It's only been 2 months

This is why I'm glad I don't get paid for blogging. I don't love technology and I don't often keep up with it like I should. I am so exhausted when I come home from work (and battling traffic) that all I want to do is put on American Idol and clean something, not type!! That's lame, I know, especially since I have so many friends who either have children or are expecting them soon. I'm sure I'm rather lazy in comparison because it seems as though everyone else keeps up with their correspondence just fine. I'm just not that great at it! I'm better at keeping up with research in my field and creating new therapy materials!

That's neither here nor there. It's been approximately 2 months since either Matthew or I have posted a blog. Not a ton has happened these 7ish weeks, but if you are interested, here's a run-down (if not, just close this blog):

We went to the Holiday Celebration at Disneyland. I received a free pass for running the half-marathon in August, so we decided to use it to see the holiday stuff this year!

We attended our Sunday school's Christmas party, The Festival of Soups. Everyone brings a different soup and you get to sample quite a variety. It's delicious. We brought our homemade Tomato Basil soup. We then have a gift exchange. Lots of fun!

Matthew finished his quarter and officially is done with seminars (lecture-type classes). He is now on to the exciting world of studying for his 5 comprehensive exams (each about 3-4 hours; some oral, some essay). He also continues to act as one of Fuller's most coveted teacher's assistants.

We traveled to Midland, TX for Christmas with Matt's family. It was a fabulous 22 degrees some mornings. It did warm up, much to my chagrin, but it was nice to run distance in the cold!

Here are Matt and I before the Christmas Eve service at Crestview Baptist Church.

Melanie and I pigging out!
The family photo!! (Mike, Karen, Alida, Matt, Melanie, Chris, and Lexi the dog)
Matt's mom, Karen, and I did some sewing and I made an apron.

We saw Haylie Duff and her boyfriend, Nick Zano (from What I Like About You), at the airport. We've previously seen Hillary, so I guess we're just magnets for the Duffs!

We hung out with several of our church friends in LA for New Year's. I got to wear my footie pajamas that I got for Christmas!!

We attended the Rose Parade and got to see some wonderful bands and floats. It's definitely something in which Pasadena rightfully takes much pride. Everything visible on the floats must be natural materials. So all the art you see on the floats are made with petals, nut shells, bark, flowers, leaves, seeds, etc. This means that they can only create so much in advance. It's pretty cool to see how it all comes together.

We got to see Cynthia Nixon (from Sex and the City)

and Cloris Leachman (from Dancing with the Stars).

Matt and I

Alida, Joe, and Jenny enjoying the parade

Alida, Alyssa, Andrew, Mike, and Lisa heading to brunch after the parade.

We got to go see A Christmas Carol at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood (where the Oscars were held up until last year) with our friends Mike and Lisa. It was starring Christopher Lloyd, Gene Wilder, John Goodman, Jane Seymour, and Jane Leeves. We got to experience Mike's first encounter with Hollywood!!

We had bachelor and bachelorette parties for our friends Mike and Lisa who were married last weekend in Australia (although I should probably check with those in attendance before I haphazardly post pictures).

And now, you're pretty much caught up in the final days of 2008 and the initiation into 2009 as experienced by Matt and Alida (and Sunnie Bernice) Barnes. Any questions?