Monthly Archives: August 2025

Weird Soda Thursday Rundown

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Is it just me or do these Thursdays seem to come around quicker and quicker? Well, regardless of what my mind tells me, I owe you all five topics so let’s begin the latest rundown…

Ice Cream Sundae Soda – I am one day late for Root Beer Float Day, but I guess in a way I did get to celebrate it early. This past weekend, my brother packed a couple cans of the new A&W Ice Cream Sundae soda. I cracked one open on the trip home and it wasn’t good. I couldn’t really decipher what it tasted like at first but some lingering chocolate notes were detectable in the aftertaste. I do not recommend.

I was not a fan of the A&W ice cream sundae soda. I tried it while driving back from Seattle this past Sunday.

Latest Backdrop Photos – St. Paschal EduCare is at it again. As I have mentioned before, the daycare that Sloan and Beau attend during the summer stage photo shoots in front of a backdrop each month. For August, it was a water theme. As this is the last month of summer, the kids have a limited number of days left at St. Paschal before transitioning back to St. Mary for the school year.

Thanks to St. Paschal EduCare for taking these latest backdrop photos.

Spider-Man Is Back – One of my memorable blog posts was the entry about Beau’s obsession with his Spider-Man costume. The tagline on the costume packaging should have read put it on for Oct. 31, wear it for the next 300 days because that is exactly what Beau did. After Halloween, he wore it around the house, on trips to see grandma, during grocery store runs, and every other instance you could think of. However, several months ago, his mask disappeared. Although he still wore the jumpsuit, it wasn’t the same. Earlier this week, Sidney thoroughly cleaned out a closet and guess what she found? Yep, we have our resident mini Spider-Man running through the house shooting his imaginary “webs” at people again.

Beau’s Spider-Man mask has been found and he can now wear the complete costume again. This photo was taken earlier this week as he posed with his “Flat Stanley” book. Stories are just more enjoyable to listen to when you are wearing a Spider-Man outfit 😂.

The Problem With Brent – On my Thursday Rundowns, I usually only share throwback posts that fall on the same date that I am writing it. However, this post I am about to share is too endearing to omit simply because it was written on Aug. 7 (instead of Aug. 6). On tomorrow’s date in 2018, I wrote about the problem with my first name. I detailed how I am often called “Brett” but how it doesn’t matter to me at all—in fact, it is second nature. When people realize they have been calling me by the wrong name, I usually send them this 7-year-old blog post just so they know I am not offended. Trust me, I don’t take the extra “n” in my name too seriously.

Being called “Brett” is second nature to me.

Lighthouse Day – My father-in-law texted Sid’s family group thread this morning to wish everyone a happy Lighthouse Day! He has always found lighthouses to be cool and that wonderment filtered down to my wife. By the way, if you have never seen the movie “The Lighthouse” before you should put it on your list. Anyway, Sidney enjoys lighthouses so much that when we visited Hawaii three years ago, we went out of our way to visit the below lighthouse (top) in Kauai. Then earlier this year, we admired the other lighthouse (bottom) when we disembarked our cruise ship in the Bahamas. Hope you have a lighthouse near you!

Sidney always enjoys the chance to see a lighthouse. I took the top image when we visited Kauai. The bottom image is from when we were in the Bahamas earlier this year.

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We have a big wedding to attend this weekend! Let’s make sure to pray for all the couples who have/will enter into marriage this wedding season. Hope everyone is continuing to enjoy summer and I will be in touch soon. Don’t Blink.

Memorizing Servers

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I remember the first time I saw it. This was years and years ago at a small seafood restaurant in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, called the Oasis. They employed a waitress who could take the order of an entire table without writing a single thing down on paper. She listened to what the customers wanted, stored the details in her head, and then relayed it to the kitchen.

Needless to say, we all thought this was the coolest thing ever. That server had to be a genius, we reasoned. How else could she accurately record entrees, sides, substitutions, special requests, and more in her head? Keep in mind, she was spot on with all her tables. Did this small restaurant on the Washington/Oregon border have a prodigy on its hands?

As I grew older and gained more experience eating at restaurants (probably too much experience if you look at my waistline 😂), I realized other servers shared the same talent. These skilled waiters and waitresses would simply ask for your order, politely nod when you gave it, and move on to the next person at the table. No paper pad. No pen. No digital mechanism.

This server at The Onion didn’t memorize our orders but the gigantic sundae he brought Sloan more than made up for it 😂

Last night on Reels, I watched this. It is a lighthearted video on servers who do try the memorization method but can’t quite pull it off. The “server” the video features can’t recall orders when she goes to enter them in the POS system. While there, she is shown racking her brain to remember what people chose to eat. She resorts to going back to the table to fill water glasses while subtly confirming what they ordered. As you can imagine, all the orders come out wrong. She attempts to make excuses for the mistake that don’t have anything to do with her order-taking strategy. At the end of the video, she is seen taking everyone’s order again…this time with pen and paper.

This video does make a decent point: if you are taking the orders by memory just as a performative tactic AND it isn’t a skill that you actually have, you should probably refrain from doing so. Why put that pressure on yourself? If someone’s food comes out wrong, the customer will automatically point to the seemingly lazy method of order-taking to explain the snafu.

That’s what I would do at least. But you know what? I have never been able to make that claim. Believe it or not, I have never had a botched order or an incorrect check from a server who used the memorization method. Everything has always been delivered to my table perfectly. Perhaps that is evidence that while the video is funny, most people who work in the service industry actually know better. Basically, if they aren’t 100% sure of their ability to take orders in their head, they aren’t going to do it.

Have you ever encountered a server who took your order in his/her mind? Did it end in accuracy or disaster? Shout out to the Oasis server who proved herself to be the real MVP. Don’t Blink. 🍝

2025 Mariners Trip With My Dudes

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A fond childhood memory was attending Seattle Mariners games with my dad and brother. During most summers, my dad would take Glen and me across the mountains to watch the M’s play a couple games over the course of a weekend.

As we started to make our way through high school and our summers became super busy with our own sports, these trips to T-Mobile Park ceased. However, 20+ years later, my dad invited the two of us to once again tag along for some baseball and bonding.

My dad pitched the idea of going to the west side on Saturday, enjoying the evening in Bellevue, attending the Mariners-Rangers game on Sunday afternoon, and arriving back in Spokane late that night. With the blessing from all three of our wives, we put the plan into motion. This is how it went down…

Spoiler alert: We had a great weekend. This is a photo of me in the T-Mobile Park stands taken by Jerek Wolcott. Jerek was a colleague of mine when we worked at the University of Montana and now he is an administrator in the athletic department at the University of Idaho. This past Sunday’s game was the UI Vandal Day for the university’s alumni and Jerek was down on the field to take photos of the ceremonial first pitch.

On Saturday (Aug. 2), my dad picked me up at my house around 9 a.m. We then picked up Glen and hit the road for Bellevue. The drive went by fast as we enjoyed the chance to catch up and talk sports.

I took the backseat during our drive to Bellevue. Before we left town, I got a lotus drink at Higher Ground espresso in Spokane Valley.

We arrived in Bellevue and scouted out the area a bit. We then checked into our hotel and freshened up. From there, the three of us went to 5 p.m. Saturday vigil mass at St. Louise Catholic Church.

A look inside St. Louise Catholic Church after mass ended on Saturday night.

After returning to the hotel for a few minutes to watch some of the MLB Speedway Classic between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds, we hit the town. And by “hit the town” I meant we visited an extremely low key, small, and dark establishment called Steve’s Bar & Grill for a couple hours. We ate dinner, had a couple drinks, and played pull-tabs.

My dad and brother pose for a photo at Steve’s Bar & Grill in Bellevue.

By 9 p.m. we were back in our hotel room watching sports and making plans for the next day.

My dad and brother watching sports in our hotel room before going to bed.

Sunday morning arrived and we took full advantage of the complimentary breakfast offered by our hotel. Among many other things, they had an oatmeal bar that included toppings such as brown sugar, pecans, chocolate chips, and more.

The breakfast at the BW Signature Collection in Bellevue was on-point! You can see my bowl of oatmeal in the photo.

Once our food digested we packed up our room, checked out, and headed to Seattle. We parked in one of the garages near the stadium and then made the short walk to T-Mobile Park.

My dad took a photo of Glen and me in front of the Ken Griffey Jr. statue near one of the entrances of T-Mobile Park.

Before entering the stadium, we walked along Royal Brougham Way, the street near T-Mobile Park that is lined with food and souvenir vendors. This brought back a lot of nostalgia as we savored the energy you could feel and the grilled hot dogs you could smell.

Glen and my dad walk Royal Brougham prior to us entering T-Mobile Park. Loved the smells!

Because Glen’s phone carrier is T-Mobile, we were allowed to enter the stadium early and hang out in the “T-Mobile ‘Pen” out in center field. We sipped some brews, met a sasquatch, and watched the Mariners’ pregame show.

Thanks to Glen using T-Mobile as his carrier, we gained early admission into T-Mobile Park. While hanging out in the “T-Mobile ‘Pen” we met Sasquatch.

From there we walked to our seats in section 131 right behind home plate (thanks, dad!). Our view was spectacular as we watched some of the on-field pregame festivities.

A selfie with my dad and brother shortly after we found our seats behind home plate.

Before first pitch, Glen and I made a dash to the concourse to buy some ballpark food. After agonizing over what I wanted all week, I decided to get the katsu curry. It was unbelievably delicious but probably not worth the $22 given the rather small serving. 😋

This chicken curry katsu was delicious but probably not worth $22.

With ballpark food secure in our laps, we watched the Mariners and Rangers play the final game of their four-game series. It was a perfect afternoon to watch baseball and apparently the pleasant weather led to favorable home run conditions. We saw a combined five dingers as the good guys won a crucial game, 5-4.

We got to watch the Mariners beat the Rangers, 5-4, from this beautiful angle.

The result wasn’t the only good thing about the game. My brother caught a hot dog during the famous “Hot Dogs From Heaven” promotion. He promptly handed it over to my dad who enjoyed every bite!

My brother holds the hot dog he caught during the “Hot Dogs from Heaven” promotion.

After the game we hung in the stadium for a few minutes, snapped a selfie, and then headed to the parking garage where we patiently waited for things to clear out.

We had a wonderful time inside T-Mobile Park. This was the selfie we took after the Mariners won.

We stopped in Ellensburg at a restaurant called W.C. Roadhouse Grill for dinner. Over burgers and wraps we discussed the events of the day and geared up for the final three hours on the road.

This was the bacon burger I got from W.C. Roadhouse Grill.

Thankfully, those three hours went by fast. Funny how that tends to happen when you are in good company! Once we arrived in Spokane, we dropped my brother off at his home first before I said “goodbye” to my dad once we pulled up at my place.

The drive back from Seattle didn’t seem to take too long and we we were treated to this beautiful sunset. What an awesome weekend it was!

Can’t say enough about what an awesome time I had. I owe a lot to my dad and brother for all the fun we enjoyed. Let’s not make it another 20 years before we do this again, guys! Don’t Blink.

One Year An Eag

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When I reported for my first day of work at Eastern Washington University, something was waiting for me inside my office. Upon walking through the door on August 1, 2024, I immediately noticed the half case of Dr. Pepper on my desk. The soda was a “welcome” gift from my boss, Eric Limburg, who knew my preference for the soft drink from our days at WSU.

Just moments before I drove to Cheney for my first day of work at EWU, Sid took this photo of me. You better believe I am wearing the same polo today.

Throughout my first year as an Eagle, I used that Dr. Pepper as my creative fuel. If I needed to truly focus on a major priority or assignment, I would crack open a can and get to work. Whether it was the 23 flavors working magic on my brain, a jolt from the caffeine, or simply a placebo effect, that Dr. Pepper ushered me through my initial 365 days as EWU’s marketing director.

I had a warm welcome awaiting me when I strolled into my office on Aug. 1, 2024. The 12-pack of Dr. Pepper helped me make it through the first year.

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Meaningful Work

As I reflect on the past 12 months, the work my team tackled is a source of pride. From the moment I walked on campus, our brand evolution was the focus. Thanks to my rockstar squad, we were already in great position to become the region’s polytechnic. But that didn’t stop my colleagues from collaboratively allowing me to contribute (or “try” to contribute 😂) as we made the sprint to launch day on September 24.

We launched EWU’s evolved brand positioning in September 2024. I am proud of the fact that we are able to differentiate ourselves from other universities and that “the region’s polytechnic” has turned skeptics into believers.

That exhilarating moment was just the beginning. Another major endeavor—the public phase of a comprehensive fundraising campaign—was our next priority. As our brand and fundraising marketing took hold, we embraced the task of producing the EWU holiday video. By this time, our team was knee-deep assisting with enrollment, event, and program-specific marketing efforts. As these technical marketing activations reached key EWU audiences, more public-facing PR strategies were transpiring as our sponsorship committee negotiated and executed 29 different community partnerships.

A celebratory photo of our crew after holiday video filming wrapped on November 6 (L-R: Luke Kenneally, Sean Nelms, Me, Ginny Baxter).

Even though I am a digital-first guy, the magic of implementing traditional advertising wasn’t lost on me. Thanks to my talented team creating eye-catching assets, we strategically represented EWU through billboards, newspaper placements, and television spots. Our team also marketed the return of EWU’s commencement ceremonies to Cheney, totally refreshed our multimedia library, brought student-workers back to the office, and shifted the spotlight on the Eagle community with profile features.

The marketing team I oversee is talented and it has been a joy working with them. This was a photoshoot we did for a front page ad in the Spokesman-Review. Luke Kenneally, our multimedia specialist, worked his magic to get some awesome shots of EWU grad student Isabelle Tague.

In The Flesh

Making the work we accomplished even more rewarding was that we completed it in-person. This was a change from my time at WSU where I worked mostly remote. Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciated the privilege of working from home, but my first year at Eastern Washington University made me remember how awesome it is to work on a college campus and engage face-to-face with my team and students.

Working from home was great but I now work in-person. My office is located in the Hargreaves Building on the Eastern Washington University campus.

But the return to in-person wasn’t confined just to campus. I found myself representing EWU beyond Cheney. My role overseeing sponsorships allowed me to march in the Junior Lilac Parade and help prepare our booth at Hoopfest. Our partnership with USL Spokane resulted in an event we co-hosted called Students in the Stadium. On a random Tuesday in April, we welcomed Spokane high school students to ONE Stadium to learn from both USL Spokane professionals and our own EWU staff about careers in athletics.

I walked shoulder-to-shoulder (or wing-to-wing?) with Swoop for most of the Jr. Lilac Parade. Getting out in the community this first year was a lot of fun.

Other highlights included decorating downtown Cheney sidewalks in chalk art, watching an EWU football game from the Endzone Club Suites, conducting a photoshoot at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, attending the Red Tie Gala, and cheering on some accomplished Eagle grads at the EWU Alumni Awards. However, my favorite moment from my first year came during the Eagle Summit at Northern Quest when I had the honor of addressing our Alumni Board, EWU deans/vice presidents, and President McMahan about the progress achieved with our new brand positioning. Thankfully, the speech went off without a hitch and at that moment I had never felt more like an Eag.

A selfie with members of my team and a student after we completed our Turnbull National Refute shoot.

My EWU People

What more could I ask for with rewarding work and vibrant forums to accomplish it in? Well, let me tell you: an awesome team!

For EWU’s New Year party, all of us in University Advancement dressed in 1960s attire. I work with some great people!

Lucky for me, I hit the jackpot. Upon day one, I was immediately accepted by those within EWU University Relations. My boss empowered me, the other two directors pledged their support, and those within the marketing unit gave me their all. Despite my past history with the bitter rival University of Montana, my team saw beyond that (well, except for maybe Kelsey 😉) and did everything they could to help me succeed. It didn’t take long for rapport to develop and a year later I just don’t have talented colleagues, I have some great friends.

Our University Relations holiday party was so much fun. I consider several of the people in this photo as friends.

But my acceptance and support wasn’t just siloed within marketing and communications. I quickly realized that I had strong allies in enrollment services, athletics, and the President’s Office—three areas that sometimes clash with central MarCom units at other institutions. Speaking of the President’s Office, EWU has a superb leader in Dr. Shari McMahan. This is my first higher ed stop where the president actually knows me on a first-name basis. I truly appreciate that President McMahan not only champions what I do as a professional but recognizes me as an individual. And I also appreciate all the other units and departments that have made these first 365 days at Eastern so enjoyable.

President McMahan is refreshingly not like your typical university president. I appreciate the kindness she treats me with and her “whatever it takes” attitude. I took this behind-the-scenes photo during our holiday video shoot. President McMahan was nothing but patient and accommodating when we filmed her parts.

Growth

At the end of the day, I am thankful to work at EWU and serve in the role that I do. Moving into a director spot has allowed me to lead more people, develop a positive culture within my unit, make decisions, and embrace more responsibility. Quite simply, it has helped me grow as a professional.

Sid and me at the EWU Alumni Awards at the end of April 2025. Thankful for a supportive wife who has encouraged me to grow professionally.

None of this would be possible without the trust of my boss, Eric Limburg. He provided me an incredible opportunity and has done everything feasible to help me make the most of it. Sometimes people roll their eyes when an administrator hires someone they worked with at a past institution, so I am indebted to Eric for going out on a limb for me. It is an honor to work for him and see the tremendous amount of respect that he has garnered during his short time at EWU (he started just four months before me).

I am grateful to have Eric Limburg and thankful that he took a chance on me. This photo was taken of us with our wives at the 2024 Red Tie Gala.

I feel the best leaders thrive under a little pressure. Now that I have served as marketing director for a year, the time has arrived to shine brighter. We have big goals at EWU and I am “not new” anymore. With the backing of Eric, the talent of my team, and the potential of this university, I am ready for even more growth during Year #2.

Hanging out with Austin Powers….I mean my boss, Eric Limburg, during the EWU New Year party.

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I look forward to cracking open that last Dr. Pepper later this morning. Consider it the “work” equivalent of eating a frozen slice of your wedding cake on that first anniversary. In the same way the cake brings back memories of that blissful day, I bet today’s Dr. Pepper will bring back memories of when I walked into Hargreaves Hall and the entire University Relations team was waiting for me with donuts.

This Dr. Pepper is waiting for me this morning. Cheers!!

No doubt it will also bring back memories of the times I grabbed a can for a creative boost. As I faced work challenges, the carbonated goodness seemed to suggest that I could find solutions. Yep, that last can of Dr. Pepper expired a long time ago but I know it will taste great today. THANKS SO MUCH to my University Relations team and GO EAGS! Don’t Blink.