Friday, September 25, 2009

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."


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

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...

Saturday, September 19, 2009

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!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

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.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

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


Friday, September 11, 2009

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?  

Thursday, September 03, 2009

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?

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

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.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

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...


 
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