storm dodging & trunks.

We (Sarah & Andrea) dodged a huge blizzard in order to pick up Ellie from O'Hare in Chicago, Illinois, USA, World, Planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy. Sarah didn't talk about the storm dodging at all but I insisted we bring it up. She only casually mentioned it, oh about 50 times verbally and 35 on gchat, before she made it her legal middle name (Sarah Storm-Dodger Kron).

Even though the storm dodging was the major part of our trip, take a look at the video to see what else happened. Storm Dodger Kron decided the little sidekick (aka Andrea Froehlich) should hide in the trunk in order to surprise the Brazilian Bombshell because she "didn't know" AF was coming. Let's see what happens...

Eager Anticipation

Steph and I are at home counting down the minutes. Why? you might ask. Because...Ellie Lundquist is back in the US!! That's right...our Brazilian beauty is back home for Christmas!! She flew into Chicago on Wednesday and is now on her way to 2520 with Sarah and Andrea. Now, if we could just get the hands on the clock to move a little quicker...the anticipation is killing us. Hurry up guys!

homeschooler learns to dance

Marathon and Bedrest?

As some of you may know, I (Lacy) have been on crutches for the last 2 weeks. It was exactly 2 weeks ago today that I learned I have a stress fracture in my left hip. The real kicker is that it's been fractured since June! Here's the story...My sister, Linsey, was living with us this summer. She was training for a half marathon and all her running inspired me. So, she and I decided to run a 10K together. Red flag #1, we made the decision to run the night before the race, so I did NO training. I ran the race and, to my surprise, I survived the whole 6.2 miles without stopping. Then comes red flag #2. Two days after the race, when my sore muscles began to loosen up, my left hip started to hurt. Every step was painful, to the point of needing to limp (very sneakily, of course, so as to avoid any extra attention). I assumed it was an over use injury so I laid off exercise for a month and a half. My hip felt a lot better after all the rest, so I started easing back into working out. But each workout was followed by a day or two of hip pain, red flag #3. I suffered through intermittent workouts with no change until finally, 3 1/2 months later, I made a doctor's appointment. I had an MRI, which is how the fracture was diagnosed. Since I did rest my hip for a while after the run and the fracture was not yet healed, drastic measures needed to be taken: crutches for 4-6 weeks. Since I am on crutches, I am unable to perform my work duties as a nurse, which leads to the point of this post. It is a fairly common practice for the folks on our unit (Sarah and I work on the same floor) to get a card signed by co-workers if someone has had a birthday, surgery, injury, ect. This weekend there was a card sitting at the main desk for me. Attached was a post-it note that read, and I quote: "Lacy was injured after running in a marathon. She's on bedrest for 30 days...please sign card." Sarah, being the joy-giver that she is, brought the post-it note home for me to read. My first reaction was, "WHAT!?" 1) I would hardly call a 10K a marathon, it's a quarter of the distance! 2) I'm not even close to being on bedrest. 3) What kind of a running injury would result in bedrest? All I can think of is getting struck by a car or fracturing BOTH hips!Where did this information come from? How funny! It's like a version of the childhood game Telephone. I can't wait until I get the card and I can read the comments...I know it will be entertaining.

go math!

Math is my friend. Well, not really....but here's a problem for YOU!

You finally get an allowance! You put $2 away in January, $4 away in February, and $8 away in March, and $16 away in April and followed this savings pattern through to December. How much money do you have in 12 months?

Alright, friends.....have at it! :)

This is NOT our home.

Tonight, I went to Missions in the Main Hall at Bethlehem. I was really tired this afternoon and I thought about skipping. Glad I didn't. I sat on the floor along with probably a couple hundred other people and was blown away by Pastor John's message on missions. If it was recorded, I strongly encourage you to listen to it. Much better than what I'm writing. But here's my take on it...

He talked about how sad it is when we become satisfied with the little things of this earth and when people live as if this is their "final chapter" in life. Heaven is our final chapter and we should not live as if this were heaven. We have the hope of an eternity in heaven...that's why we can give our lives away to missions here on this earth. He said we need to "get it settled" that our reward is not in this life. Total satisfaction is coming. Don't try to seek it out in things of this earth. Give, give, give. Love, love, love.

One of the other things that stood out to me from his message - if we know the central thing, we can be ignorant in 10,000 other ways and we will be relevant to everyone...because "you will never meet a human being who doesn't have a cavernous longing...for God."

Tonight was both encouraging and convicting. Many times I think I live as if this were my final chapter/heaven. I am selfish with my time and find myself seeking satisfaction in little things rather than seeking what my heart is really longing for - God. May I not look to other little piddly things to satisfy my "cavernous craving for God." People, friends, emails, money, marriage, kids, music, shopping, entertainment, attention and the other thousands of things we may be seeking to satisfy never will fill the deep craving of our hearts. It encouraged me that we should be people who are willing to give our lives for others to share the amazing, life-giving message we have.

not only do we have lots of sweets...

The other day I came home from work and looked at the top of our fridge and it looked absolutely horrible. There's a reason why. It's where we keep all our chips, pretzels and bread. One would think that with just 4 people living here, there would not really be that many bags. You'd think, but it's not true at our house. We obviously like large quantities of food items. We counted the total number of chip/pretzel/rice cake bags. Guess how many...



I'll give you a little hint. A couple weeks ago, our fridge had 9 opened jars of salsa. 9. A lot, right? Not compared to the amount of chip/etc bags.

The worst bag we found is this Market Pantry bag of pretzels. I've noticed it many times while looking through the chip/bread basket. This time I decided to look at the expiration date only to find it expired back in December of 2007. Guessing it's been on top of the fridge the entire time we've lived at 2520.


Sorry MP Pretzels, it's time for you to go.

So, guess how many bags we found...

"Peace Like a River"

I'm on page 125 (out of 311) and am still having trouble "really getting into it." I'm surprised because many people say it's excellent. That's why I'm still reading but I hate having to tell myself to keep going rather than not wanting to put it down. I guess it must be drawing me in enough to keep me through 125 pages. It's not horrible by any means, it's just not grabbing my attention like I thought it might. Maybe I'm fictioned-out, after all the novels I read as an English major. But I think it's the style I don't love.

Maybe it's okay if I don't love it now. Maybe the books message will be worth it. Ok, I've decided I'm going to finish it...hopefully soon. Katie's waiting for me so she can read it.

Are you reading any good books?

oh, the perils at 2520.

For a while, some of my roommates (most obviously not Steph) have commented/complained about the abundance of sweets in our kitchen. I agree, there are a lot, but didn't really realize the extent. We currently have:

Frozen cookie dough:

Carmel Fudge Brownie Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Orange Sherbet, Mango Sorbet & Fudgsicles:

Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting & Twizzler bits:

Two Carmel Apples with nuts (from Cub...10 for $10):

Special K Bars:

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting:

Mini Kit-Kat and Butterfinger candy bars:

One left-over Carrot Cake cupcake from Jason's birthday:


Oh, we also have 3 pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and a couple bags of candy corn...no picture attached. Feel free to come over and eat a sweet...or 5.

goldfish

today i was google-chatting with anna and we realized that 'goldfish' is a really hard word to type. you should try it. or maybe it's just us. it does become easier with practice. anna says it's the d and f combo. maybe. do you have any hard words?

Regression 2009 Part 1

Want to know what happens when you are sick with H1N1 (Also known as swine flu, for those who don't know. Got that, Steph?) for over a week and you can't read any books because memory and concentration are a bit of a challenge?

Movies. LOTS of movies. Here is a list of what I watched while I was sick:

1. Fellowship of the Ring: extended version

2. The Two Towers: extended version

3. Return of the King: extended version (4 1/2 hours!)

4. Pride and Prejudice/Pride and Predjuice: 6 hour version

5. The Incredibles

6. My Best Friend's Wedding

7. Bourne Identity

8. Bourne Supremacy

9. Tuck Everlasting

10. The Guardian (Andrea got sea sick with this one and almost didn't go to church. You'll have to ask her about it.)

11. A League of Their Own

12. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

There might be more. I was semi-conscious for most of the week and can't remember details. A special thank you to the Tong's for allowing the projector to stay at our house the whole week! Made the movie watching that much better................

what makes you most nervous?

1. Making a presentation to 500 people?

2. A long car ride with a person you just met?

3. Talking about your deepest fears with someone you like?

4. Meeting with the President of the company you work for?

Squirrels Strike Again!

Andrea and I bought 2 pumpkins at Aldi this afternoon, for $2.20 each (good deal, by the way). Exactly 37 minutes and 13 seconds later, a squirrel took a bite out of the top of one of them. What the.......! Another reason NOT to waste your money on expensive "pumpkin patch" pumpkins. Especially if you live in the Phillips..........

g.o.a.l.

Sarah, who is affectionately described as the nurse who lives in the basement, is sick. And has been since last Friday. Poor thing. She might have H1N1. Maybe. Yesterday through a google chat conversation, we discussed the scale of 1 to 10. 1 being perfect and 10, about the worst you can feel. Yesterday she was feeling around a 4 or 5, which was better than the 7 or 8 she felt some of the previous days.

Our goal for Sarah is to get her to a 1.5...soon. We were not sure if we could ever get to the perfect 1 on this fallen earth. Right?

Today she's planning to venture out to the grocery store with me. Probably not to all of her 3 stops: Aldi, Rainbow & Trader Joe's. We're hoping that at least going to one will put her up a notch or two on the scale. Mind over matter.

Her health is our goal. And don't worry, when it happens, we are disinfecting our house like none other. Then y'all can come over again.

2520 still loves the Twins.

Last Tuesday, we went to the tie-breaker game between the Twins and the Tigers. It was probably, no exaggeration, one of the best sporting events we've ever attended. The game lasted 12 innings and almost 5 hours. Started at 4pm and we didn't leave the dome until after 9! When they won, the Metrodome turned INSANELY crazy. It sounded and almost felt like we had won the World Series or something like it. The crowd went wild and cheered for minutes on end:



Even though the Twins just lost 3-0 to the Yankees (don't get us started on the Yankees...), we still love the Twins...Carlos Gomez, Cuddyer, Mauer of course, and oh Denard Span.

over 54,000 people were at the Dome:



You probably can't see very well because they look like little stick figures, but the little meetings at the mound happened every few minutes, so it seemed. Mauer walked up there practically every other pitch. Ok, not quite but it happened a lot. And they went through about 8 pitchers. Probably part of the reason the game took 5 hours:


Steph and Lacy got Malt Cups. Lacy said: "I have the nervous munchies...I have to get a malt cup!"

They gave us homer hankey's. I love these. I got one from the '87 team...but I don't know where it is anymore:

We let Sid come, even though he made fun of the Twins all year...and not until the last few games against the Tigers did he start getting excited. Sarah was hesitant at first to let him come, but he promised to cheer for them:

Sarah's mom came too. Big Twin's fan...all season long:


and they won and got excited:

and so did the crowd:

next year, Twins, next year...

Restoration 2009 Part 3

Wow! We've been remiss in blogging about our progress in Restoration. 2009. Part 3 of this process was removing the jungle weeds in our back yard. When we say jungle weeds, we mean jungle weeds---as in covering our windows jungle weeds. This spring, Sarah noticed some plants growing next to the house, in a small, empty garden plot. They seemed innocent and harmless, so she didn't do anything about it and left on vacation for the summer. When she returned several months later, she discovered that the plants were not as innocent as she thought! Of course Andrea should have noticed the growing plants, but it's harder to notice things like this when you see them daily. It's like a baby -- when you see him/her every day -- the growth does not seem quite as dramatic. Y'know? Anyway, back to the story. The plants were, and we're serious here, at LEAST 6 feet tall. No joke. They looked like this:


So, we called him:


Michael Barnhart. Jungle weed expert. He's a hard worker. After 2.5 hours of two people chopping weeds (Yup. Andrea helped), we can see out of our windows again.

from natcon....

Natcon '09 has finally arrived! We are sitting at the walk-on registration desk. We have a crazy amount of candy...and might go back to the grocery store to get more. We 'tweeted' about our candy and have had a few takers.

So...you should follow the conference on this cool website that the DG guys created. You can find it here.

So far, besides the obvious things (worship music, great speakers, awesome fellowship, etc), it seems like a couple themes for this conference are twittering, candy and Piper's (not John) yellow binoculars.

It's 9:44pm and Mike Tong just walked in to the conference...yeah! Since he stopped working at DG this year, it's not the same at the office or the conference. We told him to give us orders and pretend like he's in charge and still our boss, like the good 'ol days...

Tim Keller:

"The gospel creates a new self-image...it humbles me before anyone, telling me I am a sinner saved only by grace. But it emboldens me before anyone, telling me I am loved and honored by the only eyes in the universe that really count."

here we go...

Tonight a few friends came over for dinner, one of them was Becky. After cleaning up the kitchen...Becky, Steph and I sat on the kitchen counters talking and laughing. Lacy came down and left for the gym while the three of us were sitting there. We all felt somewhat guilty that we were not going to the Y, where we are paying for a monthly membership, but never really go.

So, October is the trial month. We are committed to working out 3 times per week. If it works out, great. If not, I don't know. Maybe cancel our memberships? By God's grace, we will be able to have the diligence to follow through...

Monday and Friday -- Gym at 6pm
Tuesday -- P90x at 6pm

Monday and Tuesday are mandatory days, and if we don't go, we owe $1. Friday is a little more lenient. If we can't go, we can make it up on Saturday (with proof). The money (if there is any) will go into a pot that Sarah is in charge of. This will hopefully be motivation because none of us really want to give Sarah a dollar for not going to the gym, right? At the end of the month, it will be decided where it goes.

Pray for us...we might need it...

Restoration 2009 Part 2

The face magnets are all back on the fridge! A few months ago, Scotch Banyon decided to hide our magnets in different places around the house. We have spent the past 2 months trying in vain to discover all of the hiding places. Today, we have Restoration because all 6 of the magnets have been found!

Ellie was hiding in a chip bag, Lacy was in the cookie dough inside the refrigerator, Steph was inside a Diet Coke 24-pack (very appropriate), Katie was sitting on top of the plates in the cupboard and Andrea was 10 feet above the staircase coming down the stairs. These first 5 magnets were found relatively quickly, yet Sarah remained elusive. In fact, we had pretty much given up finding Sarah. And believe me, because of this one missing magnet, things seemed pretty incomplete around 2520.

This morning, I awoke to discover that Sarah was back! Apparently, she had traveled inside of the Tong's borrowed Wii box back to the Tong's, where she sat in obscurity until the Banyon's borrowed the Wii themselves. When they opened the box to hook up the Wii, out popped Sarah. Which is quite appropriate, when you stop to consider that Scotch was the reason she was lost in the first place. Interesting how things often come full circle, isn't it? Katie was kind enough to give Sarah back to Andrea the other night, thus making it possible for Restoration 2009 to continue. Thanks, Katie!

Restoration 2009 Part 1

The first installation of Restoration 2009 is getting our piano tuned. Yes, we are aware that we've had it for over 9 months. And we should have done this long ago, but we didn't. So, Tuesday morning at 10:30 am, Robin (a guy) came to the house and started tuning. I assumed he would just sit and tune but he wanted to talk throughout the 1.5 hour process. We talked about where we both grew up, the band he plays in , lots of politics (with many differing views, to say the least), the Bible, how he used to live on 11th Avenue, schools we both attended, how to play piano by ear, and of course how he learned to tune pianos. It was pretty interesting.

But bottom line is, it is now in tune and Restoration is in progress. Stay tuned for more Restoration news.

And if you want to play, come on over.

Be near, oh God.

I've listened to this Shane & Shane song (Be Near) over and over for the past couple of months. The words are so good and helpful. God's nearness is GOOD. I long for more of it. These are my favorite words to the song...but instead of just reading the words below, you should go to itunes and listen to them sing it :)

be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good
be near, oh God
be near, oh God of us
Your nearness is to us our good, our good

What the 2520 house is thankful for..........

The other afternoon Steph, Sarah and Andrea were sprawled out on the couches being Debbie-Downers (wuaaah, wuaah---remember Saturday Night Live?). Moping around, complaint after complaint, in the typical dramatic 2520 way.  The weather is too hot and humid! Our neighbors are too loud! The house is too dirty!  Why does life have to be so hard! 

Suddenly, Andrea stood up, looked out the window and exclaimed, "Gosh!  Our yard is SO ugly!"  She was immediately convicted of a complaining spirit (Steph and Sarah, meanwhile, gripped in the throes of the devil's lying schemes, continued to complain).  Andrea turned and looked at her roommates and stated, "Man, all we're doing is complaining!"  At that moment, an idea popped into Sarah's head. 

"OK guys!  This is what we're going to do----quick!  Quick!  Everyone think of 3 things they are thankful for,and we're going to go around in a circle and share.  Steph, you go first."   Blank stares. "Uhhh, uhhhh," stuttered Steph. 

"Quick!  Don't stop to think too much!  Just say the first thing that comes into your head," said Sarah.  Finally, Steph timidly exclaimed while glancing nervously at the coughing, sore-throat, cold-suffering Andrea, "OK......ummmm.....I'm thankful I don't have any physical ailments."  

"Good Steph!  That's good!," encouraged Sarah, "Andrea, you're next."

"OK.......I'm thankful for this house?" said Andrea, questioningly.

"And I'm thankful for pretty colored leaves changing in the fall," said Sarah.  The 3 roommates continued the exercise.  Andrea was thankful that she is done with school, Sarah that her hair had just been cut and was now short. In reply, of course, Steph was thankful for her long hair, and Sarah countered with her chapstick.  

This led the three girls into a conversation about being thankful for little things, such as chapstick......and how it's okay to have that be one of the things we are thankful for because every little thing in life is a gift from God.  And they point us to him!  Next time you find yourself in a spirit of complaint, try Sarah's little exercise.  It was good for us.  So..........what are you thankful for?  

novels

Sarah is going to the cabin this weekend and wants to bring some good novels with her. But she doesn't know what to read. I recommended "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote and "Safely Home" by Randy Alcorn.

What would you recommend?

The Perils of Biking

I have had 3 very interesting things happen to me while biking in the past 3 weeks.

Event #1: Almost ran into a girl hula-hooping (yes, that can be made into a verb) in the middle of the Midtown Greenway. I'm not exactly sure why she decided the Greenway was a good place to spin that hoop around her hips.

Event #2: Swallowed a bee while cruising down by the Mississippi River, and was subsequently stung. On my tongue. Good thing I'm not allergic or I would have been in trouble!

Event #3: My favorite---this afternoon, biking down a path in St. Paul, I ran over a squirrel! But don't worry; it promptly jumped up and ran off into the woods.

Lessons learned:
1. Hula hooping can be dangerous, especially when performed while standing on a bike path.
2. Keep mouth closed while biking.
3. Trying to avenge myself on the Phillips squirrels for everything they have destroyed in our backyard using a bike won't work. It doesn't kill 'em.

Bob's Java Hut.

This afternoon, Sarah and I tried out a new coffee shop. Bob's Java Hut. Interesting place. I'd recommend it. One whole wall of the coffee shop is a garage-door type window that completely opens. We sat inside, but not completely...




If you want to try it out, it's at the corner of Lyndale and W 27th. Oh, and Sarah says the coffee is fine. I don't know cause I don't drink coffee...but the steamed milk is good.

Before we left, Sarah wanted to eat her peach....in the sun...

Steph and Andrea Go to the Cabin

The time has come, my friends, for me to make my entrance into the world of the 2520 blog. Who am I, you may ask? Well, for starters, my name is Sarah, I am a nurse and I live in the basement.  I have lived down there very happily in my green room for almost 3 years! You may have seen me or met me at certain social events hosted by 2520, but only if my fellow housemates decide that it is acceptable for me to emerge from my basement hovel. You will have to talk to them about how they determine when it is appropriate for me to come out.

I must confess that it has taken me the entire 3 years to be OK with the idea of contributing to the 2520 blog. The event that pushed me over the edge happened a few weeks ago when I FINALLY convinced Steph and Andrea to join me on a journey up to my parent's cabin outside the Boundary Waters in northern MN. There were several reasons why this adventure took some "convincing", not the least of which is the fact that the cabin has no electricity.  Yes, that means no cell phone chargers.  So just like it took 3 years for me to blog, it also took 3 years for Steph and Andrea to take the leap outside of their comfort zone and learn how to portage a canoe and eat wild blueberries. Wait. I don't think they actually ate any blueberries. But I digress.

Our adventure began on a Friday afternoon, when every other person in the metro area had also decided to go up to their cabins. 6 + hours and 2 construction traffic jams driving a stick shift later, we finally made it to East Bearskin Lake. The next day, the weather cooperated and we went canoeing to the Rose Lake overlook, a very picturesque spot on the Canadian border. Our route involved portaging a canoe, which basically means you pick the thing up and carry it over your head on the trails that connect the various lakes.  A bit of a trick, I may add.

Here are a few short videos to illustrate, with Steph as narrator:




As you can see, it was a growing experience. Thankfully, we made it to the overlook without mishap, in part because it wasn't windy at all, but also because Steph and Andrea are good paddlers. I am being serious. I was impressed with their skills.

Here is a shot of the overlook:


After taking a swim in a nearby waterfall, we headed back to the cabin, grabbed a malt at a very colorful local bar, enjoyed a fish dinner, and played an intense game of Aggravation with my parents and cousins. We headed back home on Sunday morning, stopping in Grand Marais to complete the experience.

Doughnuts at World's Best:

Pizza at Sven and Ole's, with wild rice on it!:

Walking the shores of Lake Superior:

Whew!  A bit of a whirlwind, but lots of fun.  Steph and Andrea passed the wilderness test with flying colors.  And they even had fun doing it!  I think..................  

Piper Chairs

We would just like to take this opportunity to thank Abraham and Molly for the use of their folding chairs.

For the past 2 and a half years.

Because of these chairs, we were able to host a lot of parties. Because of these chairs, more people were able to sit down at these parties.

Can we get some thank you's from all of the people that have sat in these chairs while hanging out at our house please? (especially if you are in the pictures?)

Thanks again, Molly and Abraham. Thanks! Bye! Thank you! See ya! Bye! Thank you SO much! Bye!

If you squint hard, you might be able to see the very functional black folding chairs in these pictures.............

We are alive...

but locked out. Yes, it has been a long time since we've blogged. We are aware of that. Back to the locked out part. We came home tonight from a long night of shopping at MOA (where the shirts at GAP are really cheap) and found two cops questioning and shining flashlights at our neighbors across the street. We try to quickly get into the house and find that our screen door is locked from the inside. Perfect. And we don't have a garage door opener to get in through the back. We are locked out. Sarah's up in White Bear Lake and Lacy is at work until 11:30 pm. What do we do? Call your old roommate. So here we are, sitting at the Burns' residence...updating the blog. Boom. We are back in action.

in KY...

We are in the South right now for Courtney's wedding. Actually for a weekend full of festivities. Not much down time here. I already saw a "pig" wandering around Southern Sem and even caught a glimpse of Dr. Mohler's parking spot. Lovely.

Today we went to a bridesmaids luncheon. Courtney's mom treated us all at "The Butterfly Garden." Really cute place. We ate Asian Salad and sandwiches. YUMMY. We are at Country Inn & Suites right now with Courtney. The Waldemar's are right across the hallway from our hotel room. YAY!

K...we are leaving in a couple minutes to go to the nail place. Trying to decide whether or not to get a manicure....

i knew frisbee was dangerous...

Last night Sarah and I went to the park to play ultimate frisbee with some friends. We played for about 15 minutes before the drama ensued. Sarah jumped up to block the frisbee from my team. She successfully did that but the bad part was that she landed on her arm...and didn't get up. But it was an awesome play. As Sarah was on the ground, she exclaimed (in her sarcastic tone): "Where's the nurse when you need her? Oh, yeah...she's hurt!" As she was saying that two nurses and an athletic trainer surrounded her. Thankfully they were there!

We were about 20 feet from the hospital where Sarah works as a nurse....so we walked over to the ER at Abbott. As we were walking to the hospital, Sarah said: "I wish I had sworn." But she refrained because of the TBI guys that were there.

She was being quite the goofball at the hospital. She became BFF's with everyone - the front desk guy, the registration lady, her male nurse named Gregg, the X-Ray technician and her nurse practioner, Marilyn. I'm sure the Abbott employees thought I was a jerk because I kept laughing at Sarah. I really did have sympathy for her but it was just too dang funny. Sarah said: "I better stop laughing or they won't believe that I'm hurt."

After about an hour and a half, Marilyn gave her a prescription for Vicodin which Sarah promptly filled at the medication vending machine. Crazy, huh. Then she was allowed to leave.

The good news is that her arm was not broken. But we don't know yet what the extent of the problems are. She got an MRI today and is awaiting the results.

This is what she ended up with: an x-ray, sling and Vicodin:

another question...

Tommy and Andrea want to know what you think (because we think we already know what we think), is it unbiblical to be sarcastic?

Stephanie says: "Obviously it's not...well, I don't know..."

For full credit, answers that include Biblical references should also appeal to the original languages.

and the winner is.....

SCOTT!


Way to go! You are the winner of the $5 Chipotle GC!!!

The correct answer is 49%. Thanks everyone for trying!

the math problem!

Here is the math problem that I was "trying" to solve the other night.  Sarah and I solved the problem last night (well, she basically told me what to do, and I did it...)  I have the correct answer in my hands............

I am going to give a $5 Chipotle gift card to the person that submits the correct answer first.  

So....put your thinking caps on and get ready!!!  ;)

Katherine runs her own pizza shop.  For each pizza it costs $2.21 for ingredients, $1.24 for overhead, and $ 0.47 for mailing flyers.  She charges $5.84 per pizza.  As a percentage of her costs, how much profit does Katherine earn for each pizza she sells?  

READY, SET, GO!!!!!

this is why i don't get hw done at 2520...

The other night, I was sitting on my bedroom floor trying to write a paper on Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf. Hence the classical music in the background. Anyways, Steph popped in...bringing Sarah's computer, a diet coke and algebra problems. Needless to say, the rest of the night was not very profitable (school-wise) for me. But I do love Steph's company :)



In the second video, Steph had started google chatting. And then she video chatted with Anna and Kat, who tried to help her solve the math problems...



If any of y'all are math wizards or something, I'm sure Steph would love your help...

i got a gift...

Last week a bunch of my friends and DG coworkers went to the Gospel Coalition conference in Chicago. It sounded like it was a great conference and tons of fun. I didn't go....boo. Sometimes I felt like I was there because I would receive texts like: "Josh Harris just smiled at me" and "I printed out CJ Mahaney's name tag" or "I just got my picture with Mark Driscoll!" When Anna came back, she told me she had a present for me. I wasn't really expecting this:


Haha! I laughed when I saw it but...perfect present cause I love CJ Mahaney :)

some pictures!

Sarah and Andy welcomed their baby boy, Yoseph into the world yesterday! Congratulations! He is beautiful!

We are a little crazy sometimes. Just sometimes.

Shane and Shane concert! Best concert ever!!!!

Shane & Shane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Question from Trent...

Is it un-biblical if a girl asks a guy out?

Love Lustres at Calvary

a prayer from Valley of Vision....

My Father,
Enlarge my heart, warm my affections, open my lips, supply words that proclaim 'Love lustres at Calvary.'
There grace removes my burdens and heaps them on thy Son, made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me;
There the sword of thy justice smote the man, thy fellow;
There thy infinite attributes were magnified, and infinite atonement was made;
There infinite punishment was due, and infinite punishment was endured.
Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
cast off that I might be brought in,
trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend,
surrendered to hell's worst that I might attain heaven's best,
stripped that I might be clothed,
wounded that I might be healed,
athirst that I might drink,
tormented that I might be comforted,
made a shame that I might inherit glory.
entered darkness that I might have eternal light,
My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes,
groaned that I might have endless song,
endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
bore a thorned crown that I might have a glory-diadem,
bowed his head that I might uplift mine,
experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,
closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,
expired that I might for ever live.
O Father, who spared not thine only Son that thou mightest spare me,
All this transfer thy love designed and accomplished
Help me to adore thee by lips and life.
O that my every breath might be ecstatic praise, my every step buoyant with delight, as I see

Holy Week

Last Sunday at church Pastor John encouraged us to not just let Holy Week pass by but asked us to consider how we would mark this week. So our friends, Mike and Catherine, have been hosting worship nights at their house every night this week. We are reading through a section in Matthew and Psalm 22 each night, singing and praying. It has been incredible. Worshipping with the body has helped my heart ponder the death and resurrection of our Savior.

Late last night a few of us were at their house talking and most of us thought this has been the most significant week leading up to Easter for us. Normally, I don't do much to celebrate Easter during the week leading up to it. I wait until Easter Sunday. But I would encourage you to not wait until Easter. Even though it's already Friday, don't let the rest of your Holy Week just pass by....

Philippians 2:6-11 "who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

"The 2520 Stranger" by Scotch Banyon

FADE IN:


INT. 2520 HOUSE - EVENING

A light TAPPING on the front door.

Andrea Froehlich, 26, with flowing brown hair, awakes from the bottom section of a trundle bed.

ANDREA
(In flawless Spanish)
Oh my stars...I am so tired.
Whoever could it be at the door?

Andrea staggers out of bed wearing a full bodied chicken costume, bright yellow feathers adorning her frame.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on the door, louder.

ANDREA
(In flawless French)
One minute! I will be with you momentarily mysterious stranger, you who are rapping so fervently on my front door.

She flaps her arms ever so elegantly as she walks down the stairs.

An elderly couple straight out of some Green Acres re-run sits inside a picture frame, hanging from the stairwell wall.

Again, KNOCKING.

ANDREA
(In flawless German)
I hear you visitor, I am but moments from the door, mere feet from the door knob. Upon its turning, the bolt will slide open and we shall meet face to face.

The door opens, letting in the brilliant whiteness of the world outside.

Andrea shields her eyes, blinded by the glory of the suns rays.

The light fades away as quickly as it came.

The front porch is empty, save for the detritus of winter; sand, salt, and squirrel carcass.

A perplexed crinkle on her brow, Andrea examines the empty porch.

ANDREA
(In flawless Italian)
Have my ears deceived me?
Have they betrayed my trust,
thrusting a knife into my back,
a most poetic homage to the late Caesar?
I hear a knock knock knocking
yet they have seemingly been produced by some unseen specter!
I shall count this as an audible misunderstanding
and shut the door and return to my abode.

She SHUTS the door and goes towards the kitchen.

Beneath the puffy yellow feathers of her costume, a GRUMBLE emits from Andrea's stomach.

She looks down at her poultry belly and laments -

ANDREA
(In flawless Russian)
This miscalculated encounter has left me famished.
I SHALL MAKE A SANDWICH!!! THE MOST EPIC OF MEALS!
THERE SHALL BE DELI MEATS! CONDIMENTS!
BREAD MADE FROM THE FINEST OF GRAINS!
A FEAST FIT FOR A KING!

Andrea turns the corner and into the kitchen.

Her face opens in sheer terror.

She throws her downy arms up into the air, sunny feathers bursting upward.

Her frightened lips, shaking, manage to emit a prehistoric SCREAM.

She slumps to the floor, unconscious.

Feathers fall softly around her.

A shadow looms over her, like a dark cloud blotting out the sun.

TO BE CONTINUED

March Madness. Madness, this is madness...

So, March Madness is finally here and we are really happy about it!!  Oh yeah.  Right now, the Purdue/Northern Iowa game is on, and I'm pulling for Purdue.  I have them in the Final Four!  I don't know if that's a good choice or not...meh.

Tonight, our own MINNESOTA GOPHERS (go blake!) are playing Texas at 6:10pm.  Yeee-haww!  And, can I get a "boom?"

We are gonna watch the games this weekend, so if you like college ball and have a heart for free-throws, then come on over!

updated update...

Hey all, we just wanted to give y'all a little updated update on our lives here at 2520...some of the things include:

1. Getting gym memberships at the yMca...not the yW. We found out from some friends about some great membership deals for people who make little amounts of $ (like us!) They have some awesome new treadmills and elipticals with Cardio Theaters! So running for a half hour goes real fast because we can watch basketball and other stuff...anyways...moving on...

2. Car Wash!! BOOM. We made it through. It was a little scary and dramatic but we did it. We even have a video.

3. Gabe & Julia visited us last weekend and it was so great to just hang out and have really good conversations. They love Jesus so much and it's so encouraging to be with them!!

4. Valentine's Day. Some of our friends invited us to hang out after church at Chipotle and Texas Tex Lanes (or something like that). Bowling rocked!

5. We just returned from Rainbow with a candy stash for the D.A. Carson seminar this weekend. You should come too! Here's some more info! If you go, you can have some of our candy. Ask nicely. We have Sour Skittles, Starburst Jelly Beans, Twizzlers, Chex Mix, Sour Punch Candy Straws. We still have some chocolate left over from our excessive purchases in Cali...actually, to be honest, one of us is out and the other only has a tiny bit left. We should've gotten more.

6. Ellie is leaving tomorrow afternoon for Brazil. Actually she is stopping in Austria to visit her brother. It still hasn't really sunk in that she is moving away. We love you, dear friend!

7. Andrea's taking violin lessons at the U and Stephanie is considering taking them too. Woot woo!! It's the Asian thing to do.

Ellie the cat.

This poor, homeless, kitty has been camped outside our house (either the under the front porch or the back, alternately) and has continued it's campaign for mercy for over a week. I'm convinced that the poor cat has been abandoned by it's owners and is in search of a new home. Who knows how many houses the cat has passed up in search of a house that she was convinced would show her mercy. She undoubtedly watched our house from a distance for many weeks before deciding that, yes, this indeed would be the perfect home. She saw the stream of people who came and went from the house, she heard laughter and singing, she smelled enticing smells and felt love. Yes, this indeed would be home. A place for her to lay her head. A place for her to do her part in the cleaning of crumbs off the floor and protecting from any rodents that might try to enter. She would even do her part in keeping the numerous squirrel population at bay.

Alas, when she arrived at the house, sure of a welcome, she was instead greeted with shrieks of fear, was shooed off the dry (although cold) shelter the deck provided--she was confused. Days went by, cold nights marked time...how long must she wait for a morsel of food, a comforting pat, a warm, dry place to sleep?

If you too feel compassion for this poor cat (whom we decided to call Ellie, since Ellie the person is leaving in 11 days) and are willing to do as the 2520 girls are unwilling to do (namely give Ellie a home)--please let us know! We are pretty sure that she is, or used to be, an indoor cat and for some reason has become separated from her family. She does not have a collar, but is friendly to people and seems comfortable indoors.

Please help her before it's too late!! (WARNING: all blow-gun owners, STAY AWAY from Ellie!!)