In The CLEAN Garage

You might recall this post from a few weeks ago. I am pleased to report that we have just about everything conveniently organized in our garage, and now we can easily fit both cars in. We'll probably be able to fit our deck furniture as well. Besides Jenelle's celebratory pose above, you are welcome to check out a movie that shows our work in all its glory. :)

The Showdown, Part 2

This post is WAY overdue. After my narrow victory at Settler's Mill on June 7, Andrew and I arranged for a rematch. We ventured to Armstrong Park on July 5 for the next chapter in our competitive endeavors in miniature golf.

Watch highlights from the event.

While I was hoping for another down-to-the-last-hole edge-of-your-seat thriller, Andrew dominated right from the start, gaining three strokes on both Dad and me in the first three holes. He demonstrated his skills throughout the front nine, carding a most impressive 21. I shot 26, and Dad shot 27.

I had a few moments of brilliance on the back nine, but I could never string enough good shots together to make a dent in the lead. Dad, however, gained two strokes on both of us, bolstered by a hole-in-one on #14.

To sum things up, we all had lots of fun, and Andrew demonstrated his amazing putting skills. It'll be interesting to see if he can emerge victorious in the next match, keeping in mind Dad's awesome perfomance at Big Bear last month.

Final Results:
Andrew - 45, Dad - 49, Benj - 50

Jenelle and Sarah Do DC

Last weekend, I went on a weekend trip to Washington, DC with my college roommate Sarah. More photos from the trip are up on our shutterfly account here.

We arrived on Friday morning and spent the day walking around the National Mall and visiting a few of the Smithsonian Museums. We saw the rockets at the Air and Space Museum, the Monets at the National Gallery of Art, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution at the National Archives and more.

Friday night, we took a monument bike tour. We started near the Federal triangle and then biked to the White House, the Washington Monument, the major war memorials, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the FDR Memorial and even the Albert Einstein Memorial.

On Saturday morning, we first went to the Newseum, an interactive museum of journalism and freedom of speech. It was a great museum, very interactive, and they had some great exhibits. They had a large span of the Berlin Wall, the broadcast antenna from the top of one of the twin towers, and newspapers covering major historical events from the past few hundred years.

From the top of the Newseum, we had a great view of the Capitol building. The weekend we were there, there happened to be a large protest in town. While there were crowds everywhere, it was neat to see people filling Pennsylvania avenue as they marched toward the Capitol.

After the Newseum, we took the metro out to Arlington National Cemetery. We visited the Kennedys' graves (John, Robert, Edward), saw a changing of the guard ceremony at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and enjoyed the beautiful views from Arlington House at the top of the hill. We had a great tour guide who shared lots of interesting facts about all different parts of the cemetery. It was impressive. Afterward, we had dinner in Georgetown at a restaurant overlooking the Potomac River.

On Sunday morning, we walked to the Capitol and also saw the Supreme Court building. Then, we had brunch at Art and Soul, a restaurant owned by Art Smith, who was a contestant on Top Chef Masters. Afterward, we took the metro back to Georgetown to walk around the shops and see the neat old buildings. We stopped at the White House on the way back, then headed back to Union Station to take the train to the airport.

We had a great weekend and it was so fun to spend time with Sarah. We hadn't seen each other since Sarah's wedding last summer, so it was fun to catch up and bum around DC together. We're already thinking of where to go next year!

A decade

About 10 years ago was when Jenelle and I first met, during New Student Week at Northwestern. While I don't recall the exact encounter, it most likely occurred in a big group that was gathering outside NU's Foster-Walker Complex to go to a social event sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. I was doing my best just to remember everyone's name. It wasn't love at first sight -- sometimes it takes a little while. :)

The Heart of a Champion

This post takes us back about a week. On Sunday, August 30, we were in Minnesota, finishing up a weekend of fun with Andrew and Holly and the girls. After a party with tons of people on Saturday, we had some time for fun in a much smaller group. The eight of us (Ben, Jenelle, Andrew, Holly, Ella, Lily, and my parents) went to Big Bear mini-putt, only a short drive away from Andrew & Holly's house.

As with all of our mini-golf matches, Andrew and I tend to be a bit competitive, with me being the perpetual underdog. What we did not expect, though, was the amazing performance by my dad. After nine holes, Dad was in the lead with a score of 17, which included three birdies and an eagle. I was in second with 18, and Andrew wasn't far behind at 20.

I should also mention that my dad was playing on one good knee. He had surgery on the other one just this past Friday, and is doing well. Granted, mini-putt isn't as stressful as full-swinging golf, but on the course, I felt like I was watching Tiger Woods at the '08 U.S. Open.

Andrew and I were hoping to pick up some strokes on Dad on the back nine. It wasn't to be. My dad did not have an error-free round, but he made some unbelievable shots to cover his mistakes. For example, on a hole with a bunch of rocks guarding the green, his first shot hit the rocks, leaving him on the fairway. His second putt went around the rocks, off the wall, and into the hole for a 2. Too good -- Andrew and I just could not compete.

I struggled more on the back nine, but Andrew held his own to take second place. The final results are as follows:
Dad: 32 (17, 15) EIGHT under par
Andrew: 38 (20, 18) two under par
Ben: 40 (18, 22) even par

Andrew and I had another mini-golf "showdown" back in early July. I'll post more on that sometime soon.

In The Garage

We took everything out of the garage today. Yes, everything. We thoroughly swept the floor and cleared out the cobwebs. The next step is to organize all the stuff. Stay tuned.

Property of...

There's a community fridge / freezer in my area at work. I haven't had any problems with people taking stuff that I put in there. Just to make sure it stays that way, I do things like this: