Getting Our Very Own "REAL" Christmas Tree

Every single year Jamie forces me to go and get a real Christmas tree, which I absolutely do not want. This year was especially painful because she made us go to a tree farm instead of just a store parking lot. As you can tell I was just overflowing with the Christmas spirit!

After being drug around a good portion of the farm by Jamie and Ella we did finally find our perfect tree.




After we found it we got to get free hot chocolate and popcorn while we waited for it to be wrapped up for us to take home.

Then Jamie, Ella, and Lola transformed the house into Christmas central! Secretly I loved it but I just have to protect my Grinch image.

A Little Change of Plans

So, I know that it is becoming a little bit of a challenge to keep up with what is actually going on in our lives, but there has been a change of plans in my career and living arrangements. We are no long going to be moving to Phoenix, but instead, we will be moving to Dallas, TX. I know, a lot of people including my grandmother were very excited for us to be moving to Phoenix. The reason we are not going there, is that a company in Dallas that I had previously interviewed with and sent a letter of rejection contacted me and said that they really wanted me to come and work for them. After some discussions, we are now going to be moving to Dallas, TX (Arlington actually). It's overall a better deal. We will be getting a better salary, and the cost of living is substantially cheaper in Dallas than Phoenix. The housing is also much cheaper, so we will be able to get a house much sooner than if we had moved to Phoenix. Another reason it is better according to my wife is that it is much closer to Nebraska than Phoenix. I know it's getting close to when I graduate, but at least I was able to have a choice in jobs, because with the economy, a lot of my classmates are either stuck with one offer, or they don't have one at all. I'm so grateful to be so blessed. I know that Heavenly Father has been watching over me and my family, so I know that this is what and where we are supposed to be. Thanks for everyone's comments, and i look forward to reading these next ones. Have a great week everyone.

Finally, I have a job and know where we are moving

It's official, the Barrera's are moving to Phoenix, AZ. I accepted a job with Sundt Construction. It was a very nervous and weird experience with all of the interviews I went on. I interviewed with 5 contractors, and I received 4 offers. I didn't get the one offer I was hoping for, because they decided with the current economic conditions, they aren't going to hire any December grads, or May grads. This economy has really hurt the construction industry, so I am lucky to have had more than one offer to choose from. In the end, Jamie and I prayed and decided that the best option for me and for my future, was with Sundt in Arizona. It was the lower paying one, but with better future for me ( I hope). Jamie is trying to deal with the fact that she will not be enjoying snow much longer, and that our house in Arizona will atleast at first will be without much grass. I hope that this works out to be a tremenous blessing for our family. I will keep everyone posted with the upcoming move, and my upcoming graduation from college on December 20th. Take care, and may Heavenly Father bless everyone.

Family Pics (Finally)

So, it's been forever that Jamie has been bugging me for us to go and get actual family pictures taken. I'm usually not one for pictures, and I am definitely a guy who does not like to have pictures plastered all over walls like crazy, but I decided that it was probably time to get some pictures taken.

Just before we went to get the pictures taken (about 2 days before), Lola decided to leap off of the couch and smack her face right on the floor. At first it didn't look too bad, but the next day Lola had this huge rug burn on her little nose. That is why she has the cut on her nose during the pictures. I hope everyone likes the pictures, and now no one can say that I never get my picture taken.

The Barrera Family

The Barrera Family 2

Ella and Lola Barrera

Trick or Treat

Every year on Halloween, our church has a safe trick or treating event planned for all of the kids in the different wards. We call it "Trunk-or-Treating", and it's basically all of the families that want to participate will park their cars in the church parking lot, and pass out candy out of their trunks. This allows all of the kids to walk to the different trunks and get candy safely. I'm so grateful for this, because for one, I don't have to walk around a neighborhood for an hour or so, and it's very safe. Jamie was taking pictures throughout the night, and so because of that, she is not in any of the pictures. I know what everyone is thinking, and yes Jamie is much better looking than me, so she should have been the one who was in all of the pictures. Sorry for the disappointment.

me and my girls

Lola the cutest monkey ever!



Ella as Cinderella, and the monkey

It's quality family time like this that make me realize how blessed I truly am. I hope everyone has enjoyed another Barrera family update, and please continue to visit our blog. If anyone has any good ideas to make my blog a little more interesting, just send them my way.

Family Day at the Pumpkin Patch

On Monday, I had the day off from school, and I decided to not go into work so that I could spend the day with my family at the pumpkin patch in Roca, NE. It was a little cold outside, but we braved the cold and had a fun day. Normally I don't like going to the pumpkin patch, but I'm glad Jamie made me go, because it was so much fun seeing my girls have so much fun. Oh, and we also brought our neighbor Julianne and her daughter Emmie with us. It was their first time at the pumpkin patch. I don't have a lot of time to write more detail about what went on because I'm crazy busy with school right now, so I'm posting some of the pic's from the day. Hope everyone enjoys them.


These were just a couple of the pics from the fun day. The picture of Lola (our youngest) was the only one of her not screaming. She was not in a good mood for pictures that day, but oh well. Hope everyone enjoyed seeing the pics, and have a wonderful week.

Sundt Construction

On the 27th of September, I flew down to Phoenix, AZ for the weekend for an interview with Sundt Construction Inc. They are a pretty large general contractor based out of Tempe, AZ, and they have offices in Arizona, and Southern, CA.

So on the 27th, I got on my plane, and it had been probably 13 years since I'd been on an airplane, and so I was kinda excited to go on it. The only thing I didn't like was that I had a long layover in Denver. But it was ok. The only part of the whole flying thing that I didn't like was that when I was flying back from Phoenix, to Denver, the plane just before take-off, just completely shut down and the power went off. Then it came back on after a little while, and the pilot came on the loud speaker and said that sometimes the planes are like laptop computers, and they just need to be rebooted. Now I don't know about anyone else, but that's not something I want to hear just as we are about to take off. We made it safe and sound though, so I'm over it.

Now, the reason I went down there was for a job interview, which I am happy to say that I got an offer from them. Not my ideal offer, and Jamie really doesn't want to live in Phoenix, so hopefully I get other offers with the other interviews I have, but at least I have a job, worst case scenario. The crazy part of the whole interview was that while I was down there, I started to feel sick. The worst part of it was that during the day of the interview I actually ended up have to rush off to the bathroom twice to throw-up. Even after all that, I was still able to impress them enough to give me an offer.

That is basically what is new with me, so I hope that everyone else is doing wonderfully, and may Heavenly Father bless everyone in there lives.

Football Is Here!!!

Well, for those that don't know me, I love sports. I especially love watching the Huskers. This year we have a new football coach, the guru of defense, Bo Pelini. I'm so excited to see what a good coach can do with a team that last year had an embarrasing defense. I just had to say it, but GOOOOOOOOOOOOO HUSSSSSSKKKKKEEEEEEEEEEERS. Enjoy the football season everyone, no matter who your team is.

Pictures of the Barrera's

I realized today, that I haven't put many pictures of us Barrera's on our blog. I am still trying to work out all of the bugs that I experience when trying to blog. I'm not sure if it's the site, or if it's a user error situation. I'm sure it's more of the user error situation than anything else. The layout of this blog might look a little weird, I'm not really familiar with blogging just yet, but I'll get better I promise. If anyone knows any useful information that would help me in how to use this blog stuff, I'd greatly appreciate it.

This first picture is of me and my two daughters Ella Lynn (3 years), and Lola Grace (7 1/2 months).


This is a picture of Jamie my beautiful wife, and our newest baby girl Lola. They were swimming at Grandma LouAnn's house and having so much fun.


Here's our oldest daughter Ella also swimming at grandma's house, and she is wearing her swimming goggles, even though she won't even come close to putting her face in the water. Our girls love swimming and playing at their grandma LouAnn's house.

This picture is of Lola on fathers day being held by none other than her father (which is me). isn't she so cute.




The picture on the right is also on father's day, and it's me and my two beautiful girls. I still can't believe how much I've been blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful family. I can only thank my Heavenly Father for being so loving and trusting to allow me to be a parent to my two girls, and he has also blessed me with a loving, kind, and supportive wife.

Well, I hope these pictures will be sufficient for everyone, and I'll post some more later.

The Last Semester

So I start my last semester of school on Monday, and it can't happen at a better time. We are tired of school, and living like students. I will graduate on December 20th with a undergrad degree in Construction Management. Everyone keeps telling me that I'm going to be rich, but I don't think that's true, so I do plan on going back to school to get a Master's degree in either Business, or Construction. Basically, my life for the next 4 months will be school, work, and preparing for interviews. Jamie would like it if we stayed in Nebraska, or at least within a couple of hours from Nebraska, but I don't think we'll end up that close. The market for construction isn't great period right now, but especially in the midwest. I'm thinking we'll end up in Phoenix, AZ, or Houston, TX. Phoenix would be a last choice, because we haven't had great luck with that city.

This past summer, I was given the 0pportunity to do an internship with a very good contractor in Phoenix, named Sundt Construction. I was on the surveying team. It sucked for the three weeks I worked there. It's hot, and I basically pounded stakes into the ground, and held a rod for 8-10 hours a day in the summer heat. The heat was better than Nebraska heat mixed with high humidity, but it was still hot. I think one day I drank 16 20 oz bottles of water, and never pee'd once. That's how much I sweated. Well, my internship was cut very short. Jamie and the girls didn't come out with me at first, Jamie had a friend who was getting married, and our oldest daughter Ella was in the wedding, so they stayed back, to then fly out later. This also allowed Jamie to take our youngest daughter Lola for a doctor's appointment. At the appointment, the doctor informed Jamie that Lola's head was realllllyy flat on one side, and that is was growig towards her ear, and could possbly pinch off her hearing, causing her to lose it. The solution to this problem was for Lola to get a special, clear plastic helmet to help mold her head back into place. After lots of different options, and considerations of me staying in Phoenix still, Jamie and I both decided that I should come home and end my internship with Sundt. I spoke with Sundt, and they were very understanding, and infact insistant that I go and take care of my family. I am still in the running with them for a full time job after I graduate, so that is great. Since I've been home, Lola's head is much, much better, and she should be helmetless in about three weeks. The one thing that sucked about the helmet, is that insurance considers it a cosmetic thing, so they wouldn't cover it. So it's an out of pocket expense for us. Oh well, it's for a good reason. The rest of my summer has been back at my old company Judds Brothers Construction Company, and spending time with my girls. Now it's time to get ready for fall semester. I know this post has gotten to be a little long, but it's been awhile since I've posted anything. I'll try to be better at keeping this thing updated, since it will probably be me who does it. Jamie really doesn't like to do this kindof thing. I'll also post some new pictures of the family in the next week or so. Hope everyone is doing well, and I pray that Heavenly Father will bless you all with many blessings. Have a great weekend all.

The Barrera Family 2008

This is our first time blogging, so bare with us as we experience the thrill of the unknown. To introduce our family, Michael and I are the parents, and we are both students. Michael is finishing up his undergrad degree in Construction Management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Jamie is on a short break and focusing on being a stay at home mom. I am going to school for nutrition and fitness, but I am thinking about changing to nursing. I can't make up my mind. Michael right now works as an intern at a local construction company here in Lincoln. It is a very interesting company, and hopefully Michael won't have to work there much longer. But for right now, he is doing his best in school and work.

We have two beautiful kids in our family. Ella Lynn is 2 and 1/2, and Lola Grace is 1 month. Needless to say, they keep us very busy. Ella is into everything. She loves construction like her daddy, and loves looking at "big diggers" at daddy's work. She is also her mothers girl, because her favorite thing to do is sing and dance, and her favorite movies are "Hairspray", and "Highschool Musical 2". I think it's wonderful. Lola really doesn't do much, she is only 1 month. She has started smiling lately and we love it. Our kids our so wonderful.

Some other new about us is that in May of this year, we will be moving to sunny Phoenix, AZ for Michael's summer internship with Sundt Construction. He is very excited to make some real money for once. Needless to say, I am also very happy to make some real money. I really can't wait to go see some of the sites in Arizona, and we are planning on going to Disneyland this summer as well. Hopefully this was an ok intro to our little family, and hopefully in the future, I'll do better with this whole blog thing.