Free at Chipotle!

All you have to do is wear tin foil in some way, shape or form and you get some of the best food in the world...free! It's today (October 31st) at Chipotle. Some ideas:

cleaning at 2520!!!

There are a couple of us in the house who apparently never learned how to properly clean a toilet. We realize we are probably the only two girls in the world who don't, actually didn't know this. But now we know. I guess I should say who, so the other girls are not embarrassed, because of course they knew this cool trick. It's Steph and Andrea. Okay.

So, a few weeks ago I was cleaning the upstairs bathroom with Lacy and I was cleaning the toilet. So, I was dumping the toilet cleaner in the toilet like this:


of course. Lacy kind of stood there and watched and said, "Oh, you don't do it like this?" And she proceeded to show me the correct way:


How genius, I thought. This way the cleaner gets everywhere in the toilet bowl, not just the center! Oh man, I never knew. But, I was told, that is why the toilet cleaner is shaped like this:


A few days ago it was Steph's week to clean the bathroom. The same think happened, only I took Lacy's place and was probably not as gracious as Lacy. Steph and I laughed a lot. We are glad that we now know how to clean toilets properly. Probably the worst part is that I actually had a job cleaning someone's house when I was younger. All the weeks of cleaning their toilets were done incorrectly.

If anyone has other cleaning tips that you think we might not know, please tell us........

a verse i love today:

Isaiah 26:3 "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." 

Perfect peace does not come from everything going the way we want but from a mind set on HIM. I want to trust Jesus more.  So sweet to Trust in Jesus!   

catering!!

A few weeks ago, Sarah's brother had a MN wedding reception (He got married in Idaho and had a reception at his parent's house here). We were 'hired' as the wait staff. Sharon gave us all matching aprons...which are really cute! Since we had so much fun serving the guests and because we really like the aprons, we thought we should start a catering business. However, we would not provide the food...just the service...with a smile. So, if any of y'all are looking for something like that, let us know :)

Lacy, Stephanie and Ellie

It got really cold outside!

These delicious treats are called 'Sins of the Inn.' Wow, they are amazing. Steph recommends these...and believe me, she knows everything about the dessert table.

Ellie and Katie...really excited...

All of us.

practicality.

So, we had this idea of doing a price comparison of essential items at frequently visited grocery stores (Cub, Rainbow, Super-T). This all came about because there are definite opinions amongst the housemates at 2520 over which store is cheaper overall. Do you have an opinion??

Well, we wanted to get your (our readers) opinions/input on what items you would like us to compare. We obviously cannot compare all the items you buy, but items that are consistently on your grocery list.

some of our ideas are:

• bread
• cereal
• yogurt
• milk
• eggs
• flour
• sugar
• pasta
• apples
• cheese
• lunch meat
• OJ
• canned soup
• chocolate chips
• chicken

Suggestions??

p.s. I know some of you would say Aldi should be on our list, but they don't have all of our items and we are looking for an overall cheapest store.

"desperate measures call for desperate times"

When you live with 5 other girls, you have to be resourceful. We tend to store our food in obscure places, such as our bedrooms or the trunks of our cars. Our cupboards are overflowing and there is no other place to store the items. We just wanted to pass on the idea...in case any of you may have the same problem. So, here you go...

i miss china...

Mostly I miss the orphans. Especially Wu Quihua. This is the orphan I was 'buddied' with for the week at the orphan camp. He was so precious and even cuter in person! He smiled all the time but when he was in his bus seat waiting for the bus to take him back to the orphanage, he put his head down in his lap and cried...along with those of us who were watching them leave.

Wu Quihua and Tan Ping. They are both 12 years-old. The boys loved to play together. They are wearing Minnesota Gopher hats that Trent gave them. They told us their stories of how they ended up in the orphanage. Unbelievable stories and real sad.

okay. some more pictures from the conference!

The Desiring God Conference this year was titled "The Power of Words and the Wonder of God." I've started listening to the messages on my ipod and so far they've been really good and convicting. If you want to listen, you can go to the DG website. I would recommend it! We've had some good conversations at our house about the messages.

Ellie was a speaker host for the Interpreters...looks like they chose her because she looks so welcoming. In case you don't know Ellie - she really doesn't look like this normally :) She likes to laugh and smile. If you want a longer list of her positive qualities, email me.

Hanging out with some cool girls. I love them!!

Mike and Orison had lots of fun with the rubbermaid tubs. The ones that have a warning about letting kids play in them.


Aaron and Mike didn't have any push-pins or blow guns to play with like they do at the office so they were able to rest.


There were many great things about the conference, of course, but also some disappointments.
1. We didn't get to see Gabe and Julia
2. No yearly tradition of Chipotle (except for Steph)
3. No C.J. Mahaney or Josh Harris

BUT a few of the highlights!
1. Singing
2. Meeting new people
3. Seeing friends
4. Hearing Bob Kauflin and the other speakers
5. New traditions: aka. late night Cub run to get candy for the desk. We bought Reeses, M&M's, Skittles, Twizzler Nibs and Cheez-Its (the big ones). At the time, it seemed necessary but the next morning it seemed a little over the top.
6. Serving people (and being able to pray with people in the prayer room).
7. Being convicted of sin
8. And lots more...

DG NatCon. Part Deux

Back in 2007:
And with the same candy bowl, in 2008:

how we prepared for DG natcon.

the new DG style: hiking the pants up...real high.