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10 Year Anniversary Staycation

So it’s been 10 years.

My bride and I celebrated with some serious together time the last few days. Family had our boys Elliot (5) and Levi (2.5) and we have been totally free. We had a mini Staycation and roamed the city uncovering places we don’t get out to much while being parents.

We borrowed Sarah’s dad’s 1980′s yellow VW Rabbit Convertible and tooled around the city.

Thursday night, we went to Figlio. Great dinner, outside. Then, we went to see the movie Food Inc. A must see movie that looks at the depths of the unethical, unsustainable, unhealthy and unjust practice of industrial food production. Our family has been making serious changes in the way we eat over the last year and I have plans for a few more major transitions we’ll be making this year. Check out my friend Neeraj’s blog post about it. (I agree whole heartedly).

Yesterday started with a trip to the Birchwood Cafe. A famous locavore destination spot in the Seward Community of Minneapolis. Amazing Waffles with Strawberry Rhubarb sauce and local gristly bacon. Awesome.

Then, we were off to Lake Calhoun. (Minneapolis is called the City of Lakes for a reason). We rented Schwin cruisers and did a 3.2 mile ride around the lake. Our bikes were stolen years ago, so this was a big out of shape ride for us…It was awesome and an incredibly beautiful day.

Sarah took a rest while I went downtown and picked up some tickets to see Rob Bell at the State Theatre next week.

Then we headed out to dinner at one of the highest recommended and awarded restaurants in the city. The 112 Eatery is amazing. We did mostly samples. Cheesburger (perhaps the best I’ve ever tasted), Cauliflower Fritters, Prosciutto on lush bread, and a zucchini chorizo, sun dried tomato dish that was awesome. I will return there.

Finally, today, I made a killer breakfast. Sourdough toast with homemade chili pepper mayo, scrambled eggs with sauteed onion and banana peppers, and sweet yellow tomatoes topped with yogurt cheese. That was like 5 hours ago and I’m still riding full on that brekkie sandwich.

We went strolling through a bunch of unique stores in Minneapolis warehouse district. Posh european furniture, modern kitchen and bath, Local D’lish, and a few others.

We had an awesome time exploring the city we love, a bunch of foodie joints, and just being together. Great way to celebrate this life together with my bride.

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Accumulated family photos.

Haven’t updated any family pics in a while. Here they are…

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My kids are cute, my wife is beautiful, my photographer is the bomb.

Just before  Christmas we sat down with Philip Hussong at a studio in a warehouse by the river. 

We’ve never had any family pictures done before, so it was an adventure. Phil did a great job. You should have him take your picture. 

In addition to shooting weddings, sports, and other events, Phil is now partnering with my company, Redwire Creative, to add depth and custom commercial photography to the marketing materials we produce for our clients. He also will spend time with his fingers on the keys writing copy for us. 

Check him out at:

phussongphoto.com
inklet.wordpress.com
and soon to be blogging at theotherjournal.com/

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I was ready to give up on community living…

We had an empty house over Christmas break. The Mills family, whom we share our home with, was surprised with a vacation. We had about ten days when the our house was our house again. 

Admittedly, I loved it. Every minute of it. The house was quiet. The mood was peaceful. There were no kids battling each other for territory. And we didn’t have to deal with the Inter-family idiosyncratic conflicts that make the melding of two families in one home a cause for exhaustion and temperamental uprisings. 

I had lost sight of some of the goals. I gave up on some of the gains of community living and I decided that I didn’t want to keep on keeping on with the struggle of reconciliation. Thankfully, I gave it all up; I decided to trust that God doesn’t want me walking around being a total grump about the situation. I asked for help in making an attitude adjustment.

After our house meeting the other night, some things became clear. 

1. God uses truth to eliminate fear.
2. Avoidance is a bigger hurdle to reconciliation than enmity. 
3. Grace is sufficient.
4. We all have a lot to learn, and we’re here to not just move ourselves forward, but to move each other forward. 
5. Living in community does not mean living under the same roof. It means uniting around common ground and extending love across uncommon ground. 

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3 Word Goal for 2009…

After seeing the now famous post on 3 word goals, Sarah and I have come up with ours.

Hers:
ADOPT - Work towards baby #3…
LESS – Spend less, consume less, want less, 
DISCIPLINE – pray and invest daily in God. Consistency in Parenting and loving my husband

Mine:
CONNECT- Engage more in people this year. Real relationships.
LESS – Spend Less, Consume Less
MORE – Save More, Give More, Live More. Spend more time with my family.

2009. The year of the Scheller.

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Halloween 2008 – Trunk or Treat

Main Photo Gallery Here

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Scrunch and Crunch: Fall Kids' Photos 2008

I love Fall. I love imagining I’m a kid again.

Check out the rest of the kids’ photo gallery here…

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On Living in Community

Upon coming back from France (and my wife Sarah’s back surgery) in the middle of June, we were entering into an entirely new reality. Sarah would spend the summer in recovery. For the first few weeks, she could barely move. She was drugged. Constantly. The pain was intense. 

Morphine.

Vicodin.

Oxycodone.

Tylenol.

Ibuprofen. 

Throughout the coarse of the summer, I had little idea how much our lives would revolve around the recovery. The promise was healing. Immediate improvement. The reality was slower. More painful and left our house in more disarray than we’d hoped for. 

There was another story unfolding as well. We were entering in to a new season of community.

Intentional,

in your face,

in our house,

community. 

The mills family moved in within two weeks of us coming home. Betsy and Corey, Lily and Jonathan.

One house. 

Five bedrooms. 

2,000 square feet.

Eight people. 

It’s been a crazy journey. There’s a sharing of chores (Sarah and I have the bad backs, so it sometimes falls more on the Mills). There’s been a sharing of food. Breaking of bread. And the intentionality that it’s not just us, it’s US.

The intermingling of the kids has been, at times, really hard, and yet they all have new playmates available which brings a lot of joy. 

There has been the confrontation of personalities. Parenting styles. Spiritual practices (or the lack there of, *raising hand in the air*). 

We’ve also shared the struggles of life together. Money. Schedules. Burdens. Wrapping our arms around Sarah to make sure she is healing, not just doing things beyond where her healing is at. 

We’re still in the journey. Trying to make sense of it all. 

“And they devoted themselves to the disciples teaching, breaking bread together when ever possible.” 

Communing. In Communion. In Community and union with one another. “Being of one mind.” Living in knowledge and understanding that despite our greatest efforts to fend for ourselves, God has a bigger picture in mind for his church. A picture that is worth the time, the effort, the confrontation, the forgiveness, the intentionality to choose to love one another in the midst of our journeys and support each other along the way. 

We have no idea how long this experiment in community will last. Another week. Another month. Maybe longer. What we do know is that the earliest followers of Jesus, after they got it. After they really got it, they held things in common. They separated themselves from their “things” and gave to each as any had need. They took care of each other. They were fillers of the gaps. They became provision at the point of need to one another. 

It’s what we’re called to do.

Not live in community.

But be community.

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Catching up with summer photos.

I’ve been trying to catch up with some Summer photos. There’s a few links on the Family Blog. But here they are right here too…

Photos 1
Photos 2
Photos 3
Photos 4

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Goals for year 10

Yesterday, Sarah and I celebrated our 9th anniversary.

I picked an amazing dinner spot at Ciao Bella. She picked a slow chick flick (me, two other guys + 100 teenage girls). Together we had one of the most fun, relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable anniversaries we’ve ever had.

Our marriage has really strengthened this year. We turned a corner in France that we’ve struggled to get around for years. It’s exciting.

Along with just having fun, we talked about some goals we have for our marriage for year #10.

1. Pray together more (needs to be quantified)
2. Serve more (needs to be quantified)
3. Define our first official budget ever!
4. Take a real vacation, this year and ever year (I’m praying for a miracle that we’ll spend our 10th anniversary in Italy or at least on a beach)
5. Get a nice espresso machine to change my starbucks habit from buying drinks to buying beans.