My First Love

Last night I was able to reunite with my first love. My mom, Abbey and I went to Sonny's BBQ for dinner. For those you who don't know, Sonny's BBQ is a chain restaurant all throughout the South. I grew up on Sonny's in Pensacola and also worked at one for a summer and a few Christmas Breaks.

This trip to Sonny's was different from any other I have experienced. Sonny's is redesigning all their stores to make them a little more "nicer." All the new stores (and eventually the old), will have a full bar, a redesigned dining area, and an outdoor dining area. You can see some pictures of the redesign on their website. Also, they have added some more menu items. I tried the pulled chicken for the first time last night.

I know everyone has their opinion on the best bbq, but for pulled pork and beef, Sonny's is hard to beat. If you have never been to a Sonny's, you are missing out.

Seattle and Portland

Two weeks ago Abbey and I got to go to Portland and Seattle for a few days. The purpose of the trip was to meet with some youth ministers and tell them about CIY's jr. high program Believe. We flew into Portland late on Monday night, drove up to Seattle and had lunch with 14 guys from the area at an amazing restaurant on Tuesday.

After that Abbey and I went to downtown Seattle and went to the Original Starbucks, Pike Place Market, REI, the original Kavu store, and the Space Needle. That night we attended my fourth major league game of the year, the Baltimore Orioles vs. the Seattle Mariners.

The next day Abbey and I went hiking at Snoqualmie Falls and then drove down to Portland and had a great dinner at a restaurant downtown. We went to Powell's books and then called it a night.

One the last day, Abbey went and dropped me off at Abundant Life Church (where the lunch was being held), and she went to the mall. The luncheon, set entirely up by Randy Gay, the youth minister, was well attended and I received a ton of feedback about the last couple years of Believe. That is one of my favorite things about meeting with the leaders is finding out what we did right, what we did wrong, what we need to do better. Also, the food, prepared by the church, was amazing as well.

Anyways, I have attached the slide show at the top of some of the pictures from the trip.

Ballgame Number 5 - Cardinals vs. Royals

Last week, Abbey and I went up to Kansas City with our friends Eric and Torrie to watch the Cardinals play the Royals. Eric works with me at CIY, primarily with the Superstart program. Eric is a big Cardinals fan and although I do consider myself a Royals fan, I am a without a doubt an anti-Cardinals fan. Fortunately the Royals showed up and scored more runs than they probably did in the month of May. We had a great time. Anyways, here are my observations:

• When you buy tickets from a scalper make sure you look at your tickets before you actually give them cash. The scalper said, "I got 2 and 2. I got 2 and 2 together." It was actually two together and then one single ticket and one single ticket.
• I came within a few rows of a foul ball. I have caught a few balls during batting practice of a major league game, but this was probably the closest I have come to catching a ball during a game.
• This was probably the fullest I have ever seen Kauffman Stadium. I have been to about 10 Royals home games, and I think the only time fans show up is when the Cardinals are in town.
• There were probably more Royals fans than Cardinals fans, but not by many.
• A scalper will say whatever he can to get you to buy his tickets. At first he made it clear that the game was sold out (which it was not - not even close) and we would not be able to get tickets anywhere else. Then the next line (trying to sell us on the 2 and 2 together) was that all you need is the ticket and then you would be able to sit anywhere because there won't be that many people in the lower section.
• The Royals raise their prices on tickets, parking, etc. when the Cardinals come to town. I guess they know these are the three games a year that people come to.
• The Cardinals looked bad. The Cardinals looked old. You wonder how long Edmonds and Rolen will be around.
  
• I know this is the only game I have seen the Royals in person this year, but they actually looked like a baseball team. They hit the ball.
• Alex Gordon, the Royals next top prospect, didn't start the season too hot but looked like he could hit and did well in the game.
  
• The Royals need to put my on salary and take me to all their games. In my lifetime I have seen the Royals play 8 times against the Rangers (2), Red Sox, Athletics, and Cardinals (4). The Royals have won 7 times. Give me a contract.
  
• QuikTrip is amazing. The hot dogs are better at QT than they are at the stadium. You need to try their new Coffee Cappuccino Frozen Milkshake drinks.
  

The Dip by Seth Godin

I recently finished the new book by Seth Godin, The Dip. It is a very short book which could be read in one sitting. I have read a few of Seth Godin's other books, and this one was similar but also very different.

This book had one main theme, a very simple theme and point, and was consistent on the main point.

The Dip tells us that whatever we do, we need to be the best in the world. If what you are working on right now is not helping you (or your company) to become the best in the world in your field, you need to quit it immediately.

Godin describes the actual dip as, "The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery. A long slog that's actually a shortcut, because it gets you where you want to go faster than any other path. The Dip is the long stretch between beginner's luck and real accomplishment."

What he says in nothing ground breaking, but it is articulated in a very good way, and also a great reminder of where you want to be long term.

The one thing that stands out and I will remember is that no matter what you do strive and work toward being the best in the world. An example he uses is from the section The Biggest Mistake They Made in School:
"Just about everything you learned in school about life is wrong, but the wrongest thing might very well be this: Being well rounded is the secret to success.
When you came home from school with two As, a B+, and three Bs, you were doing just fine. Imagine the poor kid who had an A+ and four Cs. Boy, was he in trouble.
Fast forward a few decades from those school days, and think about the decisions you make today--about which doctor to pick, which restaurant to visit, or which accountant to hire. How often do you hope that your accountant is a safe driver and a decent golfer?
In a free market, we reward the exceptional."

Kelly Pickler sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

It is a Cubs tradition that a celebrity sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch of Cubs home games since Harry Caray died about 9 years ago. On Tuesday night, Kelly Pickler was the lucky winner. Watch below, and notice she says "popcorn and cracker jack" instead of the traditional "peanuts and cracker jack".

Ballgame Number 4 - Baltimore Orioles vs. Seattle Mariners

Last week I was up in Seattle/Portland talking to youth ministers about the Portland Believe event coming up in October. Being the smart guy I am, I looked at the Mariners schedule before the trip was planned and found a home game to go to. This was the first game that I have been able to go to with my wife this year. Here are my thoughts about the game in the great Northwest.

• Safeco Field was probably the nicest stadium I have been to all year. It is only a few years old and you can tell they put some money into the stadium.

• Granted it was the Orioles, but there was a significant low number of fans at the game. Maybe this had something to do with it being a little cold or the threat of rain (though they have a roof), but I think there still should have been more fans there.

• I know Ichiro is the big star for the Mariners, but this was the most cross cultural group of fans I have seen.

• Though there were not that many fans, they were the most supportive fans as far as apparel goes I have seen all year. Everyone was wearing a hat or shirt to support the home team.

• Only in Seattle do I get to decide between clam chowder in a bread bowl or sushi (I could have got an "Ichiroll" for my in park meal. I chose the chowder in a bread bowl.

• The bullpen was stinkin cool. You could walk up to a chain link fence by the bullpen and literally be 5 feet away from the pitcher warming up.

• We bought a $3 program (not an official program, but a team program right outside the stadium) and it was one of the funniest things I have read all year. You would have thought the person writing the player bios hates the team. I read three all of them ripping apart their own team. Examples - Mike Hargrove, Manager - "We're pretty shocked to still be writing Mike Hargrove profiles for another season." Richie Sexton, 1st base - "For an annual salary exceeding $15 million, the Mariners and their fans deserve so much more. C'mon Richie, start earning your money!" and my favorite, Jeff Weaver, pitcher - "If he never throws another pitch for the Seattle Mariners, he'll go down in history as the worst player to ever play for the franchise."

• The closing of the roof was pretty cool. The game started out outside, but with the threat of rain, about the 4th inning, they closed the roof. The entire process took about 7-10 minutes.

• Another cool feature at Safeco, was that you could order food via text message and have it delivered to your seat. There were fliers that had instructions and corresponding codes to each food item. You texted what you wanted and waited for additional instructions. We did not try it out, but having it available was still pretty cool.

• Tip for the game: Get early for parking. We parked a few blocks away at a "non-official" parking lot and paid $5. We arrived about 30-45 minutes before game time. As we were leaving the stadium we saw that the same sign had been changed $15.