The Cousins' Vox

   Sometimes you begin something nonchalantly, not have the slightest clue that it will change your life forever. The Cousins' Vox has done that for me. 
  Voxer, for those of you unfamiliar, is a voice-recording, walkie talkie app. Me and my three cousins (Joy, Laura, and Alyssa) have a group vox where we chat EVERY single day.
   Guys, it beyond fun. Each cousin brings something so entirely different to the conversation that we can't help but vox ALL THE TIME! One time, I had 215 Vox messages to catch up on in the span of 2 hours... that's a small picture into our level of love for the cousins' vox.
   Take Laura, for example, she is like having a personal stylist and interior design consultant at your beck and call.. She pretty much single-handedly helped Alyssa envision the decor for her new home. She could probably design in her sleep. Laura also loves to cook and entertain. She is basically the ideal woman. Plus Laura is very prophetic and one of the most naturally caring people you could hope to meet.
   Joy, besides keeping all us other cousins' hair in top condition (she is a hairstylist), helps define our core muscles from the sheer hilarity of her voxes. Joy is the most naturally funny person I have EVERY MET. Seriously. She also is so versatile because not only is she hysterical, but incredibly wise and profound too. This girl hears from God and studies The Word more than I even thought it possible to do (kidding, kinda). Joy also boasts a deep love for her cats Lilly and Mischa, whose pictures make frequent appearances on vox. She has for sure been accused of liking cats a little too much...
   And Alyssa, undoubtebly the most "Zen" cousin of the bunch. Alyssa's calm and level approach to life and being the mother of TWINS makes her the go-to for Joy and my very high highs and low lows that our personalities present. Alyssa is the rock of the cousins Vox. She also will randomly be SO funny without even trying to be that you can't almost stand it. She and I lived together two years in college with some other friends so we have a lot of history together, have been in each others weddings, and plan on living together someday again if we all outlive our husbands.... 
  I will say that I have made several sacrifices being a part of the cousins' Vox. First off, I'm an avid cat disliker and I have had to power through some very long voxes about cat-related incidents because all the other cousins happen to love cats. I did conceded to us all having cats in our future cousins'  old people home (if in fact, we all do end up out-living our spouses- BTW we are hoping our husbands all live long, healthy lives... we just needed a back up plan and alternative to a nursing home).  
   Admittedly, I also have put the cousins through some stretching voxes of my own... Like that trial month where Paul convinced me that we should take a Schnauzer puppy... with me having a new born and not yet two-year-old... Yea those were some interesting times.
   But lest you think the Cousins' vox is all entertainment, think again. For a stitch in time, we actually had a "word of the day" challenge so that we increased our vocabularies. We have collectively participated in healthy eating challenges and regularly share what we are learning from the books we read and scripture we study. The cousins' vox has even crossed over into a couseling tool within the last week as we pleaded with Joy to consult her parents on some parenting questions we had. 
   In short, thank God for the Cousins' Vox.