welcome to the family...

added two new tattoos to the family yesterday and i'm proud to introduce you to acorn & anchor. both of these symbols have significant meaning to my life...allow me to share.

the acorn represents my mom and her life-saving love. my mom is my best friend, my nurturer, my comforter. she's the oak tree from which i came and has taught me how to live in confidence, faith, integrity and grace. the acorn has been a symbol i've worn on a necklace for many years because of it's significant in the book, "peter pan". in it, peter gives wendy an acorn (in lieu of a kiss) to thank her for sewing his shadow back on. she threads it on a necklace and wears it close to her heart. once in neverland, wendy is shot down by the lost boys (per tink's instructions) and wendy lays lifeless on the ground in front of them. though thought dead, peter discovers that the little acorn around her neck has been pierced by the arrow and the "wendy bird" lives. hence, the "kiss" of another is a powerful thing. it's a life-saving force to be loved by someone else - that love is my mom, renay.

the anchor represents my dad and the safety, protection and security he provides. in the times of early Christianity, Christ followers would wear the symbol of the anchor to represent the cross and their protection under Christ to avoid persecution. the anchor represents stability, safety and protection which is the most accurate portrait of who my dad is for me. he is my human reality check. he encourages me to grow, to have dreams, to follow God's lead. he's a man of action and deep joy and is the rock of our family. the anchor is also a reminder of Christ's blessings in my life. hebrews 6:19 talks about our confidence being a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. the confidence here is that which we have in God, The One who has promised to richly bless us, remember us, love us and set us apart. the hope i have in my Creator is my anchor. He is good.

together, these two symbols live on my right wrist. my parents are my greatest supporters and will always be @ my right hand.

hello seattle

on a whim i decided to crash spencer and kurt's bro trip up to seattle and am BACK IN THE EMERALD CITY. en route we picked up a gig harbor transient named erin cole and headed to take the city by storm and show kurt (a seattle first-timer) how and why we love the 206. we arrived saturday evening ready to go. headed downtown to UMI for dinner. texas does NOT have fresh seafood or sushi and anyplace that does serve it should be considered highly suspect. so a cali crunch roll was heaven to my tastebuds. from there we headed to fremont and tucked in at the red door. surprise guests included kramer and david hori who joined us for drinks until we shut the place down. erin and i hopped in our whip (grandma matie's BUICK, what!) and picked up harry and lloyd at the ballroom. then off to dreamland...

sunday morning brought blue skies and sun as we headed down to pike place market. first stop was at percy the illustrious almond seller, who has turned the big 5-0 since i last saw him. fifty looks good on perce and it was great to catch up and get his grade A, bone crushing bear hugs. from there we split with the boys who were off to the pier to flex their photography skills. erin and i engaged in our favorite hobby of shopping at nordy's rack, anthro and urban. we stopped by westlake for lunch and memorable conversations. from there we made one last stop at pike's and snagged the boys for a trip to kerry park. it's been so much fun getting to see the city through kurt's eyes. he's definitely got a raging case of wanderlust and is completely enamored with seattle. this is a city that completely changed who i am and how i see the world around me. i get fuzzy watching kurt fall in love with this place and talk about someday making it his home too. kurt then got the scenic tour of queen anne and magnolia before we had to zip spence off to work at ray's. the rest of us headed to value village on the hunt for screamin deals. after searching high and low, i laid hands on a vintage fitted black velour blazer and it's now all mine for $5.99. we then headed to fremont for jai thai! yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. we came home to relax and erin and i liked it so much we stayed tucked in with endless episodes of LA ink and JERSEY SHORE!!! kurt and spence headed to the ballroom once again and we...were lame and fell asleep.

today has visits with colin (old buddy i used to tutor in college) and dinner with THE ROOTS who, since i last saw them, have increased their brood by one, titan alexander. we'll have to see what else the day holds. we'll take off for home tomorrow and join rem and ashly for the barnes family FINALLY all reuniting for the first time in over a year. yay! let the fun continue...

so long...

oooh it's been so long. allow me to explain...

work has been CRAZY. i'm sure lots of people say that so people think they do important things, but i could never have imagined a ten hour day going by in a blink. i really enjoy my job and the day-to-day variety. it isn't always the most challenging but i'm sure one day, i'll look back and wish my current job was LESS challenging. so i've decided to relish where i'm at, work hard (eph. 6:7 - "Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people") and enjoy this stage of life. i love living in texas, i love seeing my big brother EVERY day, i love dating this fun little genius pilot named matt and i love being almost 23 and a little worker bee.

SO...much to report then. i'll be heading home for TEN DAYS OF CHRISTMAS in exactly one week. hopefully i'll have more time to catch up on blogging and the like. news for you:

1. i am getting a sister. whoohoo. hallelujah. my single-most requested christmas wish has finally arrived, and not a christmas too late. ashly therese marshman is becoming a barnes. they got engaged in florida the day before thanksgiving and are getting married february 13 and november 26th. TWO WEDDINGS. yes. here is a pic of my sis-to-be.



2. um I GO HOME!!! i have never been away from homeslashparentsslashspencer for this long. it's been exactly 160 days since i've seen robb & renay, 169 since i've seen mater bates (grandma matie) and 99 since i've seen the great dr. spencer barnes (this is what i write on his packages hoping the postman will take most excellent care of it). i land in portland at 12:09 a.m. on xmas eve and get to have breakfast with my BEST FRIENDS FROM HIGH SCHOOL that morning and a hair cut by julia the wizard of envy. hoping to creep up to seattle for a few days in there.

3. on the verge of 23! i start counting down to my birthday on september 3rd every year. 4 months before my bday. i have ALWAYS wanted to be 23. it sounds mature, savvy, hip and just fly in general. i worship odd numbers and 23 is my second favorite. my favorite song of all time is 23 by jimmy eat world and i just have this deliciously creepy feeling that my 23rd year will be my best yet. january 3rd here i come.

hmmm...i'm sure there's more but those are the biggies.

to wrap this up...here are 5 things i'm absolutely in love with right now:

1. GLEE Volume II - i wake up to glee, it's my first thought in the morning. it's the only thing playing in my car and on my mac. i am spreading the glee love near and far. every night i fall asleep praying i'll have a dream that i'm in glee. season 1 comes out december 29th. praise jeebs for 24 hour wal-marts.

2. sadie and shadow - i love rem's dogs. they are so sweet and brilliant. shadow has learned to shake and is un-learning all the bad habits i taught him (dancing to be exact). they are the best dogs in the world.

3. the weather in del rio - i wear a coat on occasion but it's still 55-60 out and sunday and monday saw us hit 70/71. omg i love texas weather.

4. christmas - i get so excited to give gifts that i almost spoil the surprise. i suck at keeping surprises. i can't wait to give my xmas presents! i pride myself on being the best gift giver in my family and i aim to keep that self-given title this year.

5. sugar free red bull - the only way i get through my day.