from the south

Katie and I are in Louisville, Kentucky for the New Attitude Conference and we are going to be exhibiting for Desiring God at the conference. I have been so excited to come, both for the conference and to see Courtney, who used to live at 2520. We are at Courtney's house right now and Courtney, Katie and I have been sitting on her couch for about the last hour because we saw a mouse. Donald (Courtney's boyfriend) just arrived and is setting traps. He just found two dead mice in the traps that he set under the sink. This is serious. Besides the mouse and getting sick on the first flight, it has been a good trip so far! It has been great to hang out with Courtney -- we all miss her so much. One of the many things I miss about her is her daily routine.

evening:
Download podcasts to Ipod
Get coffee ready in the filter for morning
Get ready for bed
Crawl into the top bunk
Read
Crawl down and go to the bathroom
Get back up into bed and immediately shut the light off
Sleep

morning:
Get up
Turn on the coffee pot
Shower
Hair and Make-up while listening to Ipod with cup of coffee sitting on sink (Burts Bees and cell phone always close by)
Morning devotions
Breakfast (cereal) -- either at the table or standing in the kitchen
Prepare lunch to take to work
Get dressed (in the closet) with clothes that had been picked out earlier
Run out the door immediately after getting dressed

You could count on this routine happening in the same order each day. Courtney tells us that her routine now differs from what it was at 2520. We miss you a lot and a lot and many things about you, Courtney!

Oh my goodness...Donald just told us that their are baby mice and many....ahhhhh... And he is making the "humane" traps "less humane." If you know what I mean. Abraham would be proud.

from what i've gathered...

guys like david letterman better and girls like jay leno better.

agree? disagree?

awkwardness....

I have one question:

Is awkwardness just a perception, or is it a reality?

26 things you may or may not know about steph

1. loves hockey
2. went to norwegian and korean culture camp as a child
3. in HS, went to choir class early to take her friend, Angela's chair
4. bakes a lot
5. plays on a girl's softball team
6. didn't notice the fishy tasting water last month because as she said, she "doesn't really drink water."
7. has had braces twice, one root canal, cap, and wisdom teeth pulled
8. does not like hot weather
9. has a brother living in australia
10. became a christian in high school
11. went to chipotle three times in one day when they were giving away burritos
12. graduated from the u of mn with a major in family social science
13. loves swedish fish
14. was a swimmer in high school
15. wears contacts and does not own a pair of glasses
16. would rather stay in a hotel than in a tent
17. has two brothers and one sister
18. is a small group mentor
19. grew up in shoreview, mn
20. loves it when 9pm rolls around because that means free cell phone minutes
21. was left on a doorstep as a baby
22. has worked at starbucks, great clips and family dentistry
23. the drink she is most likely to order at starbucks is an americano
24. usual grocery store purchases: a couple apples, two little things of yogurt, reduced fat cheez-its, bag of pretzels, pasta, soup -- and that's about it.
25. is a great roommate
26. can't parallel park to save her life

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPH!!!!!!!!
(May 10th)

special week!

This is National Nurses Week 2008. And there are two nurses living in our house - Sarah and Lacy! I found an exciting website that allows you to send an e-card to a nurse. If you would like to bless our roommate, Sarah, please go to this link: Nursing World and click on view the e-card. The link for the e-card is: E-Card. Sarah's email is: sarahkron@comcast.net. Some of you who know Sarah know that this is not her main email, but she didn't want me to post it. So, if you know her real email, you can send it there.

please help

As most of you know, Ellie is planning to go to Brazil as a missionary to the deaf. However, there has been a slight hang-up in the process. And we are asking for your help. We've been brainstorming about what to do. We've been thinking that she pretty much has two options: 1. apply for a volunteer VISA or 2. Get ordained and re-apply for the missionary VISA. Neither of the two afore-mentioned options are ideal for Ellie. You can read her blog if you want to know more about why the volunteer option is not best. And she does not feel adequate to be ordained. So, as we were discussing this dilemma this afternoon, a brilliant thought entered my head. It is option number 3. and obviously the easiest and best. She needs to find a husband. Not just any husband, but one who wants to get ordained. Oh yeah, and move to Brazil. The good thing is that we know a whole batch of candidates who could potentially fulfill this role. Perfect. So if you could just help us by picking the best one out and sending him Ellie's way. What a great way you can minister to Ellie. She is open.

Here is a picture of Ellie:


In all seriousness, please pray for Ellie during this VISA obtaining process. Please pray that God would give her wisdom in choosing the right husband (KIDDING). We do ask that you would pray for wisdom for Ellie and for the hearts of the people at the Consulate who will be accepting or denying her VISA. We know that it is in the Lord's hands and that he is able to do all things well and knows the best time-frame.

is 'important' subjective?

A recent phone call from a 2520 girl to 911:

"Hi, this is not an emergency but I think it's important..."

We've been duped!

Our boss, Mike Tong, who we consider to be full of wisdom and insight when it comes to all procedures in the office has always told us that we use Library shipping...not Media. We are obviously not a library. However, even though Library Rate is a strange name for a shipping method we thought that it was named that because it is slow. You know, libraries are quiet and therefore slow. So the shipping is slow too. Makes sense, right?
So, when we got these notes, we laughed and laughed and thought the postal workers were crazy. Maybe it was the "new guy" that wrote the note.
We confess now that we were slightly wrong because we had the wrong definition of what Library Rate was. We equated Library for Media. This error has been corrected by Lukas Naugle. But, DG is also considered an educational institution which qualifies us for Library Rate.
So, now the funny part is that the post office was still wrong and Library Rate is not just for libraries. We think it's still ok to laugh.

library shipping.

Two packages of books were returned to work last week. The packages had been sent out 'library rate' (meaning the cheapest method of shipping with the USPS -- nothing to do with libraries). There was a note attached to the returned package. Apparently there is a USPS employee who is not aware of the meaning of library rate because the note said: "To qualify for library rate the parcel must be going to or coming from a library."

Interesting.
Funny.

when forgetfulness is a bad thing --

Yesterday I read Exodus 16 which is a story of the Israelites complaints to the LORD. Only two chapters earlier, I had read: "The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left." And only two chapters before that, in 12:27, I had read: "...for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses."

I can't imagine experiencing anything like the Passover or dry ground in the middle of a large sea! How could they go from the chapter 12 and 14 experiences to grumbling in chapter 16? Did they forget what the LORD had done?

But a lot of the time, I'm as forgetful as they were. I read verses like Ephesians 2:4-5 "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ" or "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" How can I know Jesus and experience his love and still grumble? How can I read verses like these and two minutes later grumble about crummy weather or plans that don't go my way?

free cone day!!

Ben & Jerry's is serving free ice cream today (April 29, 2008)! I guess this year is the 30th anniversary of free cone day. You should go!!

Weird or Talented? Or Maybe Both.

what's happening at 2520?

Of course some of the same things continue to happen near or at 2520 -- such as frequent and strikingly obvious drug deals and our oven's temperature rising to 500 degrees on it's own (only when I make cupcakes). It's happened many times. I don't know why, but our oven hates the combination of me and cupcakes. Other than that...

The other night we had to call the police. I think we were even more justified than normal. Usually our calls are for the average drug deal, loud music or because the door from the abandoned house next door is being stolen. But not this time. We were coming home from small group and Steph and I couldn't find a parking spot -- partially because of our crowded street and partially because of a lack of parallel parking skill. We decided to park behind our garage. As soon as we pulled up to the garage we heard 3 or 4 really loud gun shots. They sounded close. A few seconds later 3 guys ran right behind our car. They were running fast. Needless to say, it made our hearts race and we immediately called the police and told them in a quivering voice what had just happened. I think it is probably one of my scariest moments in the Phillips thus far. The story kind of loses momentum after that because we never found out what really happened.

And that night was the first night our new roommate, Lacy moving in. So yes, we have a new roommate and she experienced hearing the gun shots on her first night. She is in Ellie's old room. It's no longer purple, but peach. We are happy to have her here! Lacy works with Sarah at the hospital and is just as granola or maybe more so than Sarah is. There are lots of other great things about Lacy. Hopefully you will be able to meet her :)

Along with Lacy's arrival came a couch. Now we are well furnished in our living room area, and actually have to get rid of some things. Part of the reason we have so much furniture is because Kin Mily let us down and did not collect the desk he lied about wanting. Anyway, our next step for our living room is organizing the furniture...not an easy task with our awkward shaped room.

We would also like to welcome Mr. & Mrs. Haas to the Internet. Thanks for reading our blog. And sorry that Katie did not tell you about the gun shots. If you want to leave a comment, please feel free.

On Monday nights we have been having a time of prayer for the Phillips area. It has been an encouragement to pray with other believers. If you live in the area and want to come, let us know!

AND this summer Katie is planning to go on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic. We are excited. Ellie is going to Brazil when she gets her remaining support and her VISA. If you think of it, pray that her VISA would come through. It is in somewhat of a delay. Also, Sarah is going to Tunisia, Italy and some other places...

Steph had an exciting day today. She had her teeth cleaned this morning and it was the first time in her life that her teeth were cavity-free. Those of you who have never had many cavities probably do not understand how wonderful this news really is.

****Ding Ding Ding**** it's time for a QUIZ! Which paragraph above was NOT written by Andrea? And who do you think wrote it?

Something's kind of "fishy" around here, part 2

So, the title is somewhat misleading because this post has nothing to do with the water situation in Minneapolis. This post is about something else kind of "fishy"...

I recently posted my desk on Craigslist.com to be sold. I received a few emails from individuals requesting more information and expressing interest in the desk. My policy is to respond to the first person to express interest, then pursue other people if that person doesn't work out.

This time the email was from a "KinMily" who expressed sincere interest in the desk and said that he/she for sure wanted to buy it. I pursued this contact and after a few emails exchanged this "Kin" said that he/she would send a check and have some movers come pick it up from me. At this point my warning flags went up and I said that I wasn't sure if that would be ok. That I would prefer having face-to-face contact with "Kin". They assured me that the check was already in the mail and that everything would be fine.

I was out of town when the check arrived and I had Andrea open it. When she opened it she told me that the amount on the check was $2800.00 from a PickaRestaurant.com. Now I was really sure that this was a scam. I emailed KinMily back and said that I was not comfortable with that amount of money coming through my account and that I was unwilling to cash it. They responded saying that they had purchased other items in the area and so the extra money was for the movers and was because there were multiple items needing to be picked up. They sent the address that I was to wire the money to, the "movers", who happened to be an individual in California. At this point I was certain it was a fraudulent check and began trying to contact the company PickaRestaurant.com. I never got through to this alleged company, but got through to the bank listed on the check. As soon as I mentioned who the check was from, the customer service agent said "Oh, let me guess, the check is for too much and they want you to wire the money back to someone??" She said, "Yep, that's a scam!"

Needless to say, I filled out an internet scam report with the FBI and sent an email to KinMily advising him/her of this action. I'm still not sure where the scam actually is, if it's the company PickaRestaurant.com, or if it's this individual. Maybe we'll never know, but it sure is fun getting to the bottom of something like this. I mean, growing up I always wanted to be an FBI or CIA agent, maybe I missed my calling in life!

Or, maybe this whole "missionary" thing is just a cover!

Something's kind of "fishy" around here!

Here's the scoop...



Certain members of this house believe, or are convinced, that the Minneapolis water has begun smelling and tasting "fishy"! The others in the house agree that something is "different" about it, but wouldn't go as far as to say it is "fishy". The really "fishy" thing about this whole matter is what is causing this taste/odor?


One theory is that there are "a million dead fish" in the Minneapolis wells (p.s. I'm pretty sure that Minneapolis water is not well water!)

This is really the only theory posed thus far. We are seeking other opinions on the matter, but are seeking, above all, the TRUTH!! If any of you other Minneapolis-city-dwellers has information, or opinions, please don't keep us in suspense!

A belated birthday post for Sarah

We were in much turmoil regarding the birthday post for Sarah. Her birthday this year was on Easter and we didn't know if it would be appropriate to post about Sarah on such a significant day as Easter. So, that's why it's a belated birthday post.

Here are some of our favorite memories of Sarah (not in any particular order):

1. Sailing.

2. Blue Nile (x2).

3. Her laughing until she was crying.

4. Cleaning out the fridge.

5. Head dancing.

6. Stuffing grapes in her mouth.

7. Granola.

8. Asking if the ice cream was vanilla based at Culvers.

9. Watching movies.

10. Covering our tracks so that she didn't know we slept in her bed.

p.s. the above reason, appropriateness of posting, also applies to why we didn't post for Andrea (her birthday is on Christmas)

pi day

So apparently 3/14/08 was Pi Day. Here is a little excerpt from Wikipedia:

Pi Day and Pi Approximation Day are two holidays held to celebrate the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (3/14 in American date format), due to π being equal to roughly 3.14. Sometimes it is celebrated on March 14 at 1:59 p.m. (commonly known as Pi Minute). If π is truncated to seven decimal places, it becomes 3.1415926, making March 14 at 1:59:26 p.m., Pi Second (or sometimes March 14, 1592 at 6:53:58 a.m.). Pi Approximation Day may be observed on any of several dates, most often July 22 (22/7 (European date format) is a popular approximation of π). March 14 also happens to be Albert Einstein's birthday.

Our friend, Greta is an enthusiastic pi day celebrater and baked us a pie with fruit and sugar and other wonderful things. She brought it over to our house unexpectedly. What a treat/grand surprise. Thank you Greta!!

ping-pong...

Tonight we (K & A) were talking to a friend (T) about playing ping-pong at BBC. First we studied up on ping-pong by looking up the definition at dictionary.com:

2. "to go back and forth; change rapidly or regularly; shift; bounce"

So we decided we didn't even need a ping-pong table to do it....we could use our words. It seemed fitting to start with the word "ping-pong" and we went back and forth rapidly and regularly shouting out the next word that came to mind. I think we are ready for the real ping-pong season! Here is a re-cap:

Ping-pong
Janitors at Bethlehem
Clean Freaks
Kitchen Fridge
Smelly
Feet
Toes
Steph
Funny
Comedian
Bryan Reagan
Jason Calcote
Small group leader
Small group
Brownies
Table
Antiques
Grandpa
Harmonicas
Trent Burns
Sorry
Sarah Kron
Unashamed
Boat
Gloucester
Meg & Aaron
Friends
Gabe & Julia
ASK class
Pastor David Livingston
House by Piper's
Talitha
Hairspray
Aerosol can
My hair
Greasy
Fast food
French fries
France
Oui
Pronunciation
Frustration
Tupperware

what comes next according to you??

fun with O.

Happy Leap Year Everyone!

In honor of leap year, our boss at DG (that is Katie & Andrea's boss) Mike Tong decided we should celebrate since this day comes along only once every four years. So at 4pm we leaped. After watching the youtube videos of two remote employees who took part in the event, everyone in the office took turns lining up at the starting tape. We were not allowed to make any running starts (much to our dismay because that's the way we practiced). Each person leaped twice in a row and the one who went the furthest won a $15 Chipotle gift card. Here's Jon Bloom (not the winner):



If you want to see videos of any of the other contestants, let us know.

Here are the results and the youtube links (in an email from Mike):

Thank you everyone who came out today – the event was a great success! No one got hurt (except Andrea in pre-event training) and we even had entries from Dan and Jeff.

Here are the final results (from the nicest try to the furthest leap):

11’11” Kate Martin

13’7” Katie Haas

13’11” John Knight

14’1” Sarah

14’11” Seth Magnuson and Jon Bloom

(They jumped together, holding hands for safety)

15’ Andrea Froehlich

16’8” Dan Brendsel

17’11” Tyler Kenney

18’1” Peter Melling

23’3” Jeff McFadden

(You be the judge)

Congratulations, Peter! Thanks for showing us that if we really believe in our dreams, we can LEAP as high as the sky!

Mike Tong

Leap Day Event Coordinator

www.desiringGod.org/LeapForJoy/