[a little bit of everything]

so these past two or three weeks God has been moving in our lives. i say moving because i'm not sure yet what He's up to...but I know this...God is always moving.

some of you who read this may know that in January i started up my own freelance graphic design business. its called simpleroot media. (www.simplerootmedia.com). for us crazy designers, it only took me about 5 months to get my website up to a place where i'm satisfied with it, along with my logo. i think i re-did it 4 or 5 times....often at the amuse of my husband.

all thats to say, God's been doing some really neat things with my business, and just within the last two weeks i've gotten 3 new clients. how cool is that!! i'm pretty pumped and excited about it--i love designing! its what i was made to do! (well, part of the time)

another cool thing lately is that i got my hair chopped. yes, that's right folks...shorter than i've ever ever gone before. (photo below). at first i was a little freaked out about it, but now its growing on me. i think i even like it now. peter thinks its adorable, so really thats all that matters.
oh, and i just had to include another reason why this time of the year is awesome....FOOTBALL! i'm pretty pumped about it. i even got a comment today from one our associate pastors "gotta love a chick who knows the football schedule" yup, sure do.

well, peter has promised me that he'll be adding a post here shortly regarding his much anticipated and highly sucessful fly fishing trip he took a few weeks back. i'll leave him to tell you the rest.

all our love,
s&p

[boy how time flys]

ok friends. i owe you another apology. we haven't stuck to our guns like we promised. if it helps, in the last month we've moved, moved and moved, and the BLOG updates kind of took a back seat.

well, here's what i've got for ya. like i said, the big news as of late is that we've moved. we're no longer in west littleton, we now reside in a city a bit east of there called lone tree. its about 20 min south of downtown denver. its great. slowly turning into our newest home. i'll get some pictures up soon.

peter and i also BOTH celebrated our birthdays in august, so that was another fun event. he got me a gift where i was able to be a "sou chef" for a day in a fresh market in downtown, which was AMAZING to say the least. what an experience. such fun! who knew that when you cut a pepper, your NOT supposed to take your knife and cut a circular whole in the top to pull of the stem. Nope. You're actually supposed to slice it down the side in quarters. after the last cut, the top just left. and BAM...no having to stand and slowly maneuver that part out. i also got to make a flour-less choc. torte and some fresh baguettes. wish i had a photo to share but somehow it vanished off my camera card.

peters birthday we celebrated by going to a Brazilian steakhouse about 40 min from here. he had no idea we were going and was super excited to say the least. i also made him his favorite dessert, choc. pecan pie. (photo below) it was lots of fun. i can't believe just a few years and we'll be celebrating 30! :) (shhhh....don't tell him i spilled the beans)



well folks, thats it for now. next post will be coming shortly...this time from the peter man himself.

lots of love here in CO,
barbers

[Picking up the pieces...]

Well friends, here we are again.

Almost two years later than our last post, but eager to try this BLOG thing out again. Peter and I are both horrible at keeping the people we love connected, and this seems like an easy avenue to do that...of course....we have to actually update this thing...which we are committing to do at least once a week. Granted our life isn't that exciting to warrant a once-a-week update...so we'll try to make this puppy as exciting as possible. It may mean a random post every now and then....but who doesn't love brainless humor or information every now and then...right?! :)

So... here's to a second chance...thanks for grace!

Now...sit back...fasten your seat-belts...and get ready to FLY through the last two years of Peter and Sarah Barber! We'll bring you up to speed as best we can!

[May Maddness-part2]

What else could we have fit into May you ask....well....a trip to South America of course!

That's right! We left a week after graduation for BRAZIL!!

At the end of May, Peter and I boarded a plane set for Fortaleza, Brazil, where we enjoyed a fabulous 11 day trip! It was really special to visit the in-laws, but our main purpose for going was to be apart of the wedding of Josh and Karina.

Crazy right?! Yes, it was. But it was a blast. Not to mention it was my VERY FIRST time to Brazil and to South America.

Most folks have asked me what my biggest "awe" factors were or the cultural differences I noticed, and I would have to say, that aside from the traffic (which if you have ever been to ANY third-world country, you understand there is no such thing as structured traffic. Everyone one (and thing) competes for the one sliver of road that appears not have any pot-holes. Which is another oxymoron--since they are everywhere!) But...like I was saying...besides the traffic...I think the most interesting thing I was struck by was the "normalcy" of the culture.

For some reason, probably because I'd never been to anther country other than Mexico, I had this preconceived notion that the people there were going to be so different. But that wasn't my experience. Even though they spoke a language I didn't understand, I still felt like I "understood" them....maybe through body language...but perhaps more simply, because they too, were people.

I also had an amazing time at the traditional Brazilian steakhouses, which for this good ol' Midwestern girl, was NO problemo at all. Love me some steak!

The most treasured part of the trip for me was getting to see where Peter grew up. To step foot in his home (which was wonderful and Mom and Dad Barber were awesome!), see his bedroom, meet his dog Daisy, visit his church, and meet some of his childhood friends was truly priceless. THAT made the trip. Not only did it give me a glimpse into a Peter I've never really known, but it gave me such an appreciation for his childhood. It also gave me the precious gift of memory—a mental picture of life in brazil.

And how could I forget to mention the wedding...josh and karina! Oh, that too, was so special. Apart from the fact that it started in the weeee hours of the morning, when most people would just be waking up, it was a wonderful day. For the most part, the wedding went off without a hitch....only 3 bridesmaids, instead of the guesstimated 5, were late that morning. haha. And the rain thankfully stayed away for most of the morning. It truly was a wonderful day, honoring and celebrating with Josh and Karina Barber, who are now back here in the States, living near Grand Rapids, MI.

Below are just a few photos of our time in Brazil... enjoy!

Overlooking Jauazerio do Norte

Side yard of Barber's house

Another city shot from high

At the statue below overlooking the city

Famous statue called "Padre Cicero"

The pilgrims tie these ribbons and write padre cicero

We went to these waterfalls one day

brave Peter took a jump...

and so did the other barber men...

Karina doing my nails...she paints these beautiful designs!

Came upon a pick-up game...really wanted to join in!

but we did get to play some soccer there....awesome!

traffic at night

day of wedding, setting up all the chairs

the wedding cake!

the happy married couple!

the beautiful bride and my new sister-in-law!

[May Maddness-part1]

If your familiar with "March Madness" then perhaps you'll understand why this post is called "May Madness."

May 2009 literally came and went. We ran and ran and ran from one thing to another. Hence the "May Madness" emphasis. It began with the closing two weeks of Seminary for Peter. The usual last minute all-nighters, 40 page papers and books to read were all apart of those first two weeks. I think Peter somehow strategically fit the majority of his Spring semester into
those final two weeks because he just about worked non-stop. The good news is he survived...and so did i...and on May 15th 2009, we (Peters Nana and myself) proudly watched Peter walk across the stage and receive his Master's of Arts in Leadership diploma!!!

Here area few pictures of that special, special day!

The "Grads"

So proud of my man!

Nana came out to celebrate this special day with us!

[harvest is here]

this week, suddenly i've felt like fall is upon us.

the crisp cool air has made it's way to the rockies. nothing like having the most beautiful late summer months though, so i really can't complain. the weather here (which i continue to mention) is just absolutely perfect. such a blessing!

well- after a long week at the gap and starbucks for us both, peter and i enjoyed what we anticipated to be a nice afternoon at the nearby pumpkin patch at the Denver Botanical Gardens.... literally just down the road from where we live.

with high optimism, i ventured to think that even though it had been rainy and cloudy all morning, we might be able to sneak in a bit of time in the afternoon to go. so we went- and had a great time! however, i think i was a bit too optimistic. about 30 min after arriving at the pumpkin patch, right in the middle of our mission to find the two most perfect pumpkins, it started to downpour!! haha. yep- that's right- downpour. which, quite honestly, wouldn't have been all that bad, had we not then continued to sit in our car soaking wet for nearly an hour as almost 500 cars tried to exit this huge field where the cars had been parked. after that charade, peter and i were convinced never to return again! i guess we'll see what happens next year.
all in all- we did accomplish our mission- and have a few pictures to prove it! :)

till next time-
sarah and pete


- that's a load of pumpkins-



- peter's pumpkin heisman pose-



- two perrrrfect pumpkins!-

[unexpected blessings]

well, today has been an odd day.

first, it started out getting up at 4:30am to get into work at the Gap by 6am. yes, for those of you who didn't know... I've started a "temporary" job at the Gap in order to provide Pete and I with a little bit of income while I search for other, shall I say, more suitable work for someone such as myself! :) But.... in the meantime, it's great!

so in order for God to keep both Peter and I (although admittingly probably more me) completely dependent on Him, God's allowed some really awesome and unexpected blessings to happen in our life lately that I'd just like to share.

drum roll please.....we got a kitchen table! Sounds silly right.... but actually... after having sat on the floor for dinner after dinner the past 2months, a kitchen table was a HUGE blessing. I (Sarah) actually received in the mail some money that I was not expecting from my old company in Milwaukee, so with that we were able to get the table... Praise God!

Then, to our complete surprise, we received an letter in the mail from an incredible gentlemen that both Peter and I barely know, who felt led by the Lord to help us out while in Seminary. He graciously sent us more money then we know what to do with... and with that again... I was humbled by our Sovereign Lord, who knows all things and who does not have the roller coaster faith that I sometimes have.

All in all... I've really been learning from God that sometimes life throws you unexpected curves...hardships shall I say. I know first hand what thats like at the moment. But then again.... sometimes life throws you unexpected blessings as well- I think Paul knew full well what he was saying in Phill 4:19 when he says "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus". AMEN!