www.amycoxmusic.com

Hey Friends! It is with a great joy that I introduce what I've been working on recently (and kind of explains why things are so dormant on this blog!).  I find my time here in Indiana and with Saint Joseph UMC is stretching and growing me in ways that I didn't quite see coming.  With a little encouragement from some good friends, I am recording my first EP, the working title right now, Better Than This, and I am incredibly excited and grateful for the people that God has placed around me right now that are helping to make it all happen.

To keep up to date with all the current news, ramblings, blogs, and photos, check out www.amycoxmusic.com.... it's the hub of all happenings in my life from here on out.  Can't wait to see what this next season brings! Keep in touch!

Tincaps

Well, I did it. I went to a Tincaps game here in Fort Wayne. I guess they are a big deal.... everybody loves going to the stadium whether or not they love baseball.  I ate a hot dog, sang along to take me out to the ballgame.... and didn't watch any of the game... well, maybe one hit....

The stadium is neat, with the buildings of downtown Fort Wayne creating the backdrop for one of America's favorite past times.  Probably my favorite part? Getting to spend some time with my good friend Rachel, and watching the kiss cam.

I didn't know the Tincaps had lost the game until we were on our way out of the stadium...

Two Years Ago

Two years ago today, I walked into New Life Church for my first of many Sunday morning gatherings.  I sat among thousands of people, listened to unfamiliar songs, and watched in awe as this church body openly and freely moved, danced, and sang.  I felt the Spirit's confirmation, as the pastor preached on the armor of God, a passage of scripture I had spent the summer reflecting on.

Two years ago today, was the day before classes started.  I had lunch with my new, soon to be, host mom...the invitation to stay with them had not come yet.  We ate mexican food and shared more of our stories.

Two years ago today, I curled up in a Panera booth in the evening, with a bowl of cheddar broccoli soup and facebook pulled up on my laptop.  I felt the excitement of this new beginning while trying to suppress the feelings of homesickness and fear of facing this completely new journey.

It's amazing how those first few days in Colorado are impressed upon my heart and memories.  I don't have that day written down anywhere, but when I realized the date and thought back to where I was, the pictures and conversations flooded back in.  Tomorrow will be two years since I met some of the most awesome worship leaders who made the journey of that year with me.  Darci, Ryan, Charlie, Adam, John, Kia......and so many more imprinted on my heart.

Two years later and I feel I am still at the beginning of this adventure that is worship leading.  I am learning new things everyday about God, His love and goodness, who He is making me to be, and the people He has called me to serve.  It is beautiful and hard. I am still often homesick, and certainly have many times of forced bravado....but I trust Him.  He has brought me this far...He will not abandon me yet. Not ever.

Open Mic Fun!

I am impulsive.  It's both a strength and weakness.  Sometimes I don't really think before speaking....but sometimes I find myself in places that turn out pretty cool.  Last Monday, I caught wind of a monthly open mic down at C2G, a music venue/ministry in downtown Fort Wayne.

I didn't make it early by any stretch so I fell into the 16th spot out of 17 performers for the night.  But I quickly made friends with a couple and their precious baby Charlotte, who had driven down from Goshen, IN for the evening. Amber and Nate were fantastic company, jovial, supportive, and welcoming.

It's been awhile since I've been to an open mic.  I forget they are such "open" venues where the acts can range from the solo singer/songwriter, to the girl singing along to her favorite CD.... and let's not forget the full bands, and the smooth rapper who had to be reminded it was a family friendly venue and to keep it "G" rated.

By the time I was up, there was only an intimate crowd left, but enthusiastic nonetheless.  The host earlier in the night had encouraged all the artists to share where we could find their next gig, or their music.  So jokingly as I got up I said, "Well, you can see me in my weekly gig at Saint Joseph UMC, Sunday mornings at 9 and 11:15."  After my song was done and I stepped off stage, an older gentleman approached and asked, "What time are your services again?" :o)

Quite delightful to find myself surrounded by other music lovers on what otherwise would have been a quiet Monday night...oh, I guess there was that softball game most of my friends went to....but we all know how I feel about ball games currently....

And I may or may not have plans to travel up to Goshen soon and visit my new friends!

St Joe Pickle Festival

Yesterday was cloudy, drizzly, cool, and the perfect day to go galavant around the small town of St Joe, Indiana.  And when I say small...I mean, some four hundred current residents small.... lovely nonetheless.

It was the 16th annual Pickle Festival, complete with a pickle decorating contest, food vendors, musical acts, a tractor pulled train, and various bounce houses and artisan booths.  I had the distinct pleasure of spending the day with little Tessa and Tucker (and their parents), and Kevin.....Although Tessa is the only one I carried through parts of the day....:o)

Tucker and Tessa

I have missed small town festivals.  Fort Wayne has its fair share of "festivals", but that mostly describes the type of food and musical entertainment that will be available at Headwaters Park on any given weekend.  These small town festivals are guaranteed to bring a certain amount of oddities like a golf cart ride over to a hundred year old church where a rummage/bake sale is being held in the basement.  Or a pickle factory tour on the outskirts of town complete with hairnet and pickle samples.  And it can't hurt to have a cemetery to peruse some hundred yards away from the main festival area. Yep, that is what makes my heart incredibly happy.

Miss Priss....Tessa and I's most delightful pickle.

 Heart Attack lunch......

 I slipped away to the cemetery for a few minutes and found this sweet civil war memorial... Inscription read: One country, One flag.

 Pickle Factory Tour led to our donning of some pretty awesome hairnets!

 Seriously....how cute is this face?!?!?!?!

Tess and I didn't win the pickle decorating contest, Tucker actually won for the 0-4 year old category....funny thing is....a lot of his ideas he took from us.... I feel the need to brush up on my vegetable decorating skills and head back next year for a win!

Life Update

Hey all! It has been a crazy summer, filled with challenges and adventure....as we head into the glorious month of August, I can finally take a step back......and breathe!

Maybe these should all have been separate posts, but regardless here's a wrap up of the last month or so:

I surprised the family back in Virginia by showing up for the fourth of July. I spent 3 full, jam packed days enjoying the new family golf cart, watching fireworks, visiting with a few friends, and checking off a long list of things to do and see.  I made it out to the berry farm for ice cream, to Sheetz for a late night snack (made to order!), to the state park to see the Civil War Mobile, and beautiful time spent with family.

Back from Virginia, and it was deep into the trenches of planning and implementing for our Praise Park Fair!!! A few months ago, I posted pictures from Praise Park, the land Saint Joseph has opened as a community park.  It looks vastly different from the days of complete and endless dirt! I spent the day in the amphitheater where we ran our sound equipment off of THREE generators!  In addition to a couple of our praise teams playing, another local worship team joined in on the fun as well as my dear friends of elle/The Remnant. And I was even brave enough (gasp) to play a few of my originals.  The only damper on the day was a quick thunderstorm that blew in, causing us to shut down and cover up for a few minutes before we could start up again.

And Praise Park Fair was so much more than just the music. We had food vendors, sports activities, and a tent full of artisans and local community organizations.  Final estimates put us at around 750 attendees! I cannot think of another time when I've helped with something so big and intricately planned.


This summer has brought deeper and new friendships.  I once heard a wise man remark, "to become old friends, you have to be friends for a long time."  Maybe I had unrealistic expectations of what it meant to really settle in a place.  Since college, I moved and wandered with the expectation that each new place was "temporary".  While I don't know that I can call the midwest my forever home, it's also not a quick step to fling me in another direction.  I'm starting to improve on my quick response to the question, "How do you like Indiana?" Indiana and I aren't old friends yet.... we are still in the discovery stage.....

It's still really hard to be so far from family, but I'm excited for what fall will bring.  There has been this continual theme of "goals" (which the current olympic craze does not help!), where are we headed, what are we shooting for.  It has caused a stirring in my soul, of how to step into this place of leadership I find myself, and how to expand the gifts I'm uncovering and exploring... stay tuned, there is way more to come.

My First Tornado Warning!

I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that in the land of the midwest, I would encounter storms and crazy weather....but while I may dramatically exclaim about the dangers, I don't ever really think through these things...:o)

So imagine my surprise that my first tornado warning came a week or so ago, while I was at the movies at a matinee of The Avengers.  Towards the end where the action really started picking up, we noticed a creaking sound coming from the ceiling...which soon became apparent that it was NOT part of the movie or surround sound.  Only minutes later, a employee came in, paused the movie and informed everyone that they could either stay in the back of the theatre or move into the hallway.  Since sitting higher up in stadium seating, closer to the high, creaking ceiling did not seem like the best plan, my friends and I moved out to the hallway to wait for the fifteen/twenty minutes.  As we filed back in, the same employee assured us that our movie was "close to being done, since it's....well, I'm not going to tell you how it ends." Thank you movie theater employee for holding back the spoiler alert that almost left your lips.  And then, one man sneezed and collectively the whole theater blessed him. I guess we felt bonded having survived a natural disaster and all....

It wasn't until we attempted to make it back across town, that we saw the damage inflicted by the storm. Trees and branches had been knocked down, street lights were out, and traffic was pretty bad. A few streets were blocked off by cop cars and we back-roaded it to our part of town.  People around Fort Wayne were out of power for upwards of a week, and my fridge held extra food rescued from a friend's powerless house for a few days...actually looked like I had grocery shopped for a while...:o) Luckily there are not many trees around my apartment complex nor did we lose our power.  Perfect as 100 degree weather quickly followed the storm, making for some hot and humid days.

damage to a mobile home close to the movie theater!

The irony was not lost of me that the same storm hit all the way across to the East Coast knocking power out in most of Northern Virginia....amazingly Colonial Beach did not lose power....normally it would be the other way around!

Something to Tide You Over

 This week is absolutely crazy with the amount of meetings and planning and practices going on, so in lieu of a hastily scribbled, sentimental post of Virginia....here's Mitch watching a Cat DVD a church member was sweet enough to pick up for him.

I can honestly say that when we moved in, Mitch got more presents than I did! Have to love fellow cat lovers!

A SURPRISE Visit Home!

Very rarely do I have an opportunity to pull off a major surprise....like flying home to Virginia for the 4th of July, a rather important holiday in my family as its my dad's birthday, and a time when family and friends gather.  Also, growing up mere miles from the nation's capital put a strong emphasis on celebrating America's independence.....and now my family lives in the land of George Washington and Robert E. Lee's birthplaces.... can't get more patriotic than that!

Even as I've settled in to the midwest the past six months, I couldn't imagine not being home this 4th. So I booked a ticket and told only my parents I was on my way so someone could pick me up at the airport.  That left my grandparents, nephew, and sister in the dark.

Nate came with Mom and Dad to the airport....they only told him they had a surprise.  I was waiting by the escalator as he rode down from the parking garage, and it took him several moments to see me, process, and then take off running to jump into my arms. In the lifting of him, his knees knocked together and added to the absolute shock of seeing me, he started crying....but was quickly subdued by the gold packaging of "Indiana" chocolate (some good ole Debrand!) that I pulled out of my bag. A quick lunch at golden corral and we were on our way to Colonial Beach barely beating my sister home from work

My grandparents were absolute dolls when I walked into the room, my grandmother hugging me several times and my grandfather with his big ole smile, but I still laugh remembering when my sister walked in. She headed straight to the kitchen, avoiding the room I was in, asking about dinner and grumbling when she found that it wasn't ready or even decided yet.  I walked around the corner to say, "Becky, the reason we don't have dinner ready is that I came and we just got here."  She froze with her hand holding the cabinet door she had just opened as she stared at me. I gave her a hug.  She just asked what I was doing there. (sidenote: I NEVER get to surprise my sister so the fact that we pulled this one off was pretty epic!) We ended up leaving her and Nate at home to take the grands to dinner...mostly so the both of them could absorb my arrival.

We packed a lot in for the three full days I was home, in many ways when I landed in Baltimore....I let out a huge exhale, almost like I had been holding my breath for the past six months and could only let it out as I found myself on familiar ground, a place where I knew my way around, knew what to expect.  Makes sense, since the past year has been change after change; adapting and learning.  It was good to be with family, my tribe.  I'll post some of our other happenings this week, catch everyone up on how the Cox family is settling in to the quaint, quiet river town of Colonial Beach....stay tuned.

Indiana Sunset

Mitch

Occasionally friends from home ask how my sweet, furry friend is doing... Mitch is doing great.  The highlight of his mornings include the daily emptying of the dumpsters by the loud and scary trash trucks.  Breakfast is non-negotiable from the moment I am awake and he dearly, dearly loves his brushes.  He sends his love to all those he's met and hopes that you too have soft blankets to cuddle with.

Sweetwater

 I wish my brain could hold audio and technical knowledge.  But it's like there's an escape valve inside of me. I can watch, listen, even repeat, but as soon as something comes along and my attention is diverted....bam! It's gone.  I took advantage of a sound training event for worship leaders down at a little place called Sweetwater a couple of weeks ago.  We ate pizza, listened to 33 miles (love me some acoustic guitar and vocals!), and then got some scoop on ways to improve church sound.

 And what I really loved was the behind the scenes tour I got from a couple of friends after the seminar.  The warehouse is GIGANTIC and I finally hit some golf balls on the indoor putting green.  I most appreciated seeing my friend's photography room, where they can shoot multiple pics of upwards of 140 guitars in a day! Crazy!

Sweetwater is a definite perk to Fort Wayne.... and I do enjoy eating lunch in their cafeteria!

Stopped by a train

I sat back in the dentist chair today for part II of my root canal. But instead of lingering on that.... here's some train pics when we got stopped up on some country road north of Fort Wayne a while back.

Praise Park

A somewhat long time ago, Saint Joseph UMC purchased some land within a mile of the church....the dream was sown that it would one day become a park where people could run, walk, and play.  They called it the mission field, and trusted that even though years went by, it would come to be.

Fast forward to this summer, and we are looking at the opening of Praise Park! In just about a month, we are going to have a huge fair....with music, artisans, food vendors, sports and kids activities going on....dunk tank anyone?  I wanted to post some before pics..... we spent some time exploring a few months back.  It's actually come a long way since then...grass growing, ponds dug, pavement about to be laid. But we saw it in its beginning glory:

It was wide open space in the midst of hustle and bustle.  We did run the risk of being run over by gigantic construction equipment that day, but it was worth it to stand in the middle of all that land and dream of the possibilities.  Soccer, picnics, concerts.... who even knows what comes next. I cannot wait to post pics later this summer!

Indiana Annual Conference

 I just had the distinct honor and privilege to lead worship at the Friday night celebration/communion service of the Indiana Annual Conference.  And it was hands down. Spirit filled. I'm still processing and unpacking that night.

 Growing up in Virginia, I'd attended annual conference several times...once with a choir, and a few times to catch up with old friends.  Last summer, the staff of Project Spy showed up in our matching polos and represented throughout the mission service.

This was my first time to the Indiana Annual Conference....which since I've only lived here for the last six months...should come as a shock. :o) Held at the convention center in downtown Indianapolis, it was a awesome to be urban bound for a few days.

flash mob by the youth

 I went down on Thursday, to play an acoustic set on a side stage, and to get prepped for the limited rehearsal time we had with the vocal team, sound check, band.....none of which happened all at the same time....tight schedule!

I spent most of last week wrestling with God. Old insecurities bubbled up and I found myself worried and nervously anticipating the night.  Who am I to lead in such a large gathering?  God had laid the groundwork all along to prepare me, but it was hard to walk in the complete freedom of Christ.

Somewhere between Thursday night and Friday afternoon, I surrendered.  I had been asked to lead.  I was prepared to lead.  And God knew once again what He was doing all along.

The theme of the conference was "Make More Room" and I was only one of many new voices that were added to the night.  We shared the scripture of the wedding feast, where the invited guests refuse to come....and so anybody that could be found was brought in; the poor, crippled, blind, and lame....and there was still more room for more.  Our message was split into testimonies of various ages who shared when the church made room for them.

I sang a song I wrote. And then I led How He Loves.  Just me and my guitar and 1,500 methodists. And they sang. I mean, really sang.  As in, I stepped away from the microphone and they still sang.  I almost lost it mid-service.  The voice of the corporate body of Christ is beautiful and humbling...I want to join it, not lead it!

God unlocked something in me that night.  It overflowed into worship at Saint Joe this morning. We were jacked up for Jesus.  The scariest thing is what comes next.  There are things God's stirring up in me.  We talked about stepping into the river this morning. You aren't in it, until you are in it.  I remember the words God spoke to my heart in Colorado way back when....my love, you haven't even stepped in the water yet.

I am thankful.  That the old and new in music, liturgy, leadership, and people came together.  That so many of my new St Joe family were there to be involved and lend their love.  That God is unchanging and all knowing. Thankful.

Summer in the Midwest

Although there has been a blessed dip in temperatures this past week, summer has arrived with the opening of pools and the kick off of bbq season! While I have yet to learn the art of sitting for hours in the hot outdoors with plates of chips, potato salad, and burgers in hand.... it is nice as evening sets in to have the opportunity to get to know new faces and share stories.  And sometimes you get the joy of a friend like this guy, named Chubs, sweet, loving.....and a complete drool monster!

The moments you can look out into open space are awesome....I'm learning to enjoy that even if there aren't mountains in the distance.

And I may be falling in love with the Indiana sunset.... Summer is a breath of fresh air after the grayness of winter.  As my dear friend Kelsey posted recently about her current venture in Illinios...."the sky really is big out here."

Little Sickie Me

So turns out that little infection was an abscessed tooth.....whew that was a close one.  Let's not even talk about how bad an infection in a tooth can get before it is often treated. I am thankful that mine went down as it did, even if it ruined most of my plans for kicking back and relaxing.

I got back from the Springs and promptly went to the dentist next morning at 7 am.  I have since had a root canal in that tooth and even though I am sore and not back up to my normally talkative ways, the pain is nothing like what it was over the weekend. I actually slept 7 straight hours last night...a far cry from the 3 or 4 the past few nights.  And it's been quite delightful to be back in my own bed, Mitch excited that I'm spending most of the day in bed.  He doesn't understand why....but he's not questioning it....:o)

I'm way too excited about being able to chew again, and I look forward to having some energy back....how often we rush the healing process, not listening to what our bodies need.  Mine has been demanding many redbox movies and kraft mac 'n cheese. I'm inclined to indulge and relax.....at least until tomorrow....:o)

Crystal Got Married!!!!

So my pessimistic post out of the way, not ALL of my vacation in Colorado was awful, I would say there were a beautiful 8-10 hours that I spent in the company of friends and vicodin....which really helped tremendously in allowing me to relax and ignore the pain.

I always like to say that things just "work out" in Colorado. A post to facebook last week led to knowledge that my dear friend Darci would also be in the Springs!!! And was available to be my date, aka ride, to the wedding!!! So I stole her away from her fiance....thanks Brodie! and we had a day of beautiful weather, a gorgeous bride, and food and company aplenty!

Crystal was an absolutely gorgeous bride.  She even had the pleasure of riding down to the gazebo in a horse drawn carriage.  They wrote their own vows (audible sigh of romantic envy) and it was a perfect celebration for such a lovely couple. 

I couldn't pass up sharing this awesome couple, walker and umbrella included!!!!

I think back to meeting Crystal.  How I sat down next to her at a New Life informational event and said, "Can I sit here? Name's Amy...what's yours?"  After the event ended, I'm pretty sure I said something to the extent of, "Can we be friends?" To which Crystal smiled and said, "Hey, you should come to a coffeehouse this Saturday. My friend is playing music."  That led to this. I don't know of anything that we have done that could be considered dull!

I miss these ladies dearly.  They are love.ly.

A fun look back at some adventures Crystal and I went on:
Bishop's Castle
Frozen Dead Guy Days
Salt Lake City
Hanging Out in Old Colorado City

A Visit Back West!!!!

I'm back in Colorado Springs!!!!  A flight with two delightful seatmates, a newly graduated med student and Gunther, call him Gunnie, fertilizer salesman made the 2.5 hours pass quickly.  What amazed me was as we hit turbulence and I slunk down determined to remain somewhat calm, they kept the conversation going....I am continually blessed in those situations....seeing as I absolutely hate flying and all!

It has been amazing to catch up with friends and people who made the journey of Colorado so deeply ingrained in my DNA.  These people of the Springs are so very close to my heart and I may not have the ability to stay in regular contact with all of them, but it feels so easy to settle back in, to pull friends together.

The only downside of this trip is that what began as minor ear pain early in the week grew to only slightly bearable on Friday which led to a visit to a local ER (something that I never had the opportunity to do in my last stay here).  We deemed it the result of allergies and 50 bucks in meds later at the local walgreens and I was armed for battle.

I quickly lost the battle waking up with severe ear and jaw pain Saturday, but stayed determined to ride it out.  Even in a house of girls, I did my best to not talk and to distract myself with movies and reading.  By Saturday night, eating out with a few friends, it was hard to physically remain still and endure.  So another visit to the ER, this time finding the culprit to be some sort of infection, although hard to pinpoint exactly what is going on.

The plans have altered a lot.  With antibiotics and pain meds, I alternate between blissful exhaustion and excruciating, make you want to cry pain.... I do prefer the bliss.  I had hoped to church hop a bit today, to see more people, and to be in worship....I settled for watching New Life online....ironic since I am but a few mere miles away.

More friends to see tonight and a wedding tomorrow.  Even though this trip will probably go down in the stories as that crazy time I collected bracelets from the ER and stayed doped up on painkillers, I am thankful for time and space away, to remember the things Colorado awakened in me and to remember that Colorado is my second home.  Sweet.

Drummer Nate

I am long overdue for some fun updates, which will soon be coming, but in the meantime, enjoy this video from last week when my nephew Nate was in town. I had such fun with him and my parents.....hope it shows!

Fort Wayne LOVES Its Sports

Confession: I'm not a big fan of sports. Not a big fan in that I have this superhuman ability to zone out any conversation that begins to dabble in the lingo of teams, players, and cities. There is generally some shift in the atmosphere or in body language or a key word spoken that permeates my hard outer shell of ignorance and alerts me back into the conversation. It's a serious problem I know.

But even if I hate most sports, I do love me some Hockey! I think it's the fast pace, men likely to fight, and the comfort of a cooled stadium that draw me in.  And Fort Wayne just so happens to have its very own minor league hockey team: The Komets.  When Dad was in town helping me move out here to the Fort, we took in a game.  They unfortunately lost, and apparently the crowd only knows to shout "You suck" when it spoke in unison, but in the last two minutes of the game, the players gave the crowd their money's worth in a rink wide fight. Refs were thrown out of the way, gloves were lost, and quite possibly a stick was broken...with all the padding those players wear...don't feel too badly for them!

I think the anticipation of the game was the best.  We were around town all day and it came up a few times in conversation with various people. Each person would excitedly and somewhat enviously tell us that it was going to be great...one even going so far as to finding a map of the coliseum to show us where our seats were located.

In a somewhat ironic twist, one of the Komet's goalies is on a billboard advertising lasik surgery. The slogan reads, "Lasik eye surgery and making saves two days later." But really, since they lost....what does that say??