Guess what....I tied the knot!

I guess the title should explain itself! Considering its been quite a while since I have updated my blog like always my posts seem to be the big things that happen in my life. I married Bradley James Cox on May 9th! It seriously was one of the best days ever! We were married in the Washington DC Temple! What a beautiful temple! When we are married in the temple we are sealed together as families which means that we will be together forever. We will see each other again after we die! Isn't that amazing!

So for those of you who don't know the story of how we met and decided to get married I will fill you in with the details now. I moved to West Virginia on September 25th of 2013...wow I cant believe I have been here for almost two years already. When I arrived in West Virginia I started attending the University Ward and Institute and I met Brad and had a feeling that I needed to get to know him. I thought well okay but I am not exactly sure how to go about it so I tried talking to him at different activities and things but nothing ever really came about. Then my parents and I moved to Fairmont from Morgantown in November of 2013 and we lived right around the corner from his families house. It just so happens that he moved back home in December. It took a couple of months before we went on our first date. He invited me over to his house to try out crossfit and we took a three hour drive in my mothers covertible. That led to us dating for three months and then we took a five month break. I know right a five month break but it was a necessary for us because Brad is a very logical person and needs time to think about things and figure things out. So needless to say during the five month break we became good friends and talked a lot about different things and really got to know one another.

During our break, I personally made a lot of changes. I started running a lot and decided to do fun things on my bucket list. I ran 5Ks and did a mud run. I also made a lot of spiritual changes. I started thinking about how I could become a better person. I decided that I would try and become more of a christ like person. I would try and give more service and try and do the things that god wanted me to do. So as I was making these changes Brad began to notice and realized that I was developing qualities that he wanted.

We did many fun things together while we were friends and we realized that we still really liked each other but thought that we shouldn't be together or get married....we even had a code word for when we were struggling with our feelings and so the other person would know we were struggling. The word was bundt cake haha.

Really when things changed was on Brads birthday December 5th 2014. He texted me and asked me what I was doing. I was shopping with my mother and nephew Kaden. He wanted to join us. Of course I was curious as to why he wanted to spend his birthday with me. So he came and met us at the store and spent some time playing with me and my nephew on the mall play area. I of course began to like him more watching him play with my nephew and I knew I was in trouble haha. So he left to get ready for his birthday party later that night that I was also going to attend. A group of us went ice skating and it was an enjoyable time. After ice skating I gave Brad his gift outside of the institute and then we both agreed that it was a bundt cake moment. We then proceeded to have a really long conversation outside of the institute but still left with the conclusion that we should be friends and shouldn't be together.

So little did I know that Brad would have a feeling the next weekend that he could and needed to marry me. He was sitting in a church christmas meeting and had the feeling that it would be okay for us to be together and that he had found the one he wanted to marry. So the monday following the meeting we met for a morning run and he wanted to meet with my parents. I had no idea what had happened the night before so I was nervous and scared about what would be said or why he wanted to meet with them. Little did I know he would explain that he changed his mind and that he was sorry for how things had gone previously but that basically he wanted to marry me. I was clueless to this at this point so I was still trying to figure out what they were discussing. I told him that we needed to talk about it and I needed to know what they had talked about so he told me to meet him at our spot. I was so nervous driving to our spot. When we met he explained that he changed his mind and that he wanted us to date again. So I agreed kind of reluctantly because I wasn't sure how I felt(even though I really liked him I didnt want to get hurt either). We decided to call it a night and we would meet up the next day.

I put together a finals care package for him and just thought the whole day about whether or not I could see myself marrying him and being with him. And so while I delivered the package to him that night and as I looked over at him sitting next to me on the couch I realized that there is no one else in the whole world that I would want to be sitting next to. So that was my decision! And the rest is history! We got engaged January 1st 2015 at a YSA Dance! So much fun! He did a wonderful job and it was a surprise! We obviously had a short engagement and got married a couple of weeks ago! Married life is wonderful! I couldn't be any more blessed! My parents and family did an amazing job on the wedding and reception and the blessings we have received has been endless. We couldn't be more grateful for all of the love and support. The lord has blessed us for sure! I could not ask for a more loving and kind husband. I can't believe the lord has trusted me with such a wonderful guy. I am learning a lot from him on a daily basis which is something that I wanted. I know that we will be together forever and I cant wait to chase forever down with him by my side!

Here are some pictures from the big day!

I am excited to keep you all updated on the Cox family adventures.

September is the Month for Fun!

September has come and gone and I'm finally getting around to updating on here! At least its not too far into October this time! September has been one of my favorite Months in West Virginia so far! Could be the fact that I've been here for a whole year! Crazy! It has flown right on by and it honestly has been the best decision! I have loved being here and making a lot of new friends! I have learned and grown so much!

Earlier in the month, my friends and I decided to do the Color Me Rad 5k! My friends and I had the best time! The morning was really cold and rainy and the trail we ran on was muddy and full of puddles! Needless to say, we ended up wet and muddy and colored all over with the chalk. The race starts out with them spraying you with one color, and then throughout the whole race they throw and spray different colors on you as you run right on by. At the finish line they give you color bombs, which are bags full of the colored chalk, and they lead you to this giant stage. At the stage there is a large crowd and they were playing music and then they had different activities and things. One of the activities was a handstand chugging contest! My Sister in law Jessica jumped up at the chance and volunteered us for the challenge! We got first out of our age group! She even drank an orange soda! It was so much fun! Another activity led my good friend Justin to dance on stage....he also won! They gave us a lot of shirts and things.  After all these activities they have whats called the color bomb! So they gave us all those color bags and they count you down and you just go crazy with the chalk and throw it everywhere and all over each other! Of course I was the lucky one who got bombed by an entire bag of blue! It was all over me and in my mouth! I had to wash my mouth out with some water! When I spit the water out it was pure blue! The whole 5K was so much fun! After the race, Heather, Katie, Justin and I went to Chick-fil-a for lunch of course! I loved the different looks we got!

Here are some awesome pictures of us!

 Here are the videos of the color bomb and the finish line!

So many fun memories! Plus I was able to run the whole thing! I have come a long way in my running since last year! Ive finally decided to be more active and fit and I have gotten into running once again!

My 25th Birthday was also this month! 25 years old really?! I can't believe it! It was an awesome day! I decided to do my very first mud run! I was able to participate in the Chestnut Mountain Mud Run in Fairmont. It was a 3 mile course filled with over 25 different obstacles! I had to climb and jump over walls, pull myself up a steep black tube with a rope, climb in the mud and underneath ropes, fill buckets with rocks and carry them a distance and dump them out, climb over hay bails, jump over fire, slide down a slide, tromp through a muddy bank at the river, try and balance while walking on a pole and a lot of other obstacles! I was so tired but i survived and i loved every minute of it! It was so hilly and everything! Im so surprised that I even made it to the finish! I was so covered in mud when I finished but I felt amazing! I faced my fear of heights and climbed over the giant wall and I climbed it twice...It was awesome doing something so hard!

Here are the pictures from the mud run!

After the mud run I headed home to shower! After I got out of the shower my friends surprised me and kidnapped me! They planned a little surprise birthday lunch at Dickey's Barbecue! They are the best! Here are the photos and videos from that experience! It was my first surprise birthday party!

It was a wonderful month! I have really enjoyed getting back into running and running different races and things! I am working on running a half marathon and what a better way to train! Do a bunch of different races and things!