Playing the Waiting Game

I cannot wait any longer. I'm tired of seeing all of the experts' bowl projections changing every week. What does it take to be an expert? One who can make a decision? Maybe so. Regardless of who will be right and who will be wrong, bowl season might just be the most wonderful time of the year. Well, at least until March Madness begins! Actually, it's a cycle. There's nothing better than college athletics. All of you pro fans can argue as much as you want. I'll win the argument.

The focus now is on college football. I've always had an affiliation with the game. From an excited kid sitting in the nosebleed sections of Commonwealth Stadium, to an often anxious longsnapper in the SEC, to an ambitious administrator trying to raise money during a recession...I live and breathe college athletics.

I'm thrilled to say that we will go bowling this year...again! But where???! Once the selections are official, you can bet that I will be surfing more travel sites than you ever thought existed for flights to head back to the South. If you only knew how excited I am about booking two $600+ flights!

Back to bowling. There are four WAC teams bowl eligible: Boise State (1st), Nevada (2nd), Fresno State (3rd), and Idaho (4th). The WAC bowl tie-ins include the New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque), the Hawaii Bowl (Honolulu), and the Humanitarian Bowl (Boise). All are essentially equal in regards to payouts, so there is not necessarily a pecking order for selection. The key component to all of this is Boise State. They should finish undefeated and be selected as a BCS team, that is of course unless Nebraska shocks the nation with an upset of Texas in next week's Big 12 Championship game. If this and a few other things happen, there is a slight chance we could actually get left out...but I'm not sweating it.

So if Boise goes to the BCS, the odds are as close to 100% as possible that Idaho will head to the Humanitarian Bowl. Location, location, location! That leaves Nevada and Fresno State. The majority of experts think Fresno State will be playing Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl. I just wonder how many of them realize that we played there last year? My mind is telling me that we will be going to the Hawaii Bowl to play SMU. This is an intriguing matchup for the islanders as they consider Fresno State a rival and bringing June Jones back to the islands gives them a big-time excuse to come out and cheer for...well, most would think Jones and the Mustangs...but he did leave them! Some would argue that Nevada is more deserving of a trip to Hawaii than Fresno State. I've come to learn that it's not necessarily about who is most deserving, but it is more about who will sell the most tickets and have higher TV ratings. We'll just have to wait and see.

So for now, we just have another week to ponder, bite nails, and think about where we might be spending the holidays. If for some reason Boise gets left out of the BCS, then I just wasted a lot of electronic ink and I hope the bowl selection committees think about Fresno State! Happy Holidays and Go Dogs!

Hawaii Slideshows

Slideshows from our trip to Hawaii for the game are below. A quick run down:

The oldest slideshow is of our 1st and 2nd days in Hawaii. When we arrived we rented a car and drove up to the North Shore. We went to Turtle Bay Resort and enjoyed the beach there for a good part of the afternoon. After that we drove back down Oahu to the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where we were staying. On the 2nd day we spent most of the morning at Pearl Harbor visiting the Arizona Memorial and USS Missouri. The 2 sites where WWII began and ended, respectively.

Days 3-4 are in the most current slideshow. These were of the game day and events at the Aloha Bowl. As well, we included a lot of pictures from our hike up Diamondhead State Monument were we got some of the best views of Oahu!

Mahalo!

Furloughs, Promotions, 30 & Then Some!

Yes, it has been a while since our last post, so in celebration of my 3rd furlough day since August, I'll give the blogging another try. For those of you who do not know, California is in a financial crisis and it has resulted in 24 furlough days for me and 12 for Mary Beth. This basically means that we take a pay cut but do not have to work. So, it's not all that bad! I was able to play golf yesterday and today instead of heading into the office. Yesterday might have been the last of the summer weather as it was around 100 degrees; today, however, the high was in the mid-70's...absolutely beautiful!

Despite the furloughs, the Barnes' really can't complain. After my boss left for a job at Ole Miss, our AD has given me the chance to oversee the development office. This is a wonderful opportunity that will be great for my professional career. It's amazing how much more I have learned in just the past month and I'm sure this will continue. Mary Beth also received a nice promotion going from part-time to full-time. Her new title is Associate Director of Campus and Registrar and she is now back in a normal routine.

Last month we were able to head back to Kentucky for my sister's wedding. We had a blast and it is always great to catch up with friends and family.

Football season has begun and Fresno State has started off 1-3. Despite this, our losses have come against teams that are 12-0 and all have a legitimate chance to make it to a BCS game. So for what it's worth, we may be the best 3 loss team in the country! I am confident that we will win 8 straight, finish 9-3, and go to a great bowl game. The toughest test may come next weekend at Hawaii. Yes, Mary Beth and I are both going! It will be our first trip there, and we are absolutely looking forward to it.

This weekend should be a pleasant one as Fresno State is off. We are going to a wedding Saturday afternoon and will be hanging out around the house watching lots of college football that morning and evening.

We hope to get back to Kentucky for Thanksgiving and down to the Gulf Coast over the holidays. Will somebody please talk with the airlines and get the flights down to about half the current cost?! It costs about $600 per ticket right now! That doesn't mean that you can't come out here for about half that price! It's amazing how they take advantage of holiday weekends; but, that's the nature of supply and demand.

To close, for those of you who didn't know I just hit the big 3-0. I guess it's not all that bad!

Until next time!

Coleman

Summer highlights

Sorry, not the best pic, but Coleman and I were happy that my parents visited us in late May. They flew into San Francisco where we spent the weekend before showing them Fresno. My mom had visited once before but it was my dad's first time..We all really enjoyed touring Alcatraz...view from the lawn on the island in the pic below.

Coleman and I spent July 4th weekend in Vegas. The definite highlight of the weekend was Friday night where we had dinner at Table 10, Emeril's restaurant in the Palazzo Hotel, and then on the the Cirque du Soleil show, LOVE...It was awesome....Pic of me outside The Mirage where LOVE is playing.

Coleman and I Saturday night inside the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino. Awesome dinner at Strip Steak then hit the tables then the Prive Lounge


Fresno friends all traveled to South Lake Tahoe the 2nd weekend in July for Lindsay and Dan's wedding. Dan worked with Coleman at the Bulldog Foundation and recently accepted a job at Oregon State. Lake Tahoe is such a beautiful place...next time we'd like to go back when it is snowing...but the summer there is beautiful!



More to come......In August we'll be back in San Fran for a fun weekend then we head to Kentucky for Coleman's sister- Brooke's wedding!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to Us!

Wow! We can't believe that it has already been 1 year! What a year- I would definitely say that the theme of our first year of marriage was TRAVEL! It is so nice that at this point we are free to jet away pretty much when we want- it has been an amazing first year and look forward to it getting even better from here!

We spent the anni weekend in San Diego- the place where we got engaged 2 summers ago :) It was a wonderful weekend and we hope to make San Diego a permanent vacation spot for the future...A few pics from the weekend....

Coronado Bridge - outside Petco Park

Day at Sea World

Shamu night show


Petco Park- Home of the San Diego Padres

Polar Bears at Sea World

Yelp!

I wanted to share with our friends, if you haven't used this site before, I encourage you to check it out! www.yelp.com offers user Reviews and Recommendations of Top Restaurants, Shopping, Nightlife, Entertainment, Services and More. You can even create your own account to make your own reviews....I was thinking that with all of the traveling, hotel staying, restaurant adventures, and wine country trips we make, it would be a shame for me not to document our reviews, raves, and hopefully not too many rants:)

So, I have started adding reviews when I have time...Needlesstosay, I have a lot to catch up on so this may be a process, but I am really looking forward to seeing everything in the end...More than anything, this will help me document our trips!

So, if you are travelling and looking for reviews, check it out! You'll probably get a wider range of reviews on metro areas, but it's always a good place to check out wherever you are going!

While I am at it, I want to share a few of the other websites we frequent when making travel arrangements:

www.tripadvisor.com
A good website again, for reviews, honest opinions and true traveler photos! I have gotten great tips from reviewers from here on making reservations, rooms to request in hotels, who is offering deals on priceline.....

www.kayak.com
flight comparisions

www.hotwire.com and www.priceline.com
Coleman is the expert on these sites so I may have him make a blog soon on his tips when working with these sites.


Enjoy!

are you ready....

more wine country adventures...

We finally got up to the northern CA wine country...funny, this is the most known area (Napa/Sonoma) for wine, and we managed to see almost all of the other wine areas of CA until finally travelling north! We were up in the northern Sonoma county area and Sonoma. Stayed in Healdsburg- northern Sonoma county....A gem truly! Lovely town....

With our travelmates, Sam and Meagan Barkley at FF Coppola's winery, Rosso & Bianco
Bella Winery, Underground cave tasting room, north Sonoma
Toad Hollow tasting room, downtown Healdsburg
Rows of vines, Sonoma, CA

Yosemite National Park

A few weeks ago we went to Yosemite. We are so lucky to have such an amazing place so near to Fresno. We drove up and spent the day hiking some trails and taking in the amazing views. We went at a great time, when the waterfalls were flowing and most of the snow had melted. We can't wait to go back and hike more trails!

Take a look a the slideshow below.....

March Madness!

The madness is here! I know everyone has their brackets filled out so I am going to provide you my expertise (or lack there of) on who will be crowned this year's champion.

Sweet 16:
Louisville, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Michigan State
Connecticut, Purdue, Missouri, Memphis
Pittsburgh, Florida State, Villanova, Duke
North Carolina, Gonzaga, Syracuse, Oklahoma
(very conservative, I know!)

Elite 8:
Louisville, Michigan State, Connecticut, Memphis
Pittsburgh, Villanova, North Carolina, Oklahoma

Final 4:
Louisville, Connecticut, Villanova, Oklahoma

Finals:
Connecticut, Oklahoma

2009 National Champions:
Oklahoma

First round upset specials:
Arizona, Utah State, Maryland, Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Michigan

Don't be surprised if:
Cleveland State, North Dakota State, or Portland State pull shockers in the first round

Onions! (Thank you Bill Raftery)

Twitter Revelation

I just had to comment on this because I am amazed at how this new medium, Twitter, has captivated me and others. I recently read an article on how Twitter is vastly becoming the way many people get their news and it seemed all too relevant to me today. If you aren’t familiar with Twitter, I’ll just say Google it and you’ll learn more (god, am I becoming tech savvy or what?)

So back to my point. On twitter, I am following George Stephanopoulos and John McCain, among many other celebs, pseudo-celebs, and normal folk I call friends. Steph. And McCain had been hyping up this Q and A twitter between them to happen today. I was just recapping my twitters throughout the day and became so interested in what they were saying to one another and thought….Isn’t this what we watch interviews on TV for? LOL…And now I was getting this info through TWITTER….Absolutely, this IS the new medium through which we get info, much like Facebook. Will Twitter reach the legendary status Facebook has? I guess only time will tell….But by my accounts, it is well on its way.

If you want to Twitter go to www.twitter.com to find our more. You can follow my twitters at mary_eliza and Coleman's at uk6deuce or just see my Twitter feed on this blog.

Enjoy!

weekend on the Central CA coast

This is a long overdue post, but I have to share a weekend trip Coleman and I took back in January. We definitely stay busy on the weekends whether it is a Fresno area or CSU-Fresno event. The weekends we have free we try to plan something fun, new and exciting. After winter break back east, which actually wasn't that wintery at all, we wanted to take a beach trip and see some of Central CA. Per our backgrounds, we love college towns so we knew we wanted to go to San Luis Obispo, home of Cal Poly, and from what we had heard, a cool college town close to the Pacific. We also wanted to visit Paso Robles, the newer and emerging wine country in CA.

Coleman ended up planning a great weekend and I wanted to share with you the highpoints....by the way, this would all definitely be near the top of my list of fun hot spots to hit up when in CA--

1- Friday afternoon we headed out of Fresno to Monterey. Cool oceanside spot. We got there early evening and enjoyed some great seafood and strolled around Monterey. Didn't get to go to the Aquarium which everyone recommends- another trip...

2- the next day we got up and headed down the 1 through some of the finest real estate in CA- Pebble Beach (uh, golf), Carmel (stoppped for lunch here and walked around downtown- an art lovers paradise, Clint Eastwood former Mayor), Big Sur (some of the most amazing views of the Pacific), to the most quaint, friendly ocean towns of Cambria and Morro Bay (as we drove into Morrow Bay there was a street fair and farmers market happening- just my luck!)

stopping during the drive to take in the

views of the Pacific

3- It took us about 2.5 hours to get down the coast from Monterey area, but well worth it. We settled in San Luis Opisbo that Saturday evening. Sunday we enjoyed visiting the wineries in the San Luis area and touring downtown. I guess for our SEC friends, I would compare SLO to Athens, GA. It has a ton of restaurants with lots of variety and a quirky edge about the shops and locals much like Athens.

Edna Valley Vineyard in San Luis County -

recommend the Chardonnay

4- We rounded out the weekend with a drive to some of the Paso Robles wineries (we visited 4 out of the 180 or so in the area- so we'll have to go back some other time LOL---A gentleman that we met at a winery in San Luis suggested we visit Opolo (we recommend- everything! huge selection of wonderful reds) in Paso....ended up being one of our all time favorites! After lunch in quaint downtown Paso, it was about a 2 hour drive back to Fresno.

It was a great weekend and we got to see so much of the central coast. We definitely want to go back to Carmel, Big Sur, and San Luis....not to mention the Paso wineries!

Barnes Holiday Post 3- Kentucky happenings

Christmas day we left MS and headed for KY to see Coleman's family- many of whom we had not seen since the wedding last summer..

While in Bardstown over the winter holiday, thanks to Coleman's uncle Steve and wife Marie, we had the opportunity to go on the My Old Kentucky Dinner Train. I had been wanting to do it for a while and Coleman had never actually been on it! You go for a nice ride and dinner on the train enjoying the scenery . It was definitely a lot of fun and we got to share the experience with Coleman's sister, Brooke, and her fiance, Austin.

We also went to the Kentucky vs. Central Michigan basketball game with Coleman's parents...It was my second time in Rupp Arena. The Cats have some of the most passionate and devoted fans. I love seeing that enthusiasm!

Here are some pics....


(Pic courtesy of MOKDT web site :))

seated on the train before heading out

Brooke and Austin



at the UK Game

UK Cheerleaders

Barnes Holiday Post 2- MS Bound

People always ask us if we are able to get back home much to visit friends and family. Luckily we had a long break over the winter holiday and visited both of our homes for the hoildays. I know that we are pretty lucky that we were able to see both families- that might not always be the case. :(

After the NM Bowl, we flew into NOLA where my parents picked us up and we spent some time on the MS Gulf Coast. As many know, my parents moved down there last summer, pretty much right after the wedding. I think it has been a great experience for them and now they can say that they have pretty much lived in all areas of the state....well except the Delta...maybe we can leave that one out for a while. Ben also lives on the coast so we had a good time visiting with them and relaxing and catching some bowl games.

We stayed on the coast until Christmas Eve when we drove up to Fulton to visit my grandparents. After a short stay there we headed back out and made our way to Kentucky.

bad blogger

I just visited my blog as I generally do every so many days to see what updates my friends have made....and I just thought, how hypocritical am I that I look forward to seeing updates from friends blogs but haven't updated mine in a month! Yes, I have started s new job but that doesn't take up all of my time...I have just been lazy! But I guess we can all fall victim to that! I promise I am going to finish my holiday blog and move on to 2009 events!

For example, Coleman and I took a great weekend trip to the CA central coast in January that I have been wanting to share with friends....probably one of the best things we have done since we have moved to CA! I hope to share pics with you soon..

On another note, I just saw in our paper online that a tornado touched down in a town about 45 minutes north of us earlier today! The article said it was the first tornado in the area in 13 months. And I thought all we had to worry about were earthquakes and drought! Ah, gotta love mother nature!

Barnes Holiday Post 1- New Mexico Bowl

Coleman and I had a great first visit to New Mexico for the bowl game vs. Colorado State. Of course, the outcome wasn't what we had hoped for, but the bowl experience was a lot of fun. Albuquerque was a great town and we enjoyed all of the events planned around the bowl. Coleman also ventured up to Sante Fe and said it was such a cool city. I was at another event and didn't go, but we definitely want to get back to NM and spend some time in the Sante Fe area. The food was so good and Coleman picked out some great restaurants for us to go to when we had free time....all I have to say is red or green?

Here are a few pics...

the Sandia Mountain view from the stadium

(the game was played on the Univ. of NM campus)

Us at the Pep Rally at the stadium

It's 2009

So, we are are back. Back to the blog. It was a nice long holiday and we really enjoyed the extended time to visit family and friends. I am going to steal a posting idea from Mary and Scott and break our holiday events into separate posts. That way I can get everything in a logical order as to when they happened!

Before going back in time, I want to report some good news that I have accepted a new job! I am the Associate Registrar at Alliant International University. Alliant is a private university based here in CA with campuses in San Diego, Irvine, LA, Fresno, Sacramento, San Fran, and Mexico City. In Fresno, I will be working specifically with graduate students. I'm very excited about this opportunity and feel very fortunate to have found a job in my related field at this time with the way our economy/job market has been affected.

More to come.....