Good evening my readers, I hope your week is going well. I have been fighting a minor bug but nothing that will stop me from writing my most popular blog post of the week. For those who want to view some highlights of the #CCUSocialMedia Instaween event I mentioned last week and to hear my intern Katie explain why we do it, please click here. Now let’s get started…

Josh Norman – After meeting Rachel Swindler last Thursday, I had the opportunity to be around another celebrity on Saturday. All-star NFL cornerback Josh Norman of the Washington Redskins is a CCU alumnus. He returned to campus for our Homecoming game this past weekend. However, he didn’t return just to watch some football; rather, he was here so we could properly honor him for making the largest donation to CCU ever by a former student-athlete. Our field house was renamed the Marrio and Josh Norman Field House during a ceremony between the first and second quarters (Marrio is Josh’s brother). Josh also established scholarships in the honor of two professors here at Coastal, one of them being Robin Russell. The whole time he was on campus, Josh was very humble and gracious. He interacted with fans, posed for numerous photographs, honored his family, and expressed how much Coastal means to him.

I took these photos of Josh Norman when he visited CCU this past weekend.

Sloan Update – Our daughter is growing up too fast! Sloan is now quite the talker and pretty skilled at getting what she wants. She loves books but also enjoys watching “her shows” on the iPhones of mommy and daddy. Yesterday at daycare she finger painted and the OCA staff mentioned that she was really engaged in the activity, mixing the paints and identifying the colors. She has taken a liking to saying either “stop, mommy!” or “stop, daddy!” but she will just as frequently say “love you.” She is back in the routine of sleeping well at night and is excellent at saying “thank you.”

Sloan is doing great! This photo was taken outside of Oxford Children’s Academy earlier this week.

The Election That Shocked the Nation – Two years ago the unthinkable happened. In a scenario that no one saw coming, especially the mainstream media, Donald Trump defied the odds and won the 2016 Presidential Election. I remember that night really well – laying in bed, watching the coverage as the jaws of media personalities (and American citizens) dropped. Waking up the next morning after the election was officially called, I had a surreal feeling that I can still sense inside of me. In one of my most read and memorable blog posts, I wrote about Trump achieving the improbable.

Sid and I after we voted on Nov. 8, 2016.

Food For Thought – Over the several years I have posted my Life’s Little Instructions calendar pages on Instagram, I have never had a piece of advice receive as many likes as the one I posted on Monday. Take one look below and you will know why. In a world where we obsess over material possessions and make financial gain our top priority, this instruction reminds us what true wealth is. Never underestimate the fortune of true love and never try to substitute it with “things.”

My Instagram audience really appreciated this advice.

I Love Ice Cream…But No Thank You – This week, an ice cream company on the West Coast called Salt & Straw introduced some Thanksgiving-themed flavors. No, we aren’t talking pumpkin spice or apple pie – think much more extreme. The business is boasting flavors such as sweet potato casserole, roasted peach and sage cornbread stuffing, salted caramel Thanksgiving turkey, and, worst of all, spiced goat cheese and pumpkin pie. No, no, no, and no. Even for an ice cream maniac like myself, I wouldn’t touch any of those flavors.

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Let us keep those who lost their lives in the senseless California bar shooting in our prayers tonight. While we do this, let’s keep in mind how lucky we are to still be alive and happy. Don’t Blink.