its just not receiving a lot of attention right now.

Most of the attention in our apartment right now is directed toward this little guy...

FRANCISCO!

He moved in with us today and lives on our kitchen island. We like to talk to him and tap on his bowl (which I'm sure he loves). We are hoping that he will live for a while but we are worried about his survival in these harsh conditions. However, we were informed that if he DOES die in the next few days we can bring him (the DEAD fish) back to Wal-Mart along with our receipt and get a new one... haha. So we kept the receipt just in case. :)

Also today we made "I love Alpha Gamma Sigma" shirts for one of the other clubs at OC. We have a "Unity Award" that is part of Spring Sing and we go to other club's practices and bring them goodies and sing a song or something. Kirby always jokes about being in love with Alpha boys so she decided we should all make shirts. So here they are!


Ok, well I just wanted to introduce you all to Francisco. He said to tell you all, "Adios amigos!"

New Song Playlist

If you turn your speakers on, you will hear that you can now listen to some of my favorite songs while you read my blog! The player is at the very bottom of my page, so if you need to stop the song or if you want to change the song you can do that there. It is just set to "shuffle" so you may get a different song everytime you log on to my blog.

Also, I am STILL working on my New Orleans post. I haven't forgotten to update y'all on the trip, I just haven't finished typing it yet. I have been working on writing up a ten page application for Dry Bones so most of my "creative thinking" has gone toward that for now. :)

Kirby is making us broccoli and ham quiche tonight. I can smell it in the oven! I'm going to CONTINUE working on my application then eat some quiche! Don't give up on me yet! I know I'm a little slow on updates sometimes, but I'm working on it! BYE! :)

New Years

After I got off work on the 31st Matt and I drove to Mabank, TX which is where his grandma lives. We met up with the rest of his family there and spend New Years with his family. We sat around and talked and played a bunch of games and had a really good time. We played some card games and Catch Phrase and some others.

Matt pulled a sneaky move and took a picture of my cards during the game!!! Luckily for the game we were playing it didn't really matter if he saw my cards... :) SO HA!

You can tell her how excited Carly, Matt's sister-in-law, and I were to have our picture taken!


Then, right before midnight Matt's brother, Josh, called us back to another room and gave us cans of silly string to spray everywhere at midnight. We hit them in our pockets and shirts and went back in the living room. When midnight came around we sprayed silly string everywhere and laughed for a few seconds then had to start picking it up, haha. :) Shortly after, we packed everything up and headed back to Matt's house in Athens.

When we got there we first had a Marshmallow gun fight (we all got one for Christmas!) then Josh, Carly, Matt and I sat around talking for quite a while before we went to bed. I think it was about 3:00am when we finally got to bed! We also slept until noon the next day, so it wasn't too bad. :)

So even though the day has passed when it is really fun to say this, I'll say it anyway: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Arkansas Trip

The weekend after Christmas our entire family took a trip to Little Rock, AR to visit Papaw Mac and Jill. We had a great time getting to sit around and visit with them for a while since we don't get to see them as often as we would like. Once again, I am just going to post a bunch of pictures (we took a bunch on this trip!) and tell some stories as I go. On your mark, get set, GO!

This is me being harrassed by my wonderful big brother and my lovely boyfriend... they're so nice to me... :)


Papaw Mac and Elijah playing with the airport that all of us played with when we were younger! I used to LOVE playing with the airport!

On Saturday we had somewhat of a dart tournament. All of the "couples" played each other and all of the girls beat the boys! Oh wait... except for one. MOM! Haha, we had to give her a hard time about it. She even challenged dad to a rematch. She played REALLY well and I think led both games for the majority of the game, but in the end dad kept coming back and winning. Even though she lost, we were able to see past it and forgive her. :)

I thought this was a cute picture. He really wasn't sad or anything, haha!

Brad and Nova hanging out...

On Saturday we went to Pinnacle mountain to check it out and just enjoy the outdoors and the scenery. This next picture just makes me laugh because Matt looks like a flamingo. :)
(Sorry Matt... it's just real funny to me)

Here is Elijah proudly walking up the steps! On the way down he tripped and fell and hit his face pretty hard but it didn't really phase him. He just got up, brushed it off, and took off again. Then, with every step he would say, "I'm not falling..." Then when he got to the very bottom he threw his hands in the air and said, "I did it!" He is quite a ham.

Now we get to the "photo shoot" pictures. It was very pretty at Pinnacle mountain so we decided to take some pictures!

Matt and I...

Jason, Summer and Elijah...

Brad and Elijah sporting the "Gig Em" thumbs up!

Mom and Dad...

Everyone together...

Family picture...

Papaw Mac and Jill with Elijah...

Dad with Brad and Jason...

Brad and Nova - the soon to be newlyweds :)

Me with my two big brothers... I suppose they're pretty cool sometimes :)


Me with Elijah...

Four generations of Cox men...

Matt and I again...

Mom was trying to catch us not looking, haha! I know her though... I am ALWYS on the look out. :)

I like this picture a lot...

Then we went to a big bridge that goes over the Arkansas River that was made for walkers, runners, bicyclists, and things like that. I THINK they said it was about a mile long to go all the way across. We walked about half way then headed back...

Posing once again...

We headed back to Texas on Sunday morning so everyone could get back for different activities, but we had a blast in Arkansas. We always love going to visit Papaw Mac and Jill. They are coming to Texas this weekend for Brad and Nova's wedding so we'll get to see them again pretty soon! :) Well, that just about wraps up our Arkansas trip!

"Merry Christmas and a Hap.... NEW YEAR!"

CHRISTMAS! Christmas really kind of snuck up on me this year. December in general kind of flew by for me. It was a good Christmas though and I enjoyed getting to spend some time with my family and just relax for a day or two. Early on Christmas morning mom came and woke me up. Rather than coming in and saying, "Laur Laur it's Christmas, come see what Santa brought you," I got, "Laur Laur it's Christmas, get up and come make the rolls." She told me that is how I know I'm grown up... when I have to wake up and start cooking instead of playing with my new toys. :) Once I made the rolls and set them out to rise, I went and wrapped every single one of my Christmas presents. By "wrap" I mean put in a Christmas bag. Late that morning everyone showed up at the house and we were able to visit and hang out for the day.

I don't have too many stories to tell about Christmas day but I have some pictures to share so that will be the main part of this post. So here we go!

Here is Brad playing and singing to Guitar Hero...



Elijah hanging out on the floor, I guess. :) He was so much fun to have around on Christmas day. He is quite the entertainer...


I've been told that I look like I am up to trouble in this picture... I don't think that is possible though... :)

Elijah playing with one of Jason's Christmas presents...

Elijah checking out a John Deere tractor puzzle that he got...

Elijah playing with his Digital Camera. He had a BLAST with this thing! He wanted to take pictures of everybody. Once, Nova looked at him and said, "Elijah say cheese" and took his picture so he smiled and said cheese then immediately picked up HIS camera and told Nova to also "Say cheese." It was pretty funny...

I just like this picture because of how long Brad's hair is! You can see it really flipping out at the bottom...

This is a video of me asking Elijah what he wants to name his baby brother...



In case you couldn't understand it, I say, "Elijah what do you want to name your baby brother?" He responds, "Baby Jesus," then gives that sweet little innocent look. Haha! He is such a stinker!

This video cracks me up every time. Jason, Summer and Elijah were about to leave to go back home. I had done a few videos of Elijah but he was being real quiet and kind of shy. So before I did this video I said, "Make sure you speak up and talk real loud, ok?" He quietly answered, "Ok." WELL... after nearly a whole bag of sour patch kids and who knows what other sugary treats that he had eaten that day, here is what we got...




So all in all it was a really great Christmas! I got some really neat things and had a great time hanging out with my family for the day. Our family is getting so big that it gets really hard to get everyone together at one time, but we always have a good time when we do.

Well that is it for my Christmas post! On to my next subject... :)

In the Making...

Hey everyone! I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. Well just to let you all know, my oh so loved extremely long blog post is in the making. I have tons of pictures and tons of stories to tell so it is sure to be given two thumbs up. :) So STAY TUNED! (it could take me a while!)