Matt's blog

I love that phrase! What's in the bag? Who knows?!? It could be anything! And you know it'll be more than one surprise because it's mixed! That's what 'mixed' means! All sorts of at least two things which could be completely unrelated but which will no doubt be cool! Huzzah for mixed bags! Huzzah for exclamation marks!!! Huzzah for exclamation/question mark hybrids?!?!?

4 Lamp Chili

I am currently simmering a batch of 4 Lamp Chili as inspired by my brother. Our version has no beans, is made with london broil and uses not one, not two, but three bottles of Pyramid Heffeweizen!!!(?)! One to marinate the meat overnight, a second to pour into the chili itself, and a third to cool off heat of those 4 lamps when you partake in the chili-y goodness.

My First Thought on the L.A. Trip

One thing, one of the few things, I love about L.A. are the people there. I am very fortunate to know some incredibly awesome people down there. Two in particular are Ryan, who just returned from a year in Kenya, is about to head to seminary, is an amazing artist and an all around colorful guy, and Bill, who is just about to finish seminary, leads music at my home church and fronted the band I played bass in a few years back. Through these two guys, who have had drastically different experiences in the last year as well as all though life, I got to see one of the huge benefits of being a dedicated follower of Christ. Often people associate Christianity with conservative ideals and the deification of the status quo. "We do it that way because that's the way we've always done it," is a phrase that is often associated with Christians. However, I've experienced the opposite observing the lives of Bill and Ryan. Both guys are about six years older than me and at a point in their lives where they might be expected to settle down and shake youthful ideals. Instead, they are both at points where they are growing by leaps and bounds through their faith in Christ. And I don't just mean they can pray longer or talk like pastors. (In fact, I think someday Ryan will pastor at Our Lady of Holy $*%!) What I mean is that their lives are not static, but are growing and expanding. They are choosing life goals and directions that they wouldn't have considered several years ago. They both seem to know more about themselves than I'd have thought possible.

Well, I'll quit rambling on about Ryan and Bill (seriously, if you like 'em so much why don't you marry them!?!?(Huzzah!)) and get to the point. The point is that for me, when I feel like that age when I'm supposed to be responsible and mature is closing in rapidly, it's good to see an example of people staying dynamic and being led down exciting roads by Christ even after college. This whole section of the post didn't end up as well written as I wanted it to, and I realize it may all sound kind of cheesey, but alter it in your head however you have to so it's not cheesey. On that note...

The Cat

Don't let it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Pic

Here's a picture from our honeymoon. Anastasia's been putting up great pics of Greece and some recent ones reminded me of this:

Wow, mixed bags are great. We should do that more often.