American Idol '09...In Milwaukee?

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

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!