Monthly Archives: December 2020

Spectacular Thursday Rundown

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After a week hiatus due to Thanksgiving, the Thursday Rundown is back. Thanks for returning to Don’t Blink and I hope you enjoy tonight’s five topics…

Favorite New Ornament – An ornament on our tree that I added this year is one I purchased right before I left South Carolina. At a certain tourist attraction in Myrtle Beach there is an all-year Christmas store that sells more ornaments than you can imagine. Knowing that our tree would be set up in an entirely different state on the other side of the country, I wanted to get something to honor the place that means so much to us. I think this sunbathing depiction of Santa does a good job of catching the essence of Myrtle Beach.

This is my favorite new ornament on our tree.

Photo of the Week – Sloan recently spent some time with grandma and papa…and Muffin. This photo was taken of the granddaughter and cat catching some zzz’s together.

How precious is this?

Donuts Donuts Donuts – There is no better place to share a photo of donuts than on a Thursday Rundown blog post. For the first time, I had the opportunity to try Hello Sugar. What makes Hello Sugar different from competitors is that it serves all mini donuts. Although you wouldn’t know it by looking at photos on Instagram, the product is definitely miniature-sized! Our family had a holiday photoshoot last weekend and our photographer, Alicia Hauff, gave us our first Hello Sugar dozen. Don’t they look pretty?

You wouldn’t know these Hello Sugar donuts were miniature-sized if I didn’t tell you.

Spokane Chick-fil-A Opens – Honestly, you would think these people had never seen a Chick-fil-A before. Wait, many of them haven’t. The Spokane Chick-fil-A opened on Tuesday and the drive-thru line stretched for two miles. In fact, traffic control personnel had to eventually create three different lines that sprawled the north Spokane streets to accommodate the hundreds of cars that showed up. For someone like my sister, who has never visited a Chick-fil-A restaurant before, the excitement of the chain’s arrival is real. Even for someone like me who ate way too many spicy chicken sandwiches during my time down South, I think the restaurant’s opening is pretty cool…and much anticipated.

The Spokane Chick-fil-A opening day line stretched out of the frame of this aerial shot by the Spokesman-Review.

She’s Back – For the second consecutive holiday season, Sallie has returned…much earlier this time around. Sloan’s “Elf on the Shelf” made her triumphant appearance on Tuesday (you can watch Sloan’s reaction) and has started her nightly reports to Santa. This morning Sallie had Sloan follow wrapping paper shreds to a special gift. I can only imagine the other adventures that will take place over the next three weeks.

This is where we found Sallie this morning. She left a note and a prize for Sloan.

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Getting back into a routine can be tough after a holiday weekend. By now I hope you are up to speed just in time for a new weekend to arrive. Enjoy your Friday! Don’t Blink.

Preparing for Christmas

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Now that Thanksgiving has passed and Advent has arrived, I can start to look forward to Christmas. I absolutely adore December and the magic that surrounds it. This year, I think that magic will shine just a little brighter as we enjoy the month in a place that at times can actually look and feel like the North Pole.

We are now in Advent season.

December this year is special because not only will it be Beau’s first Christmas but Sloan has reached the age where she is truly cognizant of the holidays. She loves Santa, Elf on the Shelf, and presents. You know, the stuff that all 3 ½-year-olds should be excited about?

Sloan has the Christmas spirit….and a chocolate calendar that counts down the days until December 25.

With that said, her newly developed consciousness of Christmas comes with it the responsibility of Sid and I to ensure that in addition to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and new toys that some perspective is also introduced. How far do you go down that road with a little person who hasn’t even turned 4 yet? I would say not that far. However, introducing the basics about whose birthday is celebrated and the true reason for the season are important concepts that will help lay necessary groundwork for the future.

May everyone have a meaningful and blessed holiday.

For us adults, I think we can all make a more concerted effort to prepare for the birth of Christ. With so many distractions and expectations, it is easy to lose focus on why December 25 is so important. This Advent season I am going to try to do better in my own personal preparation. Let’s see how it goes. Don’t Blink.

Exceeding all Expectations

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– When I worked in the athletic department at the University of Montana, our football team played a college I had never heard of called Coastal Carolina University during the 2013 FCS Playoffs. I thought they were a team like many of the others that would play the Griz in an early postseason game and then fade into obscurity.

In 2013, I worked a blistering cold game (as a UM employee) in which Coastal Carolina University upset the University of Montana in the FCS Playoffs. (photo courtesy of the Montana Kaimin)

– As fate would have it, I started working for that college I had never heard of not too long after they eliminated the Grizzlies from the playoffs. As I started to watch the CCU football team make a name for itself on a normal grass field in the FCS, I didn’t really think they would compete beyond the level formerly known as Division I-AA.

When I arrived at CCU and worked the football games in 10,000-seat Brooks Stadium, I didn’t exactly think that the Coastal football team would one day join the FBS and host College Gameday.

– Working the press conference in which CCU announced it would make the jump to the FBS, I thought it would take several seasons to become respectable in the Sun Belt Conference.

In 2015 when CCU announced it was moving to the FBS, I didn’t think a half decade later it would be hosting College Gameday.

– While observing the Chanticleers struggle on the “Surf Turf” during their first couple seasons as full-fledged FBS members, I thought I might have finally made a correct prediction about CCU football.

Teal turf was installed and Brooks Stadium was expanded, all signs of a program on the rise. However, I thought that the “rise” might take several years. The Coastal football team struggled its first couple years in the FBS (photo courtesy of CCU).

– Now back on the opposite side of the country, I watched as the CCU football team posted convincing victory after convincing victory on the ESPN networks. As Coastal’s undefeated record stayed intact as the weeks rolled by and the fanbase started to mention a certain college football pregame show on social media, I thought no way.

I have watched Coastal Carolina football from the opposite coast during the 2020 season.

Yesterday, this happened…

College Gameday is going to Coastal Carolina University.

Tonight I want to congratulate the Chanticleer football program for attracting the most prestigious sports pregame show to its campus while proving all the doubters (including myself) wrong. Most programs will never receive a visit from College Gameday—CCU is doing it in only its third season as a bowl eligible FBS school. Well done to the student-athletes and coaches…truly amazing work.

I also want to congratulate Coastal Carolina University in general. Unfortunately, the institution has experienced some tough times as of late but the success story of the football team is a boost that CCU needs and deserves. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. I know my former colleagues are loving this ride right now!

Enjoy this, CCU!

It will be exciting to see College Gameday set up shop on the campus I spent almost six years on. I look forward to the broadcast and to seeing social media posts from my CCU friends. Just like with its College World Series victory in 2016, I know #TEALnation will savor this moment in the national spotlight. Don’t Blink.