Things that make me happy.

1. The fact that I'm going to the Jonsi concert in THREE short weeks!! I am so so excited.

it would be pretty awesome if he played this cover...

2. Going to Bookman's with Julia at 9:30 pm (it closes at 10) and finding just what I was looking for! And seeing all of the different kinds of people in there, shopping, in a book store, at 9:30pm, on a Monday night.

by the way, i got a guide to the trees and plants of Northeastern United States! 

now i'll be able to learn the names of trees on my mission!!!

3. Sharing a blue pixie stick with this dear one and taking pictures of our blue tongues.

4. Getting a haircut! --don't worry. just a trim.

5.Carnival Squash! Good for decoration and eating! Delicious.

6. Sunsets. Yes, I know you already know that. But I just can't help it. So here is another picture. 

on my way home after the Relief Society Broadcast

Happy Tuesday!

Julia's a missionary too!

After much waiting, (Bishop told Julia the status for her call was 'sent' on Friday, the 17th.) it finally came ONE WEEK later! On the 24th. We were all very excited. I couldn't wait where she was going to be and when she was leaving. I really wanted her to be there with me in the MTC, mostly because I don't want to be 'alone' (or as alone as you can be in the MTC with hundreds of other missionaries around you) on Thanksgiving. Anyway, once everyone who could make it for the opening had assembled, she opened it.

I will now illustrate what happened next with the pictures taken on my handy dandy camera:

 so excited ... can't wait to find out ...

 Dear Sister Barney ... hereby called to serve ...

 ... you are assigned to serve in ...

Virginia, Richmond mission.

'yeah right, Julia, come on ... where are you really going' ...

no. really.

oh. my. gosh. Virginia, Richmond!

 i just can't even believe it! this is crazy!!

 all of the Richmond missionaries! Brandon (brother-in-law) went there too!! so excited!

 can't believe it, but we're still so happy! hooray!

Right now, I still can hardly believe it. We're all still kind of shocked. haha This just isn't something you hear about every day... two sisters going to the same mission at the same time! Well, a month apart. She leaves December 15th. So I will be alone in the MTC on Thanksgiving. But Julia will be there for Christmas, and won't be able to call home. So that is more sad for her.

This is what I wrote in my journal that night:

Julia got her mission call today. You'll never guess where she's going. 

RICHMOND. 

Yes. It should sound familiar. Same Same. 

I still can't really believe it. We're going to the same mission. It's just so crazy! 

So many people have asked and joked about us getting called to the same 

mission and I've always just dismissed it. That could never happen. That sort 

of thing rarely happens and would NEVER happen to Julia and me. Especially to 

Brandon's mission too. Never. But it happened! And it's so right. It's not up to 

anyone but Heavenly Father. And He knows exactly what we need and what the 

people in that mission need. And it's both of us! I, personally, am so excited! Thrilled,

you might say. Julia, I think, needs to warm up to the idea a little bit. But I'm sure 

she will be so excited very soon. Once it sinks in more.

Since Friday, I think we've all gotten more used to the idea. It's still super crazy, but more familiar. So. Today in church Bishop announced that Julia had gotten her call to Richmond and that we were all excited about it. Then added how it's even more interesting and exciting because her sister, Rachel (me), is reporting about a month before her to the same mission. You can imagine what followed. Everyone's excited murmuring and inquisitive glances around to the Barney family... they've gone and done it again! Two girls in the same mission at the same time! Yes. That's us

roof .plus. sunset .plus. pre-rainstorm-breeze

alright. as some of you know, i really wanted to watch a sunset as part of my birthday celebrating/being with my great friends this past week while i was in utah. didn't happen. unfortunately, you can't really depend on provo for good sunsets. there have been some really good ones i can remember... but, sadly, they come few and far in between. WELL. tonight, here in arizona, my first sunset back from my trip. a perfect, beautiful sunset. naturally, i had to climb up on the roof to enjoy it completely. living in the suburbs is not conducive to correct sunset watching. and i have no mountains i can easily drive up to here. so roof it is! kate was a little nervous for my safety so she joined me! which was a pleasure. except when she tried stopping me from going 'a little bit further.'  did i listen? of course not. it was really great. i love being up so high. and especially on a roof. it's just so peaceful. and gives me a different perspective, being up so high and looking down on everything that you see every day.

...and i felt a little bit like i was in mary poppins, with all of the chimney sweeps. 

then to top it all off, bryan took the ladder as a some sort of joke, i suppose... so kate and i decided to cross over the patio-cover thing  over to the other side and jump down onto the trampoline (let me explain: skinny support beams going across every four feet or so with a durable, weatherproof mesh-like fabric over it). it was quite treacherous but we made it without breaking through. i went first.... haha it took me .... a while. i said one- two- three- GO! many many times and kept chickening out. i firmly believe if i had had more supporters on my side, cheering and applauding for me, i could have done it the first time. but i had mom, who kept saying she didn't know if i would make it safely and kept telling me not to bounce off the other side of the trampoline into the rocks. and bryan, who couldn't figure out the flash on my camera so we ended up with this...

 
kate clapped and i did eventually jump. sadly it was a little anticlimactic. but i would definitely do it again. then kate surprised both of us by jumping soon after me. but i agree with her that it's because her feet were tired of standing on those dry pine needles

A few things.

 1. I broke an apple in half with MY BARE HANDS!!!

2. Once again. I just love Julie Andrews. And not only do I want to be like Maria, I also want to be like Mary Poppins. She is so great. And magical. And I love her outfits.

But really. Practically perfect in every way. And so clever. And she doesn't put up with any nonsense. And I love flying kites.

3.This is my sister, Julia. She is great.

She is 22 years old and very funny. I love her a lot and I'm thankful for the help she gives me. And she dresses really well. She, too, is going on a mission. And should get her call in a couple of weeks! Hopefully we'll be leaving around the same time. Se we can have Thanksgiving dinner together in the MTC!
She's just wonderful.

4. I definitely survived my trip last week. It was really fun! We went to Maryland for a few days and visited my dear Aunt Ilene and Uncle Doug. (thanks for everything!!!) We went into Ellicott City, MD one day and D.C. another day.

5. Farmer's Markets are great. I love them. And I especially LOVE going to a Farmer's Market in our nation's capital, right next to the Department of Agriculture on a Friday morning!

6. I love Pennsylvania! It's beautiful. I could live there I'm pretty sure. Brandon's family was very nice and hospitable and we did a lot of fun stuff! We went to Knoebel's Amusement Park (so Awesome.) (and you pronounce the 'K'. It isn't silent like you would think it would be.) Brandon's aunt lives on a hill with a creek behind her house and his grandma's house is very decorated with cats, flowers and figurines.

DOUBLE RAINBOW! the second one is on the left...it was brighter in real life. believe me.

7. I have two of the most adorable nieces ever. One of them is turning three in November. And Julia and I are going to miss her birthday and celebration. So, we decided to give her her present early so we could enjoy seeing her wear it. Here you go! She is so cute.

8. I did some painting this summer.

for tyler

Erica's belated Christmas present. for the nephew

Erica's birthday present. for the niece