Tim thinks out loud

Here is a link to an interesting article about Jon Kitna’s (Detroit Lions QB) Christian faith: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3036235 Makes is hard to root against the Lions.

Last night we enjoyed a banquet for Mission: Moving Mountains. It was a fundraiser banquet, but also got people up to speed on the merger with the Navigators. Our pastor and some other friends from church came and we able to get a little better taste of what we will be doing. We are more excited than ever about going to Africa.

If you have not yet heard, we are living in our friends’ basement now. Our house has been rented to some missionaries from our church that came home unexpectedly and needed a place to stay. So far it has worked out fine for everyone. We do need our house to sell soon, so we appreciate your prayers in that regard.

This could be another bad football weekend. The Broncos match up poorly with the Colts, especially in Indy, and this could be a painful game. The poor Vikings look like they will get run over by the Brett Favre bandwagon in the Dome. All I can hope is that my injury depleted Fantasy Football team manages enough points to break Dan’s heart.

The perfect storm of football badness

There have already been 3 games in the NFL and I have not blogged about football. It is time. This weekend was the perfect storm of football badness. The Broncos, after winning two close games, were playing at home against a mediocre team and got beat. They stunk it up on offense, defense, and special teams, leaving the Broncos nation smelling like a wet dog. Every time something good would happen, like a Brandon Marshall touchdown, soon after something bad would follow, like a Dominic Hixon fumble on a kickoff return. I fear that the Broncos are shaping up to be a 9-7, just missing the playoffs, kind of team. Compounding the football misery, the Vikings lost and the Raiders, Chiefs, and Packers all won. Also, in my Fantasy Football league, I got pounded by Robbie. I had Kevin Kurtis on the bench and he was worth 50 points, while all three of my starting wide receivers combined did not score 50 points. (I just noticed that every single player on my starting roster lost their game yesterday.) It could be a long season. At least Heidi still loves me.

more pictures of nueva york

Other than our honeymoon, this trip was our first vacation together.
I love to vaca with my sweetie, but I am definitely more of a
lay-on-the-beach-vacationer. New York was very fun, but tiring.
This is a flag that was a part of a 9/11 tribute. There were hundreds
of them on display in Battery Park. This is the second time I have
been to NYC on the anniversary of 9/11 and it was pretty powerful. It was
good to remember. The words on the flag: "Flag of Honor, This flag
contains the names of those killed in the terrorist attacks of 9.11.
Now and forever it will represent their immortality.
We shall never forget them."

This is us taking a photo of ourselves in the mirror. Cheesey.

Time Square is so great at night.

Gloria and I met during my DTS with YWAM in 2001 in West Africa.
She is a Dr. now and works in the Northern most part of Manhattan.
Here we are enjoying the classic New York treat, black and white cookie.

Timmy on the Brooklyn Bridge heading back into Manhattan.

The Big Apple

Our first day we wandered around the city most of the day checking things out. In the afternoon, we were sitting in Central Park, and suddenly Tim says, "hey, is that Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher over there?" Well, yes it was. 50 feet away, they were filming a scene for their new movie! It was fun to watch and we almost got to be extras. The darn papparazzi ruined it for everyone and when they wouldn't behave, they made everyone leave.Cameron and Ashton

We also saw Nikki Hilton earlier that day, but that was it for movie stars. All three on the first day. Well, 2 1/4 stars at least, who's Nikki Hilton anyway?

These are some of the friends we stayed with, Joe and Julia. They were terrific hosts!

Us and lady Liberty.

weekend in Duluth

A couple weeks ago, we spent the weekend with my folks up in Duluth. It was wonderful and they spoiled us! We are trying to squeeze in the family memories before we go :) We had a great time seeing the sights and hiking around Jay Cook Park - so beautiful. The weather was great and we ran into a few people at Canal park, which was a fun surprise.

Labor Day Weekend Update

After flying high from beating Dan in Disc Golf last week, we decided to play again. Since we had not played the course by Maplewood Mall in a while, Jer and I met Dan there for 18 holes yesterday. Dan beat me like a rug. However, a bad round of Disc Golf on a beautiful day is better than no Disc Golf.

On Friday night my sister, Sally, came to the cities to see her husband’s cousin, Justin Roth, play a concert at the Lake Harriet bandshell. Heidi and I rode our bikes and met her there. Justin puts on a good show, but the mosquitoes were so bad that we finally had to leave. We did get some ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s before we parted ways, so that was a bonus. It was one of those evenings where things did not quite go as planned, but we still had fun.

On Saturday and Sunday we were in Duluth with Heidi’s parents. After stopping for doughnuts (Mmmm. Doughnuts. Mmmm.) at Toby’s we visited Canal Park. We took in some sights, ate some ice cream, and walked around. Twice we ran into friends that we did not know were going to be there. That night we watched the Bourne Ultimatum and liked it a lot. On Sunday morning we hiked at Jay Cooke State Park. Wow. That place is amazing. We tooled around again at Canal Park before eating pizza at the Green Mill and heading home. Having cool in-laws is a good thing.

The game of my life and Baby's Daddies

On Saturday morning at Acorn Park, I (Tim) beat Dan Lundberg in Disc Golf for only the third time ever. Dan is the Tiger Woods of Disc Golf, only more dominant. Nobody in our group of semi-regular players has ever beaten him. Except me. Granted, I have only won three times in 11 years of playing, but I still consider it a major victory. Going into hole #18, we were tied. My first shot hit a branch on the way out of the trees and landed on the path. My second shot was too low and landed ten feet behind Dan’s first shot. My third shot was almost perfect, putting me a long putt from the hole, while Dan’s shot went into the trees. My long putt, from about 25 feet away landed perfectly in the basket, while Dan’s shot hit the side. I finished at +7 while Dan finished at +8. Victory was sweet, even when I have to have the game of my life and Dan has to play terribly for me to win.

Heidi once overheard a woman say, “that’s just my baby’s Daddy” in reference to a man who was nearby. That sentence is a sad commentary on our times. Travis Henry, the new starting running back for the Denver Broncos, just set a new record for “baby’s Daddies”. He has nine children with nine women in four states. The previous record holders for professional athletes, Shawn Kemp and Evander Holyfield, at least had a couple children with the same woman. (Holyfield draws my ire for claiming to be an Evangelical Christian, but is also alleged to have nine children out of wedlock with at least four women.) As much as I love Broncos football, I will have a hard time cheering for Henry. For another take on Henry, follow this link: http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10319804/1

State Fair take 2

Thanks for all the comments on your fave foods at the Fair, we are headed out there again today. We're volunteering for a few hours and then hitting the great MN get together again. On Friday night Tim enjoyed the corn, pronto pup, ice cream, milk, and scotch egg. I had some mini-doughnuts, deep fried pickles and milk. We also split some garlic fries, cheese curds, Martha's cookies and malts with friends throughout the night. Strangely, we weren't even stuffed when we left!!!! Small amounts of everything is a good thing!

Tonight I am getting my deep friend candy bar, but then I will leave my options open. It feels like we have had a 5 day weekend of sorts. With some friends and family in town, 2 trips to the Fair and a lovely 20 mile bike ride last night with a picnic supper thrown in, the weekend has been quite fun. Tim still had to work normal hours, and I haven't been feeling too well, but we have had some positive distractions. This has been nice considering our house going on the market today. It's good to have something else to think about. Please pray that our duplex will sell quickly at a price we can afford to accept. Thanks!!

The Fair, the Fair, What to Eat at the Fair

Tim and I will be gracing the MN State Fair grounds twice this year. Once with friends on Friday night and again on Monday evening. We are volunteering at a booth for Tim's job on Monday and b/c of that we get in free. So my big question is...what should we eat?? Already on my list are some obvious choices:

deep friend candy bar
deep friend pickles (delicious!!)
mini-doughnuts

Other than those, I may have to choose spontaneously. So tell me, what do you usually eat at the Fair??

Tim's thought's for free!

Last Sunday I played an epic disc golf game with Zach “the Hurricane” Thompson at the course in Edina. With five holes to go I led by one stroke. On that hole I took a bogie while Zach birdied it. He ended up finishing at -1 while I finished with at even. It was the best round either of us had ever played at that course. Too bad he lives in the Deep South and we don’t get to play often.

I saw Transformers for the third time. Chris Heng joined me for this viewing. It was awesome again. In fact, the third viewing was the best. What a great movie. I love giant, battling robots.

The new Project 86 album is good. Dang good.

The NFL preseason is here. I hate the preseason. It has games that don’t matter while my favorite players get hurt. What a dumb idea. They should go straight from training camp into the regular 16 game season.

Fantasy Football season is almost here. This year I will have to limit myself to 2 leagues. The last two years I was in 4 leagues and that was too much.

I did some great shopping at Kohl’s on Wednesday night with Heidi and her mom, Lyn. I scored 5 shirts and some jeans for about $50. While I already dislike shopping, it is harder when I can only buy things that will work in Africa. Everything I got should work out fine. I also bought two pairs of Umbro shorts from Dick’s Sporting Goods for $10 each. Good deals are my friend.

I sure do love Heidi.

Weekend Update

This weekend we attended a wedding and an ordination. The brother of a good friend of Heidi's got married on Friday night. (We actually sort of invited ourselves to this wedding!) It was great to be a part of their special day :) Congratulations TJ and Anisha!The mother and sisters of the groom. Hot mamas! The one on the right is single fellas.

Heidi and Tammy

Tim's best friend Chris got ordained on Saturday by the Twin Cities Hmong Baptist Church. He's actually Chinese, but I guess they don't mind. His wife Zong is Hmong though. It was great to see friends, be there to see the ceremony and eat some delicious Hmong food. Not quite as good as if Zong had made it all herself, but it was still fantastic!
Congratulations Chris! He is now the Sr. Pastor!

We're OK

Well, most of you have probably heard about what happened last night on 35W, around 6pm the bridge crossing the Mississippi fell into the river. Tim and I are both ok. We both drove that bridge twice yesturday, Tim missed the fall by about 45 minutes. We haven't heard of any friends who were personally affected by this. And we pray that we won't hear any of that news in the coming days. We did bike down there last night since we live so close. I don't know what it is, but we wanted to see for ourselves what really happened. It was horrific. And there aren't words to describe it, but here are some pictures we took. We are praying for the families of those were killed. Right now there are 4 confirmed deaths, but many are still unaccounted for and rescue efforts continue to find more bodies. There are many people who need a miracle right now. Knowing who our God is, let's join them in praying for their miracles.

More pictures

We love camping!

We camped this weekend with the young adults group from church at St. Croix State park and it was glorious. Very hot and sweaty, but still very fun. We were at the group sites, which were nice...once you found them! Hopefully it was a good time had by all. We didn't take any pictures, but the mental memories should keep us warm at night. Thanks for coming everyone and don't forget: the Chases are always up for a camping trip!!!

Harry Potter (don't worry, no spoilers)

I (Tim) got up on Saturday morning and cruised to Target to get my very own copy of the new Harry Potter book. Whenever I had a chance I read, trying to finish before someone ruined the end for me. Last night, at 12:30 a.m., I finished the book without hearing the ending first. Without giving anything away, I have to say that I loved it. Anyone who has finished it can now call me to discuss the book. (I will say this much: Mrs. Weasley rules!)

My main task today will be staying awake. I finished the book late, and then I got up at 6 a.m. to play Ultimate Frisbee. Caffeine is my friend.

Tim's thoughts for all to see

Heidi and I have been getting up and running on the Midtown Greenway in the morning before I head to work. It has been nice to run before the heat of the day kicks in. We also like getting it out of the way so that when I get home in the afternoon we can do other stuff. Since we run at different speeds, we usually start out together on an out and back route, and then I go on ahead but turn around and catch up to her at the end. We have only been doing this for a week, but already we both feel pretty good.

Tomorrow I will purchase the final Harry Potter book. (I know I am a bad Evangelical. That will have to be the subject of another post.) If anyone hears how it ends, please do not tell me. Two years ago a Junior High kid told me the end of book six when I was only halfway through it, so I am trying to avoid the same fate. There are always going to be haters who love to ruin a mystery for people and I am going to try hard to avoid them. My other dilemma is figuring out how to read the book while keeping my wife happy and getting everything done. Not sure how that will work out. I’ll keep everyone posted.

Yesterday I finally found a t-shirt with an Autobot symbol on it. I have been on the lookout for years for one of those and finally found one at Target for $10. Heidi thinks I am a big dork. I still love her, though. Sometimes I ponder if people wonder what a cute girl like Heidi is doing with a dork wearing a Transformers t-shirt. You can come to your own conclusion.

THANK YOU!!!

A huge, amazing, and wonderful THANK YOU to everyone who helped
out at our work day on Saturday. We are so thankful to you! We got a
ton done in the yard and everything looks great. A special thanks to
Mom and Brenda who helped me sweep the nasty cobwebs from the
basement ceiling. We may all be suffering from the black lung now,
but hey, it was worth it!! (A nasty, nasty job.)

Candace, Stan and Matt rockin' and rollin' painting the steps.

Brenda showing off her muscles. I know, I can't see them either.
(That sweet truck is for sale BYW, talk to Eric Unger.)

Tim and Eric (our mulch master) working with the
manure-soaked wood chips.

There were more people helping us than what is represented in these photos but by the time I decided to take pics, Candace had just painted the steps so I had to wait a while and by then a few folks had to go. We are humbled and blessed by your sacrifice of a Saturday and praise God for such great friends. Thanks!!

Visit to Colorado

While we were in Colorado this past week visiting Tim's family we were thrilled to spend a night camping in the mountains in Golden Gate Canyon State park. Absolutely beautiful! Tim has always promised me, for about 4 years now, that he would take me camping in the mountains and he finally did! Here's some of the fam at dinner.
Ok, how cute is my nephew. I was wearing this hat and as I came out of the tent, he asked me if he could wear my helmet. Too stinkin' cute!
Us with out other nephew.

Family fun at Minnehaha

A few weekends ago, we had a lovely picnic with the fam at Minnehaha. good times.

Movie review: Transformers

Not since the last Lord of the Rings film have I (Tim) been as excited about a movie as I was about Transformers. I was nervous that Michael Bay would ruin my childhood memories like he ruined history with Pearl Harbor. Instead, Transformers was totally awesome. I saw it with some of my buddies in a packed theater at the first show in the Twin Cities. The crowd cheered during certain scenes and laughed at the inside jokes. (The crowd went nuts during the chase scene with Bumblebee and Barricade and laughed at the “more than meets the eye" comment.) It was a great experience.

Aside from sweet robot carnage, there is a ton of humor in this film. The pace moves briskly and the characters are just interesting enough to care about them. Best of all, there is no skimping on Transformers screen time. Unlike the Hulk, where they did everything in their power to keep the Hulk off the screen and instead turned it into a family drama, Transformers realizes that the audience paid for action, not drama. There are lots of robots and explosions. The special effects in Transformers are incredible. The robots look real, especially when interacting with the human actors, which is difficult. The way the robots move and fight was spectacular. The final fight was great. Be sure to stay during the credits for some funny bonus scenes.

Great scenes: The chase/fight between Bumblebee and Barricade.
Blackout’s arrival and attack at the military base.
Optimus vs. Bonecrusher on the freeway.

Great line: Sam 'Spike' Witwicky: So...
Maggie Madsen: What are you here for?
Sam 'Spike' Witwicky: I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot.
Glen: [whispered] Wow...!
Sam 'Spike' Witwicky: Who knew?

Turd in the punchbowl: The scene at Sam’s house when the Autobots are hiding outside was too long and relied too much on low-brow humor.