distance Archives | Larry and Carla

“When life feels like a struggle, and things keep going wrong,
Know that better days are coming, and let love keep you strong.”

Here’s a little encouragement for anyone who’s been having a difficult time lately. We’ve been receiving lots of messages on our Facebook page, from long-distance couples. Many people are struggling with the distance, and all the uncertainties that come from being far away from someone you love. We don’t have the answers to all the problems, but we do understand how it feels!

If you’d like to read more about long-distance relationships, you’ll find lots of information on our website. We’ve written about how to cope with feelings of jealousy and insecurity. There’s also an article about arguments; a common problem in long-distance relationships! And if you reach the stage where everything feels too much, read some words of encouragement. You can contact us on our Facebook page, or share your own story there. There will be other people who understand what you’re going through. Perhaps your post will also help to encourage other long-distance couples!

We survived our long-distance relationship, and we hope you can too. The distance may try to break you, but let love keep you strong!

Unlike many of our handbell friends, we didn’t make it to this year’s National Seminar – Pinnacle – in Dallas, Texas. We read lots of news about this exciting event on Facebook. The whole thing was so awesome that it even had its own hashtag on social media – #Pinnacle15.

We’re not the kind of people to sit around and sulk because we were missing out on all the fun in Texas. Instead, we decided to have a handbell adventure of our own here in California. We packed our bells and equipment into the car, and away we went!

Here we are at our destination – PINNACLES!

Our very own handbell event

We checked in at a hotel in the nearby town of Soledad, and our handbell event – #Pinnacles15 – began.

Here’s a picture of the church where we held our Friday evening duet session. We played through some new and unpublished music outside the church of Our Lady of Solitude.

And here’s our opening night dinner. Hey, put your phone away, Larry!

Here’s Larry wearing our event t-shirt:

Here are some of our bells in the hotel room:

Here’s Carla wearing her “Hug Larry if you love Tico Tico” shirt:

Larry held a handbell polishing session:

Wait. Handbell polishing? THAT’S not how you do it, Larry!

Here’s Larry wearing his “Kiss me if you love Tico Tico” shirt. These shirts were worn by handbell musicians from Area 12 at Distinctly Bronze West in February 2015.

Here’s Carla, showing her skills at multi-tasking as she works on music for the Bay View Week of Handbells while drinking coffee!

We enjoyed the opportunity to do some sightseeing in the area too. Here’s a picture of the Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, where we played some of our duets inside and outside the chapel on Saturday morning:

And here we are at the Mission San Juan Bautista, which we visited on Saturday afternoon:

Larry and Carla - Mission San Juan Bautista

Our handbell event was over far too quickly, because we had to be home on Sunday morning, to play duets in a church service in San Jose. But we had a fun couple of days – and you can see more photos from our trip on our Facebook page!