Monthly Archives: June 2018

Fantastic Thursday Rundown

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I can’t believe that in less than a week it will be the Fourth of July. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the holiday – but time is going by so fast. Let’s proceed with the Thursday Rundown…

Sloan’s Playmate – There is absolutely nothing cuter than watching toddlers interact with each other. Last Friday, Sidney’s good friend, Leslie, visited us with her daughter, Stevie Blair. Just a couple months older than Sloan, the two are natural playmates. We took the little girls to our neighborhood pool for a Friday afternoon of fun in the sun. It was so cute to watch the two stand side-by-side in the water and play with pool tools. Although Sloan can work a little bit on her manners, they got along great.

Sloan and Stevie Blair enjoying their playdate.

Cap’n Crunch Blueberry Pancake Cereal – I am always game to try new cereals, especially ones that are a little wacky. Cap’n Crunch recently released a limited edition blueberry pancake delight. I took one look at the box and yanked it off the shelf. So, how was it? Well, when I opened the plastic bag inside the box, the aroma that floated out smelled exactly like a plate of fluffy blueberry pancakes! But the actual taste did not. Even though the taste didn’t match the smell, the cereal was still pretty good. It was mild and light with a fruity flavor. For $1, it was worth it.

My box of Blueberry Pancake Cap’n Crunch.

Late Night Ice Cream Visit – I have written extensively about my love for ice cream trucks. However, this past weekend my affinity was tested. At around 9:45 p.m., Sidney and I were on the couch watching “48 Hours.” Suddenly, we looked at each with puzzled expressions. Is that children’s music? It was. Wait, is that the ice cream man? It was. At this hour? No joke. I walked outside to investigate. Sure enough, a Mr. Softee ice cream truck was doing steady business about a block away from our house. Never mind that it was pitch dark or that most children were fast asleep – the dude driving the truck was obviously after the adult audience. He stayed parked in the same spot until after 10 p.m. before finally moving on. It was bizarre.

I caught this photo of the Mr. Softee ice cream truck going by our street well after 10 p.m. on Saturday night.

Big Brother 20 – As my wife tweeted yesterday, it is the best part of the summer! Last night, the latest season of Big Brother premiered. As a converted fan, the opening episode was something I looked forward to. This season is especially interesting to us – a Coastal Carolina University alumna is on the show! Rachel Swindler, a 2010 CCU grad, is competing for the $500,000 prize. Needless to say, she is who I will be rooting for! My backup favorite is Scottie, a 26-year-old shipping manager who is a complete nerd. I feel like I have a little “Scottie” in me, so how can I not pull for him?

Sid is right, the best part of the summer is here!

Hoopfest – Quick shout out to everyone participating in Hoopfest this weekend. The largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament on the planet, I was involved in the spectacle for many years. After my playing days ended, I volunteered as a court monitor, keeping order on the streets of Spokane for seven years. Since living in South Carolina, I have made the trip back to Spokane for the tournament once, and got on the news for doing it, but I won’t be returning this year. I hope everyone has a great time!

This is me wearing the 2015 Hoopfest t-shirt and shorts while holding the 2015 Hoopfest ball.

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Enjoy this last weekend in June! It has been a good month for us and we look forward to continuing the good times over the next few days. As always, thanks for reading my blog. Don’t Blink.

What I Would Do If I Visited All 50 States In One Summer

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This morning, I read a terrific story about a young man who is on a unique United States tour. This summer, Rodney Smith Jr. is going to every state to mow the lawn (or, for my Southern friends, to “cut the grass”) of someone who could really use the help. He is offering lawn mower assistance to people such as veterans or the elderly who can’t keep up with the maintenance of their yards . How cool!

Rodney Smith is a selfless man.

In tonight’s blog post, I am taking the time to dream about what I would accomplish if I went on a nation tour of some sort. If I had the time and finances to visit every state in a single summer, I would choose to focus on one of the below 10 activities.

Work Out at Gold’s Gym – Although I have only exercised at Gold’s Gyms in the states of Washington and South Carolina, I know each one is special. When you visit a Gold’s Gym, you are immediately hit with nostalgia and a desire to work hard. It is all about the culture! I would love to visit 48 other locations to get my pump on.

I do get in a good sweat at Gold’s (and that is all that matters). The Myrtle Beach Gold’s Gym has an actual hardwood gym that I use at the end of my workout.

Eat an Ice Cream Cone – I am sure plenty of literature already exists that would tell me exactly where to go in each state to pull this one off. An avid ice cream lover, it would be completely appropriate for me to circle the nation during the hottest time of the year to sample the best waffle cones and scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in the country.

I love a good waffle cone and would gladly eat 50 of them during the summer.

Visit a Cemetery – Nothing satisfies my fondness for history and curiosity more than a cemetery. As someone who already makes it a point to visit a cemetery every time I am in a new state, I might as well devote a whole summer to actually visiting one in all 50 of them.

Me at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Conway, South Carolina.

Worship at Mass – What an incredible experience this would be. It would be a spiritual journey like no other to visit 50 different Catholic churches in 50 different states over a summer and worship with each different community. Perhaps to firm up my schedule and help me decide on which parishes I would attend, I might only attend churches that have the same name (i.e. I would visit only churches named “St. Francis”). It would be special to visit so many different places of worship and be exposed to different types of architecture, music, and preaching – all while enjoying the same beautiful, universal order of mass.

It would be a spiritual journey to take a summer to visit 50 different Catholic churches in 50 different states.

Run a Mile at a Different High School Track – I used to run on tracks a lot. Knowing exactly how far I ran is important to me. In my opinion, nothing is more therapeutic than hitting up a quiet track at a local high school in the evening hours in the middle of the summer. To say that I ran a total of 50 miles in 50 different states would be pretty cool.

Attend a Minor League Baseball Game – Here is another one that I would have no trouble Googling. It seems as if all Minor League stadiums have different, yet quirky and engaging, fan experiences. Using all the reviews that already exist on these baseball havens, I would visit the best of the best in each state. If I managed to visit 50 different Minor League parks in 50 states over the course of a long, hot summer it would be a grand slam.

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans built a Wrigley Field Replica on the concourse on the third base side of Pelicans Stadium. Minor League Baseball at its best!

Take a Selfie – The obligatory task that any social media professional would do. Talk about some great content for my personal accounts!

The goal would be to not have cows in my selfies.

Drink a Beer at a Dive Bar – I would visit the most hole-in-the-wall, run down, sketchiest places in each state. While at each place I would chat with the locals, throw peanut shells on the ground, and tip my bartender well. #Glorious

Observe a Parade – You can learn a lot about a town by attending one of its parades. This would probably take a lot of planning, but I don’t think anything sounds better than enjoying a summer of bagpipes, community pride, and homemade floats.

Serve at a Soup Kitchen – All of my ideas for taking a nation tour are rather selfish. In the spirit of Rodney Smith,I can’t end my list without including something that would build character and give back to the places I would visit. I thinking serving a meal at a soup kitchen in 50 different states would really open my eyes. I would realize the endless extent of poverty in the United States and hopefully it would force me to make changes in my life. I would hope that after my soup kitchen odyssey ended, I would do a better job from that moment forward of serving the poor.

Rodney Smith is the real MVP.

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Maybe one day when I am retired I might actually do something like I have just written about. As long as I have Sid right next to me, I would love to hit the open road and see the United States in all its glory. Don’t Blink.

TAG! You’re It!

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A couple weeks ago, the co-worker I frequently discuss movies with came into my office. He asked if I had heard about an upcoming film called “Tag.” I replied no.

He told me that the movie is about a group of adults who play a never-ending game of tag. The goofy characters, he said, go to extraordinary lengths to play the game. To prove his point, he proceeded to tell me about a particular scene at a funeral. As one player mourns the loss of his father at the burial site, another player approaches him to seemingly offer comfort. While putting his arm around his grieving friend, this particular player says some nice words about the deceased, only to add at the end (I am paraphrasing), “…and I think the one thing your dad would really like you to know….is…that…you are now IT!” Slap!

“Tag” is a movie out in theaters right now.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

A couple days later, after I had forgotten about the wacky movie, my memory came back to me as Sid and I watched the NBC Nightly News. Lester Holt segwayed into a story about a group of middle aged men who, you guessed it, engage in an extreme game of tag. In fact, this crew on my television screen was the inspiration for the actual movie.

Now knowing that it was a true story (even though I think Geoff had initially told me it was), my interest piqued a bit. But that’s not all. A little bit of gasoline was about to be thrown on the small fire that had started inside of me…

It just so turned out that this group of friends started this epic game of tag in elementary school in no place other than Spokane, Washington. That’s right, my hometown was the origin of this larger than life game of tag that would be portrayed in a major Hollywood film with A-list actors.

These are the actual fellas who started an extreme, long, global game of tag (photo courtesy of the Spokesman-Review).

I intently watched the NBC Nightly News story. The whole original group of friends was interviewed and Lester himself was even tagged. But as I watched the game in action, it looked a tad fake to me. I Googled (haha) these people involved in the tag game and realized that their story has been extensively covered. I read several articles.

Next, I pulled up my family’s text messaging thread and alerted them that several Spokane natives were on national news for playing a children’s game on a global scale. Their response?

Old news.

“They have been on the local news for two weeks straight,” my mom complained. Obviously, I wasn’t breaking any news to the Reser Pride 5.0 group message.

I thought about the stories I had just read. I watched the trailer of the movie that Geoff had sent me. I viewed other videos covering the phenomenon. I even asked my parents to send me the latest front page from the Spokesman-Review that predictably covered the original players and the movie.

My parents sent me the recent Spokesman-Review newspaper. It is all about TAG.

After consuming a wide range of media centering on these childhood friends, the lengths they have gone to play the game, and the movie itself, I walked away feeling a certain way…

I just wasn’t very impressed.

First off, I have no interest in seeing the movie. Much to the chagrin of my wife, who does want to see it, an exaggerated Hollywood version of a giant game of tag wouldn’t hold my interest for 90 minutes.

As for the real life game played by these Spokane adults every February? I think at this point, it just seems a little overdone. The media blitz on this group started way back in 2013. Over the past five years, I think news outlets have stripped this story of its authenticity. It doesn’t seem organic anymore.

Geoff and Sidney both think I am way too cynical. They praise the grown men for taking a kid’s game to the absolute extreme. They think it is hilarious. But my point is that the game is no longer at the level it once was.

Not that I am placing all the blame on the individuals themselves, all who have very successful careers. Before every major news station and Hollywood wanted a piece of their fun, I think they were still playing it at a hardcore level and with a children’s spirit. But that time has passed.

I still think it is a unique story. Kudos to these people for creating a bond that is based on something no one else on the planet has. I just think the story has ran its course. Don’t Blink.

A Google Limit

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Many of us, especially millennials, are guilty of this. We Google everything. And by everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Symptoms of an illness? Phone number of a favorite Chinese takeout restaurant? Films a certain actor played in? Batting average of your favorite MLB player? Funny pickup lines? Lyrics to a song? Recipe for cheesecake? Movie theater times?

Google. Google. Google. Google. Google. Google. Google. And Google.

We depend on Google for EVERYTHING.

Look, I am not hating on our generation. With the unmistakable power of the internet and explosion of smart phones, using the Google machine is not just convenient, it is practical. I give my wife a hard time for her Google use but I am just as dependent. We are typical millennial Google users (or abusers?).

But just because something is practical, does it mean that it is beneficial for us as creative humans?

On Friday night, I pitched Sidney a crazy idea. I had the audacity to ask her if she would ever support a limit on one’s Google usage. She responded “no” but I proceeded to tell her how such a preposterous proposition would work…

My inspiration comes from online newspapers. If you read articles from periodicals online, you are most likely acquainted with a “paywall” system. Many major newspapers across the world allow online readers to consume a certain amount of content for free. Notice how I italicized the word “certain.” A particular newspaper, such as the New York Times, might let an online customer read five articles per month for free. Pretty nice, right? But if the reader tries to click on a link to read his/her sixth article of the month, a prompt will pop up.

You have reached your limit of free articles per month. Please subscribe for full access.

My big epiphany this past weekend was to place a limit on the number of Google searches a person can do per week.

In the spirit of not always taking a shortcut and for the sake of using other informational resources, I think a Google limit could help us become smarter human beings. If we were limited to, let’s say, 15 Google searches per week, we could expand our intellectual boundaries.

Knowing that many of us blow through 15 Google searches in a day, this new limit would force us to really scrutinize how we would use our weekly allotment. Perhaps we would opt for a phone book when ordering pizza. Maybe we would actually call the theater hotline for movie times. Or, who knows, hitting up a friend for a restaurant reference might come back in style as opposed to scouring online reviews.

Visits to the library would go up. Actual interactions with human beings would increase. Professional advice would be in higher demand. The act of actually experiencing life as opposed to taking Google’s word for it might make a comeback.

Google’s paywall would charge an exorbitant amount of money for 15 extra searches after the first 15 complimentary searches were used. That cash would go to charity. After 30 total weekly searches, an internet user would not be permitted to use Google until the start of the new week.

This proposal is a very rough pitch. I understand most people are thinking “I would just use another search engine.” But if there is a strong desire to throw the world of millennials for a loop while at the same time promoting intellectual creativity, a search engine limit might be the direction to head. Don’t Blink.

“S” is for SUMMER Thursday Rundown

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It’s time…it’s time…it’s Thursday Rundown time! If you were a fan of professional wrestling in the early 2000s, you would recognize that cadence from a wrestler named Vader. He sadly passed away yesterday. So, in his honor, I dedicate this blog post to him (along with the letter “S”).

Sidney’s Craft – For Mother’s Day, I gave Sidney a gift card to a place called AR Workshop. Earlier this week, she cashed it in! A haven for women who want to create custom home décor from raw materials, AR Workshop offers a wide variety of projects to choose from. Sidney opted to make a lazy Susan. A very handy and creative person, I think my wife’s final product came out great.

Sidney and Sloan holding the lazy Susan that was made at AR Workshop. Sid did a wonderful job!

Snakes on a Sidewalk – Last week, I encountered two snakes slithering around our neighborhood. Well, one was slithering and the other one was dead. Let me start with the unfortunate latter reptile. Sid was doing yard work this past Thursday and came across a tiny snake in one of our barked areas. The little guy met his demise via a weed whacker. Later that night, Sidney had me confirm that it was deceased (yep!). I gave her grief about it resembling a worm more than a snake. A couple days later while walking the neighborhood, I found a very much alive green garter snake on the sidewalk. I pointed my phone at it, snapped a couple photos, took some video, and walked away.

A look at the two snakes I encountered this past week.

Sloan’s Best Photos – This week, courtesy of Timehop, I was served two of my favorite photos ever taken of Sloan. The first one shows her laying on our bed in her swimsuit, moments before we went to the pool. The second one is of her sitting in the bassinet wearing her rosary. Both these photos melt my heart and it was so nice to be reminded of them. When it comes to Sloan in the present, she is walking like a pro! Nothing slows her down and she is starting to say words. At times it is challenging to keep track of her but she brings us so much joy!

I love these two photos of Sloan.

Summer is Here! – In a different life, I might have said that my favorite season is spring or fall. Well, for at least the past 10 years, I have seen the light. In my opinion, nothing compares to summer. Longer days, hot temperatures, wading in the pool, the Fourth of July, cookouts, a laid back feel, baseball, ice cream, and so much more makes this season my undisputed favorite. Summer officially started today and I can’t wait to experience all that it will bring in 2018.

Nothing beats the summer!

Staff Advisory Council – At my job, I embrace opportunities that go beyond my duties within University Communication. When you step outside of your department (something I failed to do while at the University of Montana), you learn so much. For the past year, I had the pleasure of serving on the Staff Advisory Council. Our mission was to facilitate an active and participatory line of communication and engagement among the University community. A large portion of our work centered on fielding questions and concerns from the 733 staff members at Coastal. We would discuss all matters at our meetings to determine how to arrive at the best answer or response. We would then provide follow up to every inquiry that was received. It was a great experience serving on this body and I learned a lot.

I really enjoyed serving on the Coastal Carolina Staff Advisory Council.

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Now stop reading this blog and go enjoy the longest day of the year! I hope you have a fabulous weekend and thanks for reading. Don’t Blink.

How a Digital Dude is Still Old School

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I am a digital-first, embrace technology, “find an app for that” millennial. I welcome modern ways to do and experience everyday tasks. I buy tickets online, order pizza from an app, get my news from Twitter, keep myself on task via an electronic calendar, communicate in emojis, text myself reminders, and the list goes on and on.

However, I can count four ways — wait, I mean three ways, I don’t read a physical newspaper anymore — that I am still old school. Not wanting to hold you up on one of the longest days of the year, let me very briefly (and this time I mean it) tell you the three ways I am still old fashioned.

I still send snail mail — a lot. I write notes of simple correspondence, send birthday cards, and even pay bills via the U.S. Postal Service. I enjoy keeping postal workers employed so much that I once even offered my readers a chance to receive a personal card from their favorite blogger. That turned out to be an expensive blog post! Nothing beats checking the mailbox and actually receiving something of value. Even with the recent increase in first class postage (a stamp is now a whopping 49 cents), I won’t be changing this outdated practice anytime soon.

I send a lot of stuff from this mailbox.

Believe it or not, I still go to the library. With e-books, online newspapers, and so many digital news/entertainment sources out there, you could read from your iPhone all day long. Heck, you could read from it over the course of 100 different lifetimes. Why go check something out? Seriously, what is a library anyway? Ahhhh, what a shame. For those who don’t visit libraries, I feel sorry for you. There is no place cozier than your community public library. The resources available are too good to pass up. It is public service at its best. Finding a gem at the library is just different from stumbling upon an article on your phone. Sidney and I are committed to raising Sloan in a way that leaves no doubt about the magic of the library.

Some of my library cards.

Lastly, I still visit Walgreens and CVS to make photo prints. With file transfers, social media, and photo sharing sites, many people these days strictly keep their photos in the digital realm. Sure, more folks are going to see and react to a photo that is on Facebook, but that doesn’t take away the feeling of physically holding a print you care about. I print off 4×6 prints like they are going out of style. I send them off in cards to relatives, use them to decorate our refrigerator, and keep them stashed away in case the internet ever shuts down.

A look at one side of our refrigerator.

Call me a new school guy with some old school tendencies. I might be a digital marketer with an appreciation for technology, but I haven’t completely turned my back on the way things used to be done. Don’t Blink.

My Top 5 Mac and Cheese Spin-Offs

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Call me a little kid, but macaroni and cheese is still one of my favorite foods. I could eat it every day of the week. Boxed, homemade, deli section of a grocery store…you name it. I love mac and cheese in all its forms, including extremely unconventional ones.

In tonight’s blog post, I want to quickly rank the top five “out of the box” (pun intended) macaroni and cheese dishes/snacks I have enjoyed.

5. Mac and Cheese Wedges – I used to get these at the minor league ballpark in Missoula. Usually served too hot to eat, the filling looked and tasted like it was from a 10 year old box of generic mac and cheese that you would buy at a dollar store. But it was still (technically) macaroni and cheese so I didn’t care! Although I might not pop these back as frequently as I did several years ago, I thought they were pretty cool at the time.

4. Lays #DoMeAFlavor Bacon Mac & Cheese Chips – For those who want mac and cheese while on the run, eating cheesy noodles out of a bowl is tough. Thankfully, at least for a limited time, you could grab a bag of Lays bacon mac and cheese chips. I thought they were good and I could definitely taste the cheddar flavor. However, this macaroni and cheese incarnation only made it to the #4 spot because, as I said in my 2014 blog post, the chips tasted more like potato soup than mac and cheese.

Front and center, I am holding the bag of Bacon Mac and Cheese chips.

3. Cici’s Mac and Cheese Pizza – Genius. Pure genius. Cici’s, an all-you-can-eat pizza chain, combined my two favorite foods into one. How can you beat a pizza topped with macaroni and cheese? I saw this pie hit the buffet line a few years ago with Sidney and I almost lost it with excitement. Although it looked better than it tasted, it was by no means a complete disaster. At the very least I give it an A+ for effort.

It has been almost exactly three years since I ate macaroni and cheese pizza at Cici’s.

2. Mac and Cheese Burger – Believe it or not, mac and cheese burgers are not new or unique to any place. If you go to a gourmet burger joint, chances are they will have a macaroni and cheese burger on the menu. Some places will literally slap a layer of mac and cheese on top of the burger and call it good while other restaurants will place a deep fried helping between the patty and bun (my preference). The combination of pasta, cheese, meat, and bread is unbeatable.

I ate this mac and cheese burger at River City Café in 2015.

1. Macaroni and Cheese Egg Rolls – If you ever visit South Carolina, make sure to eat at a King Street Grille. Once at the restaurant, place an order for the macaroni and cheese egg rolls the moment you sit down. Prepare to enter mac and cheese Nirvana. Crispy, flaky deep fried dough surrounds creamy, delicious macaroni and cheese. It is a special delight that will most likely fill you up before you even have the chance to take a bite out of your entrée. Sidney and I made sure to get these during our anniversary dinner last week and they were just as good as we remembered them.

These are our mac and cheese egg rolls from King Street Grille last week.

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Macaroni and cheese was not on the menu tonight (in any form) but it sure sounds good right now. Is there a crazy mac and cheese dish I need to know about? Please let me know! Don’t Blink.

Father’s Day 2018

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This weekend, I had the joy of celebrating my second Father’s Day as an actual dad. It turned out to be as nice as the first.

Festivities kicked off on Friday afternoon with Sloan’s daycare hosting a “Donuts With Daddy” event. Even though she is only going part time during the summer (on Tuesdays and Thursdays), we were still invited to attend. With free Krispy Kreme donuts up for grabs, you bet we did!

Sloan and I at “Donuts For Daddy.” We love her daycare!

Sloan and I shared a blueberry donut and talked with her friends and teachers. I was also presented with a sweet Father’s Day card that Sloan worked long and hard on. Thank you to Oxford Children’s Academy for once again making us feel special.

I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth but this is probably the cutest Father’s Day card ever!

On Saturday, we didn’t do any “official” Father’s Day activities but we did go on our usual daddy-daughter walk around the neighborhood. Then, in the evening, the three of us attended a block party cookout. By the time we were all in for the night, we were eagerly anticipating the next day (by “we” I mean me haha).

A few minutes before we went out on our walk, Sloan took about 12 seconds to sit still.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, Sid had placed a new message on our mini marquee. I went up and grabbed Sloan from her crib and she babbled the whole way down the stairs. I listened really hard and thought she might be saying “Happy Father’s Day!”

Sid put a “Happy Father’s Day” message on our marquee.

After church, it was time for presents. Sid had everything laid out on the kitchen table, including Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts (what a nice surprise). With both my girls watching, I opened my gifts. Of course the best part was reading the heartfelt cards both Sid and Sloan gave me —making this sensitive daddy’s eyes water just a bit.

Sloan and I celebrating Father’s Day.

Later we went outside to enjoy the sun. Sid washed the car and I played with Sloan as she splashed around in her little wading pool. She dried off by taking her little pink car for a spin. But after cruising it around the cul-de-sac she started to fall asleep behind the wheel. We laid her down for a nap and relaxed ourselves.

Sloan wading in the pool (left) and then taking a snooze (right).

During the evening, we went to Sidney’s parents’ house for a Father’s Day celebration in honor of all the dads in the family. We ate a delicious meal of ribs, salad, potatoes, and rolls. We concluded the gathering by eating cupcakes and opening gifts.

The cards I received from Sloan, Sid, my sister, and my parents.

Back at home, I thanked my girls for a wonderful Father’s Day weekend. My wife and daughter treat me so well and I am lucky to have them. I can’t wait until next year’s Father’s Day. Don’t Blink.

Aw, Shucks Thursday Rundown

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Who out there is enjoying these long days? In my opinion, there is nothing better than daylight lasting until 9 p.m. Let’s get started with this Thursday Rundown so you can read it before it gets dark.

Looking Back on our Honeymoon – For the next several days, my Timehop will be filled with photos and videos from our honeymoon. Two years ago at this time, we were admiring beautiful blue waters and sipping on delicious adult beverages. The Sun Palace in Cancun was luxurious and the experience was incredible. I recapped our special trip in this blog post and then last year I gave my best tips on how to truly enjoy a honeymoon.

Sidney and I had an incredible honeymoon at the Sun Palace in Cancun.

McDonald’s Tweet – It is common for me to share tweets directed at me from major companies. The latest brand to tweet me? McDonald’s! I recently mentioned that the ice cream at Mickey D’s is underrated. Trust me, if you can’t appreciate the simplicity and goodness of a McDonald’s soft serve cone, you don’t like ice cream. My compliment was enough for the chain to hit me back, tweeting Aw, shucks, Brent; you’re making us blush. Well played, McDonald’s.

This is how McDonald’s responded to my tweet about its ice cream.

Growth – Thought it would be fun to show how much our little girl has grown over the past 365 days. The photo on the left is from June 14, 2017. The photo on the right is from this morning as she watched “her shows” on our living room TV. From a baby to a toddler in the blink of an eye (seriously, Don’t Blink)!

The left photo is Sloan on June 14, 2017. The photo on the right is of Sloan today, June 14, 2018.

Ocean’s 8 – We made sure to see a movie during our anniversary date on Monday. Sidney and I opted to see “Ocean’s 8” because it was the one movie that was showing exactly at the time we finished dinner and because our favorite comedian actress, Mindy Kailing, has a role in it. I must say the film was rather engaging and clever. The methods used to pull off the heist were very modern and sophisticated, something a digital person like myself could appreciate. The female ensemble cast did a great job and provided plenty of laughs. We both enjoyed “Ocean’s 8” and it has inspired us to watch the previous “Ocean’s” films.

My ticket stub from “Ocean’s 8.”

The Summit – I followed the United States-North Korea summit rather closely. I was most interested in the interactions between the two seemingly completely different, yet in ways strikingly similar, world leaders. I was fascinated by the photos that were released of President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un as well as the various videos showing the two men engaging with one another. Although non-partisan, I do root for peace, especially when millions of lives potentially hang in the balance. With a summit that was once viewed as “impossible,” it was a little surreal to watch it all come together. I pray that the progress that was supposedly made is reflected for decades to come.

From an historical standpoint, I found the images and video from the summit very interesting.

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Happy Father’s Day to my dad and father-in-law! I hope everyone has a great weekend celebrating those special men in our lives. Thanks for reading and I look forward to catching up soon. Don’t Blink.

Summer Lunch Dates With Sid and Sloan

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I am one of those people who usually doesn’t leave the office at lunch. I prefer to catch up on work and maybe catch up on sports news. But during the summer, this predictable routine changes a bit.

When June and July come around, I look forward to my wife and daughter stopping by to eat lunch with me. A tradition with Sid for four years now (and two years for Sloan), we try to do lunch dates once a week.

It all starts with the girls showing up at my office. After Sloan sits on my lap for a couple minutes, we head off to accomplish the main purpose of the visit—to eat!

The lunch date starts off with Sloan visiting me in the office. Today was the first time her Unicorn saw where I work.

We go to Chauncey’s Choice, the dining hall right next to my office building. During the summer, CCU’s famous fried chicken is served on Wednesdays, the day which our lunch dates usually occur.

Sloan was scoping out the Chauncey’s Choice scene this afternoon.

This year is a little different with Sloan. She doesn’t want to be confined to her stroller for the entire meal. This usually necessitates that we take turns between holding her and eating our lunch (even the most skilled parent will face a challenge when eating a piece of fried chicken and trying to contain an infant).

During today’s lunch, we took turns holding Sloan. This was a point in time when Sid was on duty.

We make sure to enjoy the atmosphere as student-athletes and faculty/staff fill up the cafeteria. It is fun to visit with colleagues and let them meet Sloan.

Sloan and I with our Chauncey’s Choice selfie.

When we finish eating, if there is time, I like to bring Sloan by other offices to meet co-workers. It is always a nice way to end the eventful lunch hour.

By the time our lunch date is over, this little girl is exhausted. Crashing on our living room couch is a great way to recuperate from a busy afternoon on campus.

It is not like our home is right next to campus, so I always appreciate Sid and Sloan taking the time to come see me. Today was awesome and I hope we get the chance to enjoy lunch together on several more occasions this summer. Don’t Blink.