Villa Noir Gets a New Look

Seems like forever since my last post, perhaps because my time on Facebook and Twitter has more than occupied my limited time on the computer. "Limited," you ask? Yes, now that Sabrina has her own Facebook page, computer time is at a premium at Villa Noir.

The school year finally came to a close, with a couple of big house projects right on its heels. After a great trip to Cove Pallisades State Park (Lake Billy Chinook) with our new in-laws (Greg and Susan), Chris, Amanda, and Cortni, we prepped the house for a long overdue paint job. After battling with a couple of changing Oregon weather forecasts, we finally got the job done (see before and after pics below). After that, we took on restaining the deck in the backyard. It seems the stain on the newly built deck didn't take well enough last year. I sprayed some "30-Second" on it in April to remove the mildew and it actually started stripping off some of the semi-transparent stain I had applied last summer. After talking to a few folks, I concluded that the wood hadn't had a chance to season enough and might have been too green to absorb the stain well enough.

Now that all of that is done, I can focus on "training" for my upcoming trip to Austria and eight-day ride along the Danube River. I have been looking forward to this trip for several months now--"The Kingdom Ride"--a combination study, ministry, and sightseeing trek from Passau, Germany to Vienna, Austria. Nine of us will go (Americans and Austrians), studying the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, reflecting upon our sufficiency in Christ Jesus and implications as pilgrims on earth and kingdom-bound citizens, learning about Austrian history and culture and taking in some amazing sights, and sharing the gospel on the streets of Vienna with Austrian brothers in Christ. Great stuff to look forward to and I would heartily appreciate your prayers.

That's it for now. If you are on Facebook and want to follow me there, just hit the button in the right margin of this blog. You can also follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/Timurzhan.

I wish you all a great summer!
Tim