Barnes' Yard

Hanson...Yes, I said Hanson

2009-11-14T13:45:00.001-08:00

My darling friend/coworker Cathryn is from North Carolina. She is an avid Hanson fan. I truly don't think I can convey the extent to which she loves Hanson. Yes, I'm talking about the 3 brothers, "Mmbop"-singing, instrument-playing Hanson. Did you all know that Hanson still tours and records? SURPRISE! Cathryn has not missed a Hanson concert yet. The issue that Cathryn has found is that it's difficult to find friends to accompany you to a Hanson concert, but that it's also not fun to enjoy alone. So, Cathryn has some friends who like her enough to accompany her to Hanson concerts. Last weekend, that someone was me and Susanna. Kathleen met us for dinner, but she moved to Indiana a couple days later, so she had to return home to pack (I don't want to talk any more about that...).

So Susanna and I attended the Hanson concert at Club Nokia with Cathryn. Words cannot express the events that ensued that evening...

More pictures to come as many were on Susanna and Cathryn's cameras. I'll pass them along as I get them.

Movember

2009-11-13T04:24:00.000-08:00

Movember is a tradition originated by some men in Australia. In order to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer research, they do funny things with their facial hair for the month of November. That is why it's called "Movember" -- mustache + November = Movember.

So, in light of this tradition, for the second consecutive year I'll be participating in Movember. To see what I did last year, click here. This year, however, I decided, with my wife's misguided consent, to grow only a mustache.

Since Halloween is the day before Movember began, I first had a bit of fun with my facial hair, rocking the walrus-style fu manchu. Goose Gossage would be proud!

The following day I shaved off the bottom portions, and moved my sideburns up a bit too. So now I'm sporting the "I look way too much like my dad at this age" facial hair do.

Last year I did this to raise awareness for autism (click here to read more about that). This year, however, I want to shed light on another issue: namely, child mortality. While the rates of infants and under-five children who die in the US are relatively low (6.3 and 7.8 out of 1000 live births respectively) [SOURCE 1, 2], there are many places in the world where this is not the case.

In fact, there are five countries who have under-five mortality rates at or above 20%. Those countries and the number of under-five death per 1000 live births are Mali (199.7), Liberia (205.2), Angola (230.8), Afghanistan (235.4), and Sierra Leone (278.1) [SOURCE 1, 2]. Here is a map [SOURCE] which highlights well the areas of our world that are struggling with this issue the most (dark red indicates the highest rates):

What are the causes of death for these children? Lots of things, many of which are preventable, such as infections, diarrhea, malaria, measles, and malnutrition [SOURCE]. In other words, with the provision of medication and educations, some of these deaths could be prevented.

In the remaining days of Movember I am going to be thinking about how I can get involved in the solution to this issue. I hope you'll join me on this journey!

For more information on child mortality, I recommend the World Health Organization's website as a starting point.

Halloween ends and MOVEMBER begins

2009-11-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I LOVE Halloween!!! I think it's so much fun to get all dressed up and welcome autumn into our lives. I've always lived in the south, and Halloween usually is the time when Indian summers are over and the cooler weather comes along (except, of course, in LA, where we only have 2 seasons--really really hot and slightly less hot). I love love love chilly weather!! I know there is much religious tension wrapped up in Halloween, but I choose not to get fussied up in that aspect. I love celebrating the fun that can be found in pumpkin carving, scarecrow decorating, dressing up, and eating candy! Growing up, my parents always made it about fun and family. I have lots of fond memories of Halloween. I could go on and on about my love affair with Halloween, but I'll spare you.

This year, we attended the Crossroads Halloween party at Hai's house. There were some fun times, yummy food, and creative costumes. Matthew and I decided to go as hippies, complete with Matt's facial hair. We also decided to implement an act of improvisational hippy singing. It was quite excting, I'm sure.

Mummy Dogs I made for the party

Joe and Ginger as rockers (Bono and Fergie-ish), in honor of the U2-Black Eyed Peas concert

Elizabeth the peasant

Nick as Superpoke

Postman Hai

The Nishizaki's as Japanese tourists

Carol and Mike (he's not so into Halloween)

Our hippiness

Our improvisational singing...

November 1 also marks the beginning of Movember. Matt's coming along with another blog about this, so just stay tuned...

A New Addiction...And Other October Fun!

2009-10-30T16:52:00.001-07:00

The past few weeks have been riddled with excitement. The weekend after our anniversary was our friends' Joe and Ginger's wedding. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!! I think Ginger was such a radiant bride and the event was just all-around good fun! Matthew was a groomsman (I love him in a tux!), so I had a lot of downtime during the rehearsal and the pre-wedding pictures. Well, thank goodness I did!!! I got to entertain the 3 most fantastic children I have ever met, Hope, Ella, and Nate, who just happened to be the 2 neices and nephew of the groom. Now, I know I 've met some phenomenal children, I mean I work with them every day. But I really don't think anything compares to the 6-year-old, 4-year-old, and 2-year-old that I had the privilege of entertaining for most of the day and into the evening. I'm now obsessed with these children--as the pictures below will convey (posted with their parents' permission, of course). This, my friends, is why I love other peoples' children. I am now completely in love with, not only these children, but the bride and groom's entire families. They were so sweet and so much fun to be around! Check out the pics...

Rehearsal:

Our friend Sarah was also in the wedding (as was her husband, Joe, not pictured)

The Rehearsal Dinner at Texas Barn Burner, baby...mmmmmm

Wedding/Reception:

Matt and Joe, the groom

Matt and Joe, the groomsman

Matt and Nate

Alida and Nate

Alida, Hope, and Ella

Alida and Ella

Hope getting the dancing started at the reception

Nate, quite the ladies' man

Alida dancing with Ella

Alida teaching Ella to snap (this is a hard skill to learn)

Dancin' the night away...

The handsome couple....Mr. and Mrs. Joe Demers!!!!

The following weekend, we got to go to the U2 concert at the Rose Bowl. We were very smart (and lucky) in that we decided to not even try to battle traffic and just walked the 2.5 miles down to the Rose Bowl. The concert was AMAZING! At one point, Bono asked that all the lights be shut off and we all just held up our cell phones to light up the stadium. It was really neat-o!

The stage was crazy!

Bono doing his THANG

There were over 100,000 people there. It was a crazy mass of folks. Good thing I don't mind crowds!

This weekend, we also carved our Halloween pumpkins. I love love love Halloween and carving pumpkins is one of my favorite parts. A picture of Humphrey, our pumpkin from last year, is one of the first posts on this blog! This year, Matthew got quite creative and carved Aloycious, Mortimer, and Orville. I just scooped them out and made lots o' yumminess with their seeds (a la Toasted Pumpkin Seeds and Peppery Pumpkin Seed Toffee).

7 Year Itch

2009-10-16T15:34:00.000-07:00

This past Monday was our seventh anniversary. Wow!!! We've been married 7 years. That's crazy!!!!!

Matthew planned a surprise trip to Solvang, a precious little Danish community north of Santa Barbara.

We just hung out around town, looked in all the CUTE little shops, had some yummy Danish food, and enjoyed being together. Matthew is adorable and found this website called www.dogfriendly.com to find out all the things we can do with Sunnie so we didn't have to leave her behind. Here are some pictures of the trip...

While I realize this is more Dutch than Danish, I just couldn't resist!

The dog-friendly horse-and-trolley tour of Solvang was definitely a highlight!Sunnie in her pink camo polo shirt. I think it's so not right that our sweet little girl has chest hair poking out...

Every year, our anniversary tradition is to not get one another gifts. We feel that it's one less thing to stress us out. Instead, we go shopping for a gift together in that year's traditional gift. Here are our 7 anniv gifts thus far and something exciting that happened that year.....

2003; 1st anniversary: Paper: Matt wrote a poem for us and set it to music. So I guess, he actually wrote a song. Our first year of marriage we survived the first year of our Master's Degrees and we got our precious puppy, Sunnie Bernice Barnes.

2004; 2nd anniversary: Cotton: Comforter and sheets. We had moved into the 3-bedroom house in Speegleville and were using Matt's old college sheets in the guest room. We decided to buy a cotton comforter and sheet set that looked a little more grown-up. We actually use it on our bed now since we don't have a guest room and the cotton is easier to launder than the fancy comforter we got for the wedding. With no A/C, that makes a big difference! Our second year of marriage, I graduated with my Master's Degree and entered the workforce!

2005; 3rd anniversary: Leather: Photo album. We bought a red leather photo album which I used to put our pictures of our dating life in, kind of our little love story. Our third year of marriage, we went to London and Matt graduated with his Master's Degree and was ordained into the ministry.

2006; 4th anniversary: Flowers: Green flower pot with faux flowers. We can't keep real plants alive to save our lives (although, we've gotten better lately), so we went faux. Our fourth year of marriage, God sent us packing to live in Pasadena, CA so Matt could work on his PhD. This was also the year Matt officiated his first wedding.

2007; 5th anniversary: Wood: Wooden salad bowl and serving spoons. This was the year we went to Hawaii for our anniversary. While there we found the salad bowl and thought it would work nicely for us. Our fifth year of marriage was also the year we went on a mission trip to Cambodia, which changed so much of our outlook and our relationships with the Lord.

2008; 6th anniversary: Iron: Cast iron griddle. Matt has really gotten into cooking, so he discovered that he could definitely use a cast iron griddle. It's come in quite handy! Our sixth year of marriage, I received a promotion at work and became the head of the speech department as well as experienced several other career firsts. Matt also stuck with me and encouraged me as I trained for and completed my first half-marathon!

2009; 7th anniversary: Copper: Brass cross with copper bells. Matt and I started collecting crosses when we got engaged. It just kind of happened, we didn't plan it. Now we look for unique crosses that really speak to us about some aspect of our relationship with the Lord. We saw this cross at a store manned by a gentleman who was wheelchair-bound. He was so nice and great to converse with. As someone who works with people with special needs, I felt that this would remind me of the success that can be found despite internal or external limitations. Our seventh year of marriage has been one of change, challenge, and education. Matt has completed his proposal and has turned 30. This has been a great year! I can't imagine my life without Matthew. He is the man who compliments every part of me. He is loving, thoughtful, encouraging, and comforting. He makes me laugh, holds me when I cry, and allows me to write random songs when I'm stressed. He understands the parts of me that don't even make sense to me. God absolutely created us for one another and I'm so thankful!

THE PROPOSAL IS IN!! (and other excitement of September)

2009-10-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

The rest of September has FLOWN by!!! What a crazy month! Some fabulous blessings for this month include...

Matt completed his dissertation literature review and proposal!! He emailed it to his mentor, who is currently in Cambridge, but there was not rest for the weary, poor guy.

We attended the engagement party of our lovely friends, Joe and Ginger. It was a beautiful evening and the food was quite yummy!

That same weekend, Matt's parents came in for a visit. What a blessing they are! How did I get so lucky to have such fun, understanding in-laws? We had a great time. We went to San Diego for a day trip. We took a trolley ride around town, hung out in Little Italy, and watched the seals in La Jolla.

Mike and Karen were so understanding on Saturday, they let Matt sleep in a little. We hung

around the apartment for a while and then took a tour of the Gamble House (the winter home of the Gamble family, of Proctor & Gamble fame).

Karen wanted to go somewhere nice for dinner on Saturday for her and Matt's birthdays (which are both in September), so we went to Malibu and ate at the delicious Geoffrey's right on the beach. What a lovely sunset!

We also got to hang out with them, watch football, and just generally converse. Matt also took them shopping while I was at work. They are such a blessing to us in so many ways!

The following weekend, we supported the Living Well Pregnancy Center's fundraising walk. It was really hot outside!

Then we went with several friends to the USC/Washington State game. Despite some poor sportsmanship on the field and some ridiculous traffic issues (gotta love LA), it was fun! We really enjoy being with our wonderful friends.

This past weekend, Matt and I got to go to another movie at the Santa Monica Pier. We met some of my coworkers there and watched Ferris Beuller's Day Off. What a great flick!

On Saturday, Matt and I went to San Bernadino County and went raspberry picking and to a pumpkin patch. It was a lot of fun! Although, we learned some things to do differently next year, the berries are DELICIOUS!!

So, now that we're all ready for fall, what with our pumpkins, football, and such, I wonder what October will hold...

The Big 3-0

2009-09-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

Matthew's 30th birthday was on Thursday, September 10. Seeing as he needed to diligently work on his dissertation proposal that's due next week and I had to go into work, we decided to celebrate on Friday (I don't work on Fridays). Thursday night, we did get to go out to one of Matt's favorite restaurants, Cabrerra's, for some yummy Mexican food, then back to the apartment for his birthday cake. I'd made a strawberry cheesecake just for him! Unfortunately, I got home from work quite late, so we ate dinner instead of watching the NFL season kick-off game (or whatever you football aficionados call the first game of the season). On Friday, Matthew got to sleep in until 7 am, then he had to do some dissertation work for several hours. He told me that we could start the celebration after lunch. He loves McDonald's, so we ate Mickey D's takeout for lunch to enable him to get a little extra work in. Then it was off to birthday fun...

We got a much-needed couple's massage at Z Med Spa in LA. Then we drove down to Santa Monica. Matthew said that all he really wanted to do for his birthday was watch the sun set over the water. We ate at a yummy Italian place, Fritto Misto. DELICIOUS! They treated us very well, I must say. Then we walked to the Santa Monica pier, just in time for sunset. We took some pictures on the pier. I'd read about this cool free thing they are currently doing at the pier, so my wonderful friend Mahala had gotten me tickets. I was so excited to take Matthew to a pier showing of his favorite movie...The Princess Bride!!

It was a beautiful evening, nice and relaxing! Nothing extravagant, but something I knew he'd enjoy. Happy birthday, dear! You work so hard and do so much for our family. You deserve much more relaxation. Thank you for your dedication to your work, your calling, your ministry, and your family. I hope you had a great 30th birthday!! I love love love love love love love you.

American Idol '09...In Milwaukee?

2009-09-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me, I am not a huge television viewer. I would rather have movies or music on in the background so I can clean, read, work, or converse with my husband. I really don't like to just sit in front of and pay attention to the TV. EXCEPT for two instances:

1. The news--I have to know what's going on in the world, so I tune into the news every morning while I'm getting ready

2. AMERICAN IDOL--I am a 13-year-old girl come Tuesday and Wednesday nights from January to June. I am so pathetically fanatic that the past 2 years, Matt and I have actually attended the American Idol concert (so, of course, I can see the performances of those for whom I voted). Two years ago, it was at the Honda Center in Anaheim; last year, we went with our great friends Paul and Robin to Las Vegas and saw the show there. This year, however, we happened to be visiting my parents when the Idol concert toured through the Southern California area. I would NOT let that stop me, though. We looked for somewhere that we had never been that had cheap airline tickets AND that somewhat worked with our ridiculous schedules. We decided upon....MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN!!

So...at the end of August, we went to Milwaukee for 4 days. What a fun city! Here are some of our pictures and experiences from that trip...

Miller Park (Home of the Milwaukee Brewers):

We did not go to a Brewers game (we can see baseball at home), but we did go see the stadium. Pretty nice, from what I saw.

Wisconsin countryside (their cheese is stinkin' good!):

We took a drive one morning into the countryside. When we travel, we like to get out of the hustle and bustle and see what real locals experience. We also were desperately on the hunt for some good ol' Wisconsin cheese. We went to a cheese maker and actually saw the makings of the cheese. It's quite interesting. We also ate LOTS of cheese samples and are now addicted to cheese curds (which we can't seem to find at Trader Joe's or Food 4 Less). The country itself, though was just beautiful. I love how God uses his creativity differently in different parts of the country/world!

Lakefront Brewery:

Since Milwaukee is known for its beer making specialties, we felt that we should see what all the fuss is about, so we nerded ourselves and went on a brewery tour. I'm sooooo not a beer drinker, but it was interesting to see how the stuff is made. We actually went on the environmental tour, so we got to learn about all the great environmental efforts they are putting into their brewing efforts. It was quite interesting. We also got to watch a brief rendition of Laverne and Shirley's opening theme song and eat at the brewery's restaurant. Luckily, Friday is Milwaukee's city-wide fish fry, so we loaded up on some DELICIOUS fried fish--yummmmmmmmmmy!!

American Idol Concert at Bradley Center:

In case you were wondering, the top 10 finalists perform at these things. This year, we saw Michael (from TX), Megan (sleeve tatoos), Scott (visually impaired), Lil (African-American mom), Anoop (Indian guy from NC), Matt (piano bar guy), Allison (rocker chick), Danny (church music leader), Adam (rock opera guy), and Kris (THE AMERICAN IDOL!!)

Milwaukee Museum of Art:

This museum was really cool. Again, we got our nerd on and took a museum highlights tour and then walked around by ourselves for a while. The museum had some really interesting works from several eras. The main part of the museum is created to look like a ship out on Lake Michigan. It's a really cool experience.

Historic Third Ward :

One of the nerdy things we love to do is take walking historic tours of cities and neighborhoods. We took one of Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward and learned all about the various historical happenings and cultures therein.

The Milwaukee Public Market is in the Third Ward. Matt and I went there EVERY DAY when we were there. They had an amazing little coffee shop with yummy drinks, so we had several of those! They also had a great chocolate stand, a really good bakery stand, and a place with all different kinds of cheese curds. These among many other venders! It was just such a delicious, eclectic, low-key place, so we really enjoyed it!

Downtown Milwaukee Architecture:

We went on another walking tour of downtown Milwaukee. It was wonderfully interesting as well. Matt and I both love learning history and looking at architecture, so we were quite happy! Milwaukee has some lovely historic buildings. The public library (below) is gorgeous! The city also has dozens of churches. It is very influenced by German and Polish architecture with respect to the churches, so the steeples and spiers can be seen all over the skyline, which is very pretty! It's kind of how we as Christians should be. We should be significant enough to stick out, but not sequestered from the world so we can't influence it. These churches made part of the skyline, alongside bank and business buildings. We as Christians should be visible in the world, too, but comfortable enough to be alongside nonbelievers.

Pabst Mansion:

We took a tour of the Pabst Mansion (of the Pabst Beer fame). It's a lovely historic home and we learned a lot about life in the mid- to late-19th century. I love learning about history!

Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport:

While we were at the airport, we bumped into this sign just after the security checkpoint. Now, Matthew and I have been in many, many, many airports, and have never seen a sign like this, but I really think that we need them all over our cities, maybe even in our houses. Our lives get so hectic sometimes that we need a specific location for this. Maybe we should hang this over our churches, after all, isn't this what church is supposed to be?

It was a very relaxing and fun trip. We are super thankful that we got to go seek out new territory and we really loved the city. Even though we don't yet have children, our lives are still quite ridiculously busy. It's so nice to make intentional time to get away from life and reconnect and just have fun. Plus, you really can't beat a high of 67 degrees in August!!

Legally Blonde, Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, CA:

This weekend, we also saw Legally Blonde: The Musical. What a fantastic musical it is (I mean, really, how can you NOT like the song "There! Right There!"? )!!!

I feel so blessed to be married to an amazing man who allows me to have random whims, like going to Wisconsin or seeing a wacky musical. He not only goes along with it, but he then takes it upon himself to plan and organize it. What a wonderful man I've married. No wonder I'm not quite ready to share him!

Delayed Postings

2009-08-23T19:35:00.001-07:00

I actually started this blog post 3 weeks ago, but it's been a crazy couple of weeks...I've been editing and adding pictures (that takes forever, how do you people do it as often as you do?) and this has become quite the ordeal. Anyway...Here's up to mid-August. I am working on another one for our latest trip and endeavors. Enjoy (or at least humor me)...

I'm officially the world's worst EVER!! At least I have other talents, right? It's been rather crazy here in Southern California since mid-May. Let's see......

Strawberry Festival; Oxnard, CA:

I went to the Strawberry Festival with some girls from work (Jana, Anna, Mahala, and Kathleen). Nothing like strawberry pizza, strawberry wine, strawberry beer (or as I like to call it "Strawbeery"--haha), strawberry pie, and your regular yummy fair food (fish 'n' chips, sausage, garlic fries...mmmmmm). I love yummy food and hanging out with colleagues outside the confines of the office! I truly work with some amazing people and I'm so blessed to really enjoy being around with my coworkers.

Santa Barbara, CA:

We went to Santa Barbara with our friends Joe and Sarah. We got to hang out at the zoo, walk on the pier, walk around the Santa Barbara Mission, visit the botanical gardens post Santa Barbara fire, and hang out for a while. It was lots o' fun--I didn't know what fire would do to a cactus until I saw it up close! We always enjoy being with Joe and Sarah. They are so much fun and such great friends. It's great to have friends who allow you to just be yourself and love you for exactly who you are.

Memorial Day/Peeps massacre; Huntington Beach, CA:

We observed Memorial Day at the beach with our Sunday School class, an annual affair. It's always quite an experience because you never know what the weather is going to do. Last year it was around 65 degrees the whole day, this year it was 70-ish I think. Pretty comfortable and fun! We usually enjoy making s'mores after the sun goes down. Lately, I have been sharing my Peeps and making sadistic Peep s'mores. It sounds awful, but we like to refer to it as "poor man's creme brulee." It's delicious! Well, this year, we had a few boxes of stale Peeps that were not edible (trust me, I did everything I could to make the edible). So the guys decided to make a Dante's Inferno rendition with Peeps. It was quite amusing...and a little scary.

JAMES MARSTERS; Skirball Cultural Center; LA, CA:

I got to go see one of my favorite actors, James Marsters, in a play at the Skirball. Not only did we get to see a very intriguing performance of The Importance of Being Earnest, but I got to breathe the same air as James!!!! What a delightful evening, and it was all a surprise planned by my wonderful husby!

Running update:

I have not been able to run very long distances. My right knee has been acting up and I am trying to take things VERY slowly so I don't exacerbate the injury. Do you know how frustrating it is watching people run 10 miles and knowing you can't join them? It's a sad sad day!! But it's teaching me patience and it's great that I can currently take Sunnie Bernice on all my daily runs because they are short enough (she can only run up to 9 miles).

July 4th; Cloudcroft, NM:

We went to Cloudcroft over July 4th weekend. My parents have a cabin up there that they enjoy to get away from the craziness of their Georgian life. We saw my parents for about 3 hours at Christmastime, but otherwise we hadn't seen them in about a year. We had a great time driving the backroads looking for elk, hanging out at the cabin, and eating some wonderful comfort food! My parents even planned a fun campfire thing for our last night there (the thunderstorm didn't deter us)

(Our computer ate most of those pictures, for some reason, but I was able to salvage a few...)

Service Projects (Living Well Pregnancy Center; Habitat for Humanity):

We had the opportunity to participate in 2 service projects with Crossroads (our Sunday school class). We got to help clean and organize Living Well Crisis Pregnancy Center and help build an 11-townhouse-unit for Habitat for Humanity. Both were wonderful opportunities! After serving at the Living Well, we had a picnic to celebrate our hard work. It's always amazing how God uses service to bring groups closer together. Matt and I always love serving together as we find that it really helps to strengthen our relationship. It's always a blessing getting to serve others and taking focus off my silly self and my petty issues to project them on others who truly need to experience God's love.

Big Mama's Rib House; Pasadena, CA:

I'd been craving some barbecue lately, so Matthew found this little restaurant that looked ghetto but got rave reviews. I run by it often, but I'd never paid attention to it. We went to Big Mama's Rib House, and may I tell you that Big Mama is now my best friend! (The picture below is exactly why I rarely eat ribs in public!)

Picnic; Mount Wilson, CA:

We drove to the top of Mt. Wilson (yes, the one that is now significantly burning in the Angeles Forest Fire) with Mike and Lisa, had a lovely picnic, and watched the sunset over LA. It was beautiful! While our computer ate several of the pictures from this as well, we still had a great time. We love the spontaneity and love that we feel from Mike and Lisa. We love being able to have deep, thoughtful conversations with them. What a great couple!

The Tempest; Barnstall Park; LA, CA:

Matt, Hai, Nathanie, and I went to the Shakespeare in the park production of the Tempest at Barnstall Park. We got to enjoy a picnic and a wonderful performance. Yet, again, more friends that we love just being with and we gain so much diversity and knowledge from. Both are really great at finding random things to do in the area that are SO MUCH FUN!!

Trapezing update:

I've been continuing to trapeze. I'm now quite the pro at the knee hang catch. I think I may try a new trick next time I go. One time, our friends Joe and Ginger went with me. It was great fun as they had just gotten engaged about a week before. They are so much fun to hang out with!

Switchfoot/Blue October Concert; The Wiltern; Koreatown:

We went to the Switchfoot/Blue October concert at the Wiltern with our friends Mike and Lisa. Oddly, we were going for Switchfoot as we'd never heard of Blue October and Lisa loves Blue October and neither of them had heard of Switchfoot. It was a rockin' evening, even with my makeshift earplugs!

Fiddler on the Roof; The Pantages Theatre; Hollywood, CA:

I got to go to Topol's farewell tour of Fiddler on the Roof at the Pantages Theatre with my friend Nathanie. It was a fantastic performance (of course!)

Matt and Joe's Surprise 30th Birthday Party:

Sarah and I decided to throw a surprise party for our husbands' 30th birthdays. Joe's birthday (Sarah's husband) is August 6 and Matt's is September 10, so August 15 was as close to the middle as we could get with our crazy busy schedules. We decided on a Dallas Cowboys/Kansas City Chiefs theme and had it double as a game night. It was a great time! I even tried my hand on decorating a cake in under 10 minutes. I think I did pretty well since I forgot my frosting tips at home and had a very short time to decorate!

Diana Krall Concert; Hollywood Bowl; Hollywood, CA:

We got to go to the Hollywood Bowl! This was exciting, and a goal for the Barneseseses, in itself, but we got to see the lovely DIANA KRALL perform. Talk about an amazing evening! We'd found out that Lisa had actually also bought tickets to the performance, so the three of us, along with her friend Mel, all went to the bowl together, had a yummy picnic on the bowl grounds, and enjoyed the concert. It was a fantastic evening--what beautiful weather and what a phenomenal performer!

Dodgers vs Cubs game; Dodger Staduim; LA, CA:

The Chicago Cubs were in town recently. Since they are our favorite baseball team (independently of one another, for VERY different reasons), we hit Dodger Stadium on Saturday. Sadly, they lost, but our seats were perfect and kept us nicely shaded from the nasty hot weather. And who can turn down a Dodger dog?

So...until I have a chance to catch you up on the end of August forward, that's the Barneseseses for now!

A Wedding, Trapezing, and the Chocoate Festival

2009-05-10T18:40:00.001-07:00

The past 2 weeks have been busy as usual, but we've found some time to have great fun and get to be in God's presence!

Scott and Jenn's Wedding: On 4/25, we got to participate in our friends Scott and Jenn's wedding. Matt got to co-officiate and Sarah Stehly and I got to attend to the gifts. It was a beautiful wedding and a good time had by all!

Here are Sarah and I attending the gifts

Mas Trapeze: On 5/2, I got to go trapezing again with Jennifer (a different one, not the one that got married the week previously), Anna, and Susanna. All these lovely ladies are co-workers with me at the pediatric agency. I've included some videos of how I did and what I aspire to be (Jenn has been trapezing since November, so she's practically a pro!).

Here's me....I got a quasi-catch!!! It was great.

Here is Jenn, the trapezist extraordinaire--what I can only aspire to be...

News from Cambodia: Sunday, 5/3 was our "World Focus Weekend" at our church. Lake Avenue Church partners with World Relief in their efforts in serving Cambodia. As many of you know, Matthew and I got to serve there in June 2007. We have a huge love for this country and its people. It's always wondeful hearing an update about them, but it's also very hard for me. We desperately want to return there to serve someday, but this summer we just aren't able to. Matt needs to use this summer to focus on his dissertation proposal. We continue to pray for God to show us if we will be able to return someday. We'll see what he has planned for us.

A picture from our 2007 trip to Cambodia. This is Sambat and his son David. Cambodians are some of the most beautiful people I have ever met.

This past weekend was busy and grand!

Dodger Game: On Friday, we got to go to an LA Dodger game and enjoy the fan-appreciation fireworks afterward (not to mention the delicious all-beef Dodger Dogs--yummy!).

Date Day: On Saturday, we had a Matt and Alida day, which we hadn't gotten to enjoy in a while. We still do our weekly date nights (usually on Friday, but we've learned to be flexible as long as we get in in one night on the weekend). These are so important to our relationship. Since our weeks are busy (for a boring rundown, see previous whiny blog written last month), it's so vital for us to have a time in which we are not stressed out from work or research, but we get to focus on us. Sure, we get to briefly do this on weeknights during dinner, but keep in mind that I teach classes at times in the evenings until 11 pm and we both have weekly Bible study as well. Since I also work until 7 pm and have to sit in traffic, I don't usually get home until 8-ish at the earliest on weeknights, which makes connecting during the week a little more difficult. Date night is great because it gives us something fabulous to look forward to no matter how our week is going. We try not to discuss work or research during date night, but just focus on us, our relationship with God, etc. It's our time to chat about things on our minds other than menial daily tasks and goings on. It allows us to go deeper, which is something not always allowed to us with our crazy weekly schedules. I highly recommend it for any couple. I realize many of my readers have children or are expecting children, so this may seem like an unrealistic expectation, but it makes a world of difference.

But I digress...Matt and I also try to have date days every now and again in which we have the whole day away from the usual and we do something fun. This Saturday, we got to go to the Encinitas Chocolate Festival and the Quail Botanical Gardens, near San Diego. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!! I think that chocolate is so insanely tastey and I was so excited that an entire festival dedicated to it was nearby. I got to try all sorts of truffles, dips, cupcakes, brownies, cakes, and confections. I have to say that my favorite was a tie between the dark chocolate coconut peanut brittle from Jers Chocolatier (featured on Rachael Ray for anyone who has seen it) and the skewered marshmallows and strawberries dipped in the dark chocolate fountain (see photo below). Heaven, both of them!!! We also got to try novelties like chocolate dipped Twizzlers, vegan raw chocolate with acai, chocolate and cinnamon dusted almonds, and cafe mocha brownies. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM........

The botanical gardens were lovely as well. It's always so great to enjoy God's earth and praise him for his creation. Having a ridiculously black thumb myself, I also stand in awe of anyone who can keep vast arrays of foliage alive and looking great!

I guess I'm officially a tree hugger!

Here are Matt and I at the garden's overlook. It has a lovely view of the ocean. Clearly we were alone and had no one to take a photo of us together. The self-portrait didn't quite turn out so great at this location.

Since Matthew can only take chocolate in moderation, the festival was more fun for him in that he got to see me enjoy the samples. Sure, he had a couple of his own, but he wasn't entranced with the world of chocolate as I was. Seeing that he is such a loving and amazing husband, he would have been fine just going to the chocolate festival and going home, but...that's not so fair to him. Luckily, his favorite Texas restaurant, Rosa's Tortilla Factory, somehow has one franchise restaurant in Temecula, which is between San Diego and LA. It's a tad out of the way, but sooooooo worth it. We got to enjoy dinner there on our way back home. That was super yummy too!

All in all, we've had some great times these past few weeks. Don't be mistaken, we're both still working super hard and massively stressed out during the week, but it's nice to share the happier side of our lives instead of our stress and insanity. It's great how God uses all sorts of experiences to teach us (and remind us of) things about his character.

Tears...

2009-04-29T01:29:00.000-07:00

Recently Alida and I participated in a prayer event at our church, Lake Ave. The purpose of the event was to have someone from our church praying 24 hours a day for one week. When we arrived at the designated prayer location, we were escorted to the prayer room. I sat down in a rather uncomfortable looking chair and began looking around the room. As I did I couldn't help but notice that there were pictures and words all over the room which represented pain in one sort or another. Seeing this heartache all around me led me to prayer.

For several minutes I simply sat there and focused on my breathing in an effort to clear my mind. Then I recited the Jesus Prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner") several times, trying to match the rhythm of the prayer with my breathing. Once I felt like I was aptly prepared, I began to pray silently for the hurting people whose faces and stories were literally surrounding me in the prayer room. I prayed for those suffering in the wars in Africa, for the fledgling Christians in Cambodia, for AIDS patients all over the world, and for the homeless in my neighborhood. After some time of intercession I sensed the need to write something down. The following poem was the result. (Please note that I am not claiming divine inspiration or anything like that here! This not-so-good poem was simply the overflow of my heart.)

Some tears fall in secret
Away from the spotlight, away from our care
We cannot see them but we entrust them to You

Some tears fall in the open
In our lines of sight, in our full knowledge
We see them and turn away, forgive us Lord

Let our hearts be afflicted by injustice
Let our wills be bent by suffering
Let our lives be guided to those in pain
Use us, move us, inspire us
And empower us to be your people

Trapeze Videos

2009-04-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

I've been asked to upload my videos of my maiden voyage at trapezing last weekend. Here's a go, hope you enjoy...

Swinging and back flip dismount. This was my second time off the platform!

An attempted catch. I didn't get it, but I'll try for it again!

Letting Go

2009-04-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

WOW!!! The past few weeks have been extremely stressful for Matt and I and I fear that some of that stress unintentionally came across in my last blog. My apologies for that. I figure that if people, especially those physically far from us but emotionally close to us, want to know what's going on I might as well be honest. It's a matter of being in a relationship, right? You get the good, the bad, and the stressed out!

Anyway, I am so thankful to God for our friends. What a blessing this weekend has been. Friday, we got to hang out with our very close friends Mike and Lisa. Saturday night we got to eat some very nobel attempts at Texas barbecue in California with our good friends Joe and Sarah and then Sarah and I got some girl time playing our version of Trivial Pursuit while the boys played video games. Today I got to go to a cute bridal shower after church and do several hours of work thereafter.

Saturday morning, though, was the most fun and really helped me with my stress and perspective. I got to go to trapeze class with my coworker and friend Jenn. I got to learn how to fly through the air with the greatest of ease, do a back flip dismount, and hang by my knees on the trapeze bar. All while flying 30 feet above the air with a net under me. The first run was exhilarating!! I was shaking as I got off the net. Each run after that got easier and easier. While I didn't master the timing to accomplish the trapeze catch, I did really well with everything else!! I'm proud of myself.

It reminds me of a Sex and the City episode in which Carrie is also trying to master the trapeze catch. She is having trouble doing so because she's having a hard time letting go of the bar. The entire episode is about her letting go of her fears and reservations in order to accomplish something new. This is what I thought as I was prepping myself to climb the very tall ladder each time. I've heard it said that fear is a lack of understanding, which is often true. The trapeze instructor this weekend also made a good point: Anything you are afraid of, someone else does it for a living. It was also helpful to remind myself that I may do something for a living that others are afraid of, which makes me kind of proud of myself.

While all the stress and frustrations of my current situation may not have dissipated, and while I cannot guarantee to myself that I will handle stress better in the future, I can remind myself that I have and can continue to accomplish some pretty cool things. I have to learn to let go of my hopes of appearing perfect or completely put together. I have to learn to let go of my expectations to do everything myself and realize that it's okay to ask for help. I have to let go of my dependence on myself and be reminded that I have family, friends, and a very loving God who long catch me and help me fly in a new way.

The Perils of Blogging

2009-04-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

I’m not great at blogging. In fact, I right out stink at blogging. If you haven’t noticed, I haven’t blogged in the better part of 2 ½ months. Why, you ask? Well there are several reasons.

I got a blog in an attempt to update others on our exciting life in Southern California and Matthew wanted a spot to possibly write devotionals. We are far away from many of our long-time friends and family and thought they may like to know what is going on. My thought was that just because we don’t have kids or or plan to in the next decade or have the capability to purchase a house in LA doesn’t mean that we don’t have stuff to share. While I completely realize that our lives are fun and we have lots to share, I realized that (1) people have better things to do than read about my life when they have theirs to live; (2) I don’t really have anything read-worthy. If I do, I can sum it up in just a few sentences rather than waste time on the home computer trying to find pictures to match the entry (I usually have more access to my work laptop, onto which I do not load pictures).
I have an insanely busy lifestyle which makes it hard to get on the computer to write a blog that I don’t think many people will read. This is not a pity party, but it’s just what my mind experiences when I think about writing a blog. I realize that others are also busy, but a regular 8-5 job does help with attempts at blogging. If a reader is interested, I get up at 5 am , work out, get ready for work, sit in traffic for an hour, work from 8-7 (usually through my lunch hour as well), drive home and sit in traffic for an hour. Usually after work I have something else I need to do, such as attend Bible study (7:30- 9:00 pm); teach one of my parent education classes (7:00-10:30pm); or spend time with my husband. Lately, I’ve also had to do 3-4 hours of work at home after putting in my 10 hours at the clinic. Matt has a similiarly busy schedule, while it’s more flexible yet just as full. Am I complaining about this life we have chosen and been blessed with? Certainly not. I’m just frustrated that many of those around us don’t understand this life and rather think that I’m lazy and just a weenie blogger.
What could I possibly have to say in a blog that others would find beneficial? My thought is that if people really want to know about my life or my thoughts, they will ask; it’s not my job to bore unwilling readers who may just stumble on my blog.

Anyone who has gotten this far in this unraveling of ventation, is likely thinking that I’m the dullest, most frustrating blogger out there. When I created our blog profile, Matt told me that if I ever felt obligated to blog or that I HAD to do a blog, I needed to take a break and not blog for a while. He emphasized that blogging in not a chore, but something to be utilized to share and used as a community building experience. I love blogging, and I hope to be a better blogger, but this is because I like to think that I have enough to share with others that may be interesting or insightful. Again, I’m not throwing a pity party for myself, just venting to the entire web-based population about the stressors some of us bloggers feel.

For those of you who are interested in the past 2 ½ months, here’s a rundown:
2/1/09: Achieved a personal record at the Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach, CA
2/27-3/1/09: Traveled to Abilene, TX for Sigma Alpha Pledge Class 11 reunion. It was fabulous and I uncharacteristically did not take a single picture!
3/4-3/16/09: Matt took his 1 oral comprehensive exam and 4 written comprehensive exams in order to transition to the next stage of his doctoral program
3/22/09: Helped my friend Hai complete his first half marathon at the Pasadena Half Marathon. It was cold and rainy and we had a great time! Based on my experience in this run, I have decided to train for a full marathon in the fall.
3/27/09: I turned 29 years old. For my birthday, Matt found out that he passed all his comps and is now officially a doctoral candidate!! He will work on his dissertation proposal this quarter.
3/27-3/31/09: 3-day birthday cruise to Ensanada, Mexico. We had a great time and the weather was delightfully chilly!
4/5-4/12/09: Observed wonderful experiences for Holy Week. We kicked off Lent with Ash Wednesday and have been observing Lent since 2/25/09. It got to culminate with Holy Week in a great Maundy Thursday home service, which Matthew did a wonderful job; Good Friday service; a lovely Easter vigil on Saturday; participating in the 24-hour prayer room; a beautiful Easter service; and a lovely Easter brunch with friends. I love this experience of Holy Week rather than just observing Resurrection Sunday. I find that everything seems to have more meaning to me.

And there you go. Not only are you caught up on the last 2 ½ months of the Barnes life, but you are also WAY more ingulfed in the thoughts of Alida than you thought possible. Blessings and peace, until the next time…

It's only been 2 months

2009-01-31T17:43:00.000-08:00

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?

Movemeber - Week Four

2008-12-05T00:12:00.001-08:00

It is amazing to think that November has already come and gone, which means that Movember has come and gone too! How sad... It has really been fun growing out my facial hair for a reason this year instead of what I normally do, which is to just grow it out anyway! Be all of that as it may, this is the last Movember post this year (check out the other posts here: ONE, TWO, THREE) and I thought that it would be beneficial for everyone to know something about early awareness and autism. Study after study has shown that children that have their autims diagnosed early have better communicative skills later in life than those who have been diagnosed at later ages.

So what are some red flags for which parents should be looking? Here are a few:

No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter
No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter
No babbling by 12 months
No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months
No words by 16 months
Loss of speech
No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months
Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age

It should be noted carefully though that the fact that your child or a child you know exhibits some of these things does not necessarily mean that he or she has autism. Instead, if you think any of these things apply to your child then it would be wise to ask your pediatrician about having your child evaluated. What could it hurt? Nothing at all. But delaying the evaluation could put a parent in a position to lose a lot indeed. (Check this site out for more information about early awareness of autism.)

And in case you were wondering how I look now after a full month of beard growth (the pic at the top of the post is from the end of the third week of Movemember), then here you go:

I think it is safe to say that my beard is getting a bit unruly! Thanks for reading these Movemember posts!

The Holidays Are Upon Us

2008-11-30T21:18:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, our Sunday school class, Crossroads, kicked off the season with a holiday-themed service project. We all got together and put together shoeboxes full of gifts for Operation Christmas Child. It was a great time of fun, fellowship, and listening to my fabulous Christmas CD collection. (Although, it would have been better if I had my new Funky Funky Christmas CD by NKOTB at the time, but I only had the cassette until Wednesday.) We were able to fill 12 boxes for children of all different ages. It was a blessing to know we were doing even just a bit to serve the Lord this Christmas.

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year. Matt and I had a nice quiet day with just the two of us, the Macy's Parade (did anyone else love the Special Needs Color Guard?), and the Dallas Cowboys. I made a delicious spread of just the foods that we like to eat at Thanksgiving and could handle as leftovers. I don't like any of the canned or boxed stuff, so I got to make it all from scratch. Since Matt usually cooks for us, it was nice to make an entire meal for him from scratch (that probably sounds so lame to my homemaking friends, oh well). We had Cornish game hens, mashed potatoes with chives and cheese, cranberry-orange relish, and apple pie. We went to our friends, Paul and Robin's, place for dessert on Thursday evening, so I got my pumpkin pie fix then.

Overall, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving and I feel very blessed to have been able to experience it. I am so very thankful for my wonderful husband who does so much for me and for our family (yes, 2 people DOES a family make!!). God has been so gracious to us!!!!!

Movember - Week Three

2008-11-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

That's me in week three of Movember. Here are links to the previous posts: One and Two.

So I realized that in my other posts I did not give a good definition of autism or, better yet, Alida pointed out that I didn't! So here it goes: Autism is a spectrum of neurobiological disorders, ranging from mild to severe, that usually lasts throughout a person's lifetime. There are three
primary inicators used to diagnose autism: 1) Improper or repetitive use of objects, 2) inappopriate or disinterest in social interaction, and 3) delayed and disrupted communicative skills. For one to be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder he or shee needs to exhibit two out of three of these characteristics. For some people their case might be mild meaning that they will be able to function somewhat successfully in the world. For others, however, their case may be severe meaing that they will need extensive assistance in daily living. For more information check out the Autism Speaks website by clicking HERE.

Movember - Week Two

2008-11-09T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here I am, in all my manly glory! It's week two of Movember and my facial hair is coming back in nicely. In a previous post I talked about how I was growing my facial hair during the month of November to raise awareness about autism, so this week I thought I would share some more facts with you. More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. Despite this, autism research is drastically underfunded while the costs of autism spectrum disorders (over $35 billion dollars a year) are constantly increasing. You may be thinking, "Whoa! That's too big a problem for me!," and you're right! But together we can educate one another about autism, encourage our representatives to increase autism research funding, and pray for those suffering from this range of disorders (both those directly affected by autism and those who care for them). For more information, check out this fact sheet at the Autism Speaks website.

Lauren Came to Town!!

2008-11-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

Our friend, Lauren, came to visit us this week. Well, actually, she didn't come specifically to visit us--she happened to have a conference in LA, so we got to benefit from her coming to present at the conference. She got to stay in our midget apartment (although I don't think she believed how small it was until she actually saw it)! We've known Lauren and her fabulous husband Brian from our undergraduate college days, so it was a nice blessing to get to spend time with her. We got to show her around LA on Saturday. We went into Hollywood, saw the Walk of Fame, Mann's Chinese Theatre, the Kodak Theatre, the Hollywood sign, Beverly Hills, and we ended at the Santa Monica beach for sunset. It was a perfect day--beautiful weather and a nice smog-free sky! We were super blessed to have her come. Here are some pics of our fun day:

Lauren and I at the Beverly Hills sign

Wading out into the ocean

Matt and I on the beach at sunset

Devotional: Jeremiah 1.4-19

2008-11-07T00:08:00.000-08:00

Jeremiah 1.6-8:

"Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."

But the Lord said to me..."Do not be afraid...I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.

In the last devotional we talked about how we are called to be God's prophets - God's spokespeople - wherever we find ourselves. In the verses for this devotional we read about Jeremiah's call as a prophet. God tells Jeremiah that he has called him to be his prophet and that he did so before Jeremiah was even formed in the womb. Naturally enough, Jeremiah is a bit thrown off by this. Not only is God saying that he will be a prophet, but now Jeremiah has the weight of God's eternal design on his shoulders too.

So Jeremiah whines, "But I'm just a child." God, in his infinite wisdom, knows just what to say. In essence God simply says, "Sure, you may be a child. But that doesn't matter. I'm with you. Hold my hand. Just trust me and I'll walk you through this, no matter how hard it might be."

It is my guess that God is calling each of us to speak up for him in our worlds but we are scared. We all have our own reasons: fear of sharing our faith, don't want to sound stupid, don't want to ruffle feathers, not really that confident in our faith, whatever. God knows and he will walk with us through whatever obstacles we face. And we will face obstacles. The cross is foolishness and weakness to the world (1 Cor 1.22-25). But no matter what, the Lord whispers to each of us in our innermost beings, "I am with you and will rescue you."

Thanks be to the Lord!

Movember - Week One

2008-11-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

I was piddling around on the interwebs the other day and discovered something amazing -- Movember! The word "Movember" is a combination of "moustache" and "November" and the concept of "Movember" is that a man shaves on October 31st and lets his facial hair grow for the entire month of November in order to raise awareness for a cause.

So my cause this Movember is going to be autism awareness. Today 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, so it is highly likely that you know someone with one of these disorders or someone who has a child that does. Even though I could go on and on about autism (thanks to my beautiful wife teaching me so much about it!), I'll spare you that. Instead I'd like to challenge you to get involved with the noble cause. You can do so by going to the Austism Speaks website or the Autism Society of America website. Then click on "Get Involved" and see if any of those options are appealing to you.

So here is me before October 31st:

And here is me just after midnight on November 1st:

Happy (Belated) Halloween

2008-11-02T18:06:00.001-08:00

So, I meant to post this yesterday, but I came down with a case of the nasty cold and I stayed in bed most of the day. We had a lovely Halloween. We made some Halloween blondies (the opposite of brownies), dressed up Sunnie in her costume, and attended the Crossroads (our Sunday school class) Halloween party at our friend Hai's house. I love Halloween, so it was an overall great day for me...especially since I don't work on Fridays and I had the opportunity to just enjoy the day, chill, and clean in my Halloween costume. Here are some pics commemmorating the fabulous day....

All the Speech-Language Pathologists in my office dressed up as animals for work on Thursday. Clearly, I was a lion!!!

The Barnes family on Halloween:

Humphrey the Jack-o-lantern

Alida and Matt as crayons

Sunnie as a bee

Sunnie's never been thrilled about her bumblebee costume!

So, I'm not expressing any political views here, but our friends Joe and Ginger carved Sarah Palin into their pumpkin!!

Devotional: Jeremiah 1.1-3

2008-10-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

After discussing it with my lovely wife, we decided that it would be good for me to post some devotionals on our blog from time to time. I'm going to try really hard to make this a weekly event, so if you like what you read today, come back next week for some more!

Jeremiah 1:1-3

The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people went into exile.

It is often so easy to skip right over the beginning of some of the books of the Bible. I know it is for me. I tend to think, "Eh, this is boring...I want to get to the good stuff. Feed me!" But I think that is a mistake. One of the best sermons that I remember Joe Bailey, the pastor of Speegleville Baptist Church near Waco, TX, preaching during the four years Alida and I were there was on the introduction to one of Paul's letters. In other words, the Bible is God's Word...all of it, not just that parts that we like or that interest us. So our challenge as Christians is to open our ears to hear God's Word in a text like this. So what is this text telling us?

One way that this text communicates to me is that Jeremiah's message is deeply rooted in a historical situation. Did you catch that? Read the verses again and listen for the detail that is there. Now, we aren't all sons or daughters of a priest of Anathoth, but we are all rooted in our histories too. God has placed us where we are for a reason -- perhaps to be a prophet in that very place! That might sound daunting but a prophet is simply a person who speaks for God, that is, God's representative. So being a prophet is something that all of us can do, as ambassadors for Christ who are filled with the Holy Spirit. You may be thinking, "But Matt, you don't know my family, you aren't seeing my job for what it is, you don't understand the relationships that I have, etc, etc, etc" and you would be right. But God does. He knows, he sees, and he understands...and despite those things that we might few negatively (or even because of them) he has called us (you and me!) to speak his word into those situations.

Another thing that sticks out to me in these verses is the tumultuous period of time in which Jeremiah spoke. He began during Josiah's reign, who by all accounts was a good and righteous king (2 Kings 22-23). But the tide would turn for God's people and slowly but surely the gains of Josiah's reign lapsed, so much so that God's people eventually found themselves being taken into exile by Nebuchanezzar's Babylon. Isn't it interesting, though, that God called Jeremiah to speak his word when times were good and when they were bad too? I believe that God knows what his people need and when they need it and that he calls us, everyday Christians, to speak his word courageously into those situations. There is both grace and discipline here: grace because God speaks during hard times and discipline because when things are good he constantly calls us to remember him and his provision for us. God knows that when things are bad we tend to get down and that when things are good we tend to take all the credit ourselves. He's calling us, he's calling you and me, to be his spokespersons in our world, no matter whether times are good or bad.

Will you take these challenges? Will I? Will we take seriously God's call on our lives? I hope so. It is my urgent prayer that we will!

What will happen if we take God up on these challenges? I am thoroughly convinced that by being his prophets in this world we can truly make a difference for him -- we can begin to see the world as he sees it and begin to act in accordance with his love, mercy, and justice. In so doing we will begin to bring into action Jesus' prayer: "Father...your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..."

Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

I love love love love holidays. I love excuses to celebrate and excuses to decorate and make an idiot of myself. One of my favorite holidays is Halloween (I know, we're terrible Christians, but it's not like we're slashing people, summoning the dead, and harrassing virgins). Tonight, for our date night, we welcomed a new member into our family....Humphrey. He's a lovely pumpkin with such a great personality. Meet our newest family member, Humphrey.

Welcome to the Barnes' Yard

2008-10-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

So...We have succumbed to this insane blog world. I don't know how good I'll be at this, or how regularly I'll post, but I thought I'd give it a whirl. We figured that someone somewhere might be bored enough to want to know what's going on with us. Who's "us?" you ask. Well, "us" is Matt and Alida Barnes. We are insanely in love and are so thankful to have one another.

"Us" in a nutshell:

Who: Matt and Alida

Where: Pasadena, CA

Married: 6 years

Occupations: PhD Student/Speech-Language Pathologist

Children: Heck no, but we have a fabulous 5-year-old miniature schnauzer named Sunnie Bernice

Likes: Jesus Christ and all that he encompasses, reading, eating, cooking, football, chatting, deep thinking, traveling, learning

Dislikes: spending money, superficiality, social pressure, getting less sleep than we need

We hope you enjoy our crazy life in the Barnes' Yard.

Sunnie Bernice.....why does she often look at us so bewildered?