Three years ago today Tyla and I were married. The first three years were amazing and this year we’re adding a son to our family. She’s been a wonderful wife and I know she’s going to be an amazing mother too. I love you Tyla!
Baptism Plans
In roughly two months, I’ll have a son! Time is flying and crawling at the same time. We’ve been making lots of decisions along the way, and one of them is about his baptism.
General tradition is to have the baptism in church fairly soon after the birth, but other than saying that there’s no age too young, there’s nothing in the Bible about specifically how quickly it needs to happen. The Bible says that everyone is sinful from conception, we’re only saved through faith in Christ who died to rescue us from the judgment for our sin, and that this faith is created and maintained through the Gospel that God brings to us in baptism and the Lord’s Supper. That’s what we know. What we don’t know is what happens to an unbaptized person, specifically children. It’s a tough question filled with lots of emotions, but since the Bible is silent on that topic, we shouldn’t try to fill in an answer. Tyla and I don’t want to put ourselves in a situation where we’d have to wonder if something were to happen, so we’ve chosen to do the baptism right in the hospital when he is born. Pastor said he’s happy to be on call and drive over when we’re ready for him, but if he’s not available and the situation is urgent then we’ll do it ourselves. Baptism is about the act that God is performing in the heart of the recipient, not about the person doing the baptism.
We know that many of you are interested in being involved and some are even flying across the country to be here, so we’re planning an affirmation in church later in the month. There won’t be any specific religious significance to the affirmation, but we will do it to let the congregation know that our son was indeed baptized and share the celebration of another soul being added to God’s kingdom. We’re shooting for Sunday, June 23 which should be a week or two after our son is born, but obviously we’ll adjust if there are unexpected circumstances.
P.S. I know that the readers of this blog have lots of different opinions about baptism and about religion in general, but if you want to know more about our baptism beliefs, our church’s site has a good overview. And of course I’m happy to talk about it too.
Goodbye Grandpa
Earlier today, Grandpa Martens lost his battle against cancer and won his seat in heaven. At 94 years old, he had been fighting complications for quite a while and was ready to go home. This leaves a big hole in our hearts, but it’s comforting to know that his faith was strong to the end and we’ll see him again.
Grandpa holding me in 1980
Church Sign Progress
Our church has been trying to get a new sign for years. It must have been three or four years ago when we raised the money for it, but for one reason or another, it never got completed. Late last fall, the project got kicked into high gear. TimS got the permit from the city, we moved all the landscaping back to it’s new location on a work day, FrankL did the masonry and TimS designed/ordered the sign. It finally arrived and last weekend I helped Frank install it! There’s still a little masonry work left on top and a two line reader board will go in at the bottom, but it’s getting close to being done. We’re having a workday in a few weekends to finish the landscaping around the sign too. I’ll post more pictures when it’s done, but this is pretty exciting for us after all these years of waiting so I wanted to get it posted.
Happy Easter!
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you.” Matthew 28:5-7
Cirque Du Solei In Redmond
Every year, the Cirque du Solei show comes to Marymoor Park in Redmond and sets up their tents for a month or two. We’ve always talked about going and this year we finally pulled the trigger. We were a little hesitant because we’ve seen some Cirque-style shows on the cruises and haven’t been that impressed. WOW. I’m so glad we went to this! It made those other shows look like a grade school performance.
The particular show we saw was called Amaluna. The story line is something like two people who fall in love and are surrounded by people with freakish athletic ability and a lizard man. Spoiler alert: the lizard traps the guy in a giant tub of water but he escapes and marries the girl in the weirdest wedding you’ll ever see.
But seriously, there was some incredible talent in the show. From unicycles to slack lines and teeter totter acrobatics to some kind of crazy light twirling thing, this show had a wide variety of acts. There were definitely some boring parts like the two clowns that came out between acts, but overall the show moved quickly and was very entertaining. The video below gives you a rough idea of the show, but it doesn’t look nearly as impressive as it did in person.
One note for those looking to buy tickets: you can pay a LOT to see this show. The seats cover bout 70% of a full circle and the most expensive seats are right up the middle. We sat in the second section from one end and still had a great view at about a third of the price. We also saved money by sitting in the very top row. We were prepared with binoculars but didn’t need them at all. There are only maybe 30-40 rows in the place so it makes very little difference unless you’re in one of the first couple rows. I’d happily sit in the cheap seats again.
So even though I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy this kind of show, I can definitely recommend it now!
Lowes vs Home Depot
I generally shop at Home Depot because it’s closer than Lowes, but as I wandered through Lowes recently, I wondered what is different between the two companies besides the colors. Here’s what a little internet research turned up:
- Size: Home Depot has 500 more stores than Lowes
- Original: Lowes started first but they lagged until the 90s when they decided to turn themselves into a nicer version of Home Depot. They tried to accomplish that with better service and better looking stores.
- Money: Home Depot has a 5.91% profit on $73 billion in revenue. Lowes does 3.9% on $51 billion. Home Depots profit margin is one of the best in the business.
- Growth: Home Depot’s stock has gone up 150% in the last five years. Lowes has gone up 50%.
- Price: Price comparison are almost exactly identical when you look at a large project.
- Products: Home Depot has more tile and toilets for your bathroom remodel but Lowes has more appliances for your kitchen or laundry room.
- Returns: Both have almost identical return policies, but while Home Depot will only give you 30 days to return damaged goods, Lowes gives you 90 days.
- Military: Both stores will offer discounts to military personnel (Home Depot and Lowes details.)
So as expected, these two companies really are extremely similar. It looks like Home Depot takes the edge in the business world, but the consumer probably won’t notice the difference.
Removing A Car Dealer Sticker
When you spend tens of thousands of dollars on a new car, it’s more than a little frustrating to have the dealer slap their thirty cent emblem on the back and give themselves free advertising. I didn’t push it when we bought our car because every car on their lot already had it, but it sure is tacky.
I’ve heard that you can remove stickers and emblems before, but I was nervous about screwing up the paint or the clearcoat. I emailed car guru MattM for some advice, and with that (and some YouTube videos) as training, I headed out to the garage. My tools were warm water, a sponge, hair dryer, a plastic putty knife, Goo Gone and a micro fiber cloth. Here are the steps I followed. Please note this was the first time I’ve ever tried this and if you screw up your car, don’t blame me.
- Use the warm water to clean the area and start heating up the emblem. Dry it off.
- Fire up the hair dryer and warm the emblem and the area around it. Don’t leave the hair dryer in one spot for too long as it’s possible to make the paint bubble up. Your goal is that the emblem or sticker should feel warm to the touch, but not hot. Think about how your car feels when it’s been sitting out in the sun on a 100 degree day. I didn’t get near that hot but that was my gauge for how far I was willing to go.
- Use the plastic scraper to carefully start to lift up the emblem. Try to pull it off leaving as little of the glue behind as possible.
- Use your micro fiber cloth and the Goo Gone to remove any remaining glue.
- Wash the area again and check for any remaining residue.
- I waxed the area just in case I’d removed any wax or clearcoat in the process.
It all worked remarkably well for me. You can’t even tell that anything was there!
Rum 101
It’s Rum Friday and you’re thinking, “I want to participate but I have no idea what kind of rum to buy.” Luckily for you, I’ve been doing a lot of research.
History and Varieties
Rum originated on sugarcane plantations in the Caribbean in the 17th century. The molasses left over after refining sugar was fermented and distilled. As the Europeans came over to the Americas, rum quickly gained popularity. In fact, the saying “no taxation without representation” started from a tax on rum, not tea as many people think. Technically the tax was on the molasses used to make rum. The English wanted the colonists to buy the inferior English molasses so they heavily taxed the Caribbean molasses and really got the colonists riled up. The “no taxation without representation” slogan flew above many rum distilleries as they ignored this tax and continued to use Caribbean molasses. In those days, rum was often drank as part of a punch.
Today there are a variety of rums:
- Light (silver/white): Mostly used in cocktails and often on the lower end of the price scale.
- Gold: They’re aged in wooden barrels to get the color. Sometimes the barrels were previously used for whiskey.
- Dark: These rums are aged longer in the wooden barrels and have stronger flavors than light or gold rums.
- Spiced: Usually based on gold rums, these have spices added to them.
- Flavored: You can find rums flavored with a variety of fruits and they’re most often used in mixed drinks.
Rum and Coke
The easiest rum drink is a Rum and Coke. I use Coke Zero but I’ve known other people to use regular Coke, Diet Coke, or even a cherry version. You can use a variety of rums in your coke but Baccardi silver and Captain Morgan’s spiced rums are probably the two you’ll find most often in the bar. I’ve really been enjoying Black Kraken spiced rum in my Coke Zero lately. Mount Gay Eclipse is another good one with coke.
Rum Punch
Rum punch is a great drink as well and there are lots of good recipes. Here’s an easy one called a “Painkiller” that we enjoyed down in St. Thomas.
2 Parts Pineapple Juice
1 Part Coco Lopez Coconut
1 Part Orange Juice
Lots of RUM!
Want to get a little more fancy with your rum punch? I got this recipe from someone who grew up in the Caribbean and it was a big hit at recent party in our house.
1 Part fresh squeezed lime juice
2 Parts brown sugar dissolved in a little hot water
3 Parts quality dark rum
4 Parts cold water
You can get fancy and add freshly grated nutmeg after pouring too
Straight Rum
If you have a good rum, you can just drink it straight. Of all the rums I’ve tried, Mount Gay makes some of my favorites. Started in 1703, it’s the world’s first and oldest rum distillery. They have five different rums spanning the gamut of prices and types, but if you’re drinking it straight, go for Mount Gay Extra Old. Whiskey stones are a good addition to cool the drink without watering it down. If you’re more of a whiskey/scotch drinker, check out the Mount Gay 1703 Old Cask Selection.
A couple other excellent choices:
- Kaniche XO Artisanal Rum – This one is also from Barbados
- Puget Sound Rum Company Comb & Cane – Honey infused rum distilled very close to my home
Rum Cake
And finally, rum is also used in a lot of cooking. For example, here’s a fantastic rum cake recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 box Duncan Hines Classic White cake mix
- 1 small box instant vanilla pudding
- 1/2 cup Wesson Oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup light rum
- 4 eggs
Directions
Combine everything but the eggs ’til moist. Then add eggs one at a time and beat for 2 minutes. Bake at 350 for 50-55 min in a bundt pan that has been greased and floured. Take out of oven to cool and make the glaze.
Glaze Ingredients/Directions
Combine in saucepan over low heat
- 1 stick of butter
- 1/8 – 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup sugar
- Bring to a boil (stir a couple of times) and let it boil for about a minute. Remove from the heat and add
- 1/4 cup light rum
Stir. And pour on cake. (see below)
Use a fork and poke some holes around the bottom of the rum cake (really what is on top in the pan) and slide a knife around the edges of cake to loosen it and allow room for glaze to get on the sides. Pour warm glaze over the partially cooled rum cake. Let it sit for about 5 minutes then remove the cake onto a cooling rack. It’s important to do this while the cake is still a little warm so it comes out… but not too warm or else it will break.
So there you have it. Head down to the liquor store and start experimenting with rum! I don’t think I’ve even tried a quarter of the rums that Total Wine has on their shelves. There’s bound to be one that’s exactly what you’re looking for. And if you find one you don’t like, bring it over to my house and I’ll dispose of it for you.
Let’s Bowl
Back in 2001 and 2002, there was a great show on Comedy Central called Let’s Bowl. It was a combination of Judge Judy, Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, and a bowling alley. The idea was that two people would arrive looking to settle some small disagreement. Whoever won the bowling match would win the argument. During the match, two hilarious commentators provide play by play. There were numerous funny segments throughout the show, special prizes for strikes in specific points of the game, and each player gets to use a surprise air horn once during the game to throw off their opponent. If it all sounds crazy, it is. But it worked, and I loved it! Unfortunately, I must have been one of a few viewers because it only lasted two seasons. Ever since then, I’ve searched the web looking for DVDs of the show or some way to watch it again. Late one night last week, I found yet another site claiming to have the episodes available for download but this time it actually worked! The video player on the page doesn’t work but the download link does work. I highly recommend that you go snag an episode (skip the pilot episode) and check it out if this sounds at all funny to you.