Delayed Postings

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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?