Heading for the Peninsula

B and I are headed for the Olympic Peninsula for a little rest and relaxation before school starts at the end of the month for her. We are taking a road trip to the part of WA that sticks out like a hitchhiker's thumb. We will camp, hike, sit on the beach, read, eat, sleep, and flat out relax.

If you need to get a hold of us, you will have to wait until we get back! Later!

Clean Cell Phone

Well, I don't recommend washing your cell phone in the pocket of your shorts in the washing machine. It won't work when you take it out...

My cell number will be out of commission for a week or so until I file a claim to get a new one.

Pics for Summer Academy

The pictures from our church's summer academy are up on flickr now. Take a look!

Stadiums Tour Pics are Up

Well, I finally upgraded to a Flickr pro account so I could add more photos than the free account will allow. It's pretty cheap. Anyway, check out the photo set on Flickr of the trip I took in June.

Our summer academy pics will be up soon, too.

Bethany's Birthday

Yesterday was Bethany's birthday (27), but I didn't get to see her. Instead, I saw her on Wednesday night and also again tonight I get to see her. She is doing the Science Education Partnership deal these past couple of weeks. I drove down to Mill Creek where we had a birthday dinner with our friends Matt and Jamie. They just got married in May, and B has been staying at their place the past two weeks while she is at this teacher's program.

We had P.F. Chang's for dinner that night - my first time - and it was very good. Definitely a repeater. We then went back to Matt and Jamie's place where we had cheesecake with chocolate fondue - yes! Matt's b-day is the 26th, so we exchanged presents with everyone. I got Bethany a new digital camera since our last one broke on the baseball tour. It is a Canon Powershot SD400 Digital Elph. Very tiny, but packs a punch. I got it at Best Buy, but today I saw one online for $70.00 cheaper! So, I ordered that one and we will take back the Best Buy one because it has a 14 day return policy.

B also got a new belt and bag from Jamie that she really likes. We gave Matt a new set of clubs (the ones from the card deck separated out) and some Swedish Fish. It was a very fun night to hang out with them and I drove back to B'ham the next morning.

FBC Summer Academy

Well, it has been a while since I have posted because of the craziness going on here at church the past two weeks. We had a day camp for kids last week called the First Baptist Summer Academy. In the mornings, the kids had classes like Signs and Movement, Strings, Video Production, Photography, Drama, Recorders, Beginning Music. In the afternoon, they had classes like Cartooning, Advanced Painting, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball. I was the principal of the week, coordinating everyone and putting out fires. FBC Arlington brought a mission team up to help out with the camp, and I hosted them as well - dinners, going to Vancouver, Mariner's game, Mt. Baker. It was a busy, but rewarding time. 60 kids came to the camp. Last year we had 32. Next year, who knows how many kids we'll have!

The faith aspect of the camp was worked into every class session, and the kids also learned a musical during the week from memory. Kids don't know that they're not supposed to be able to do that! We closed off the week with a finale Friday night that went very well. Every parent was amazed at the kids. Some were even crying... They loved it so much they almost started throwing babies at us.

Back in the Swing of Things

Things are almost back to normal here after the baseball trip. The next two weeks are going to be pretty hectic getting things ready for the Summer Academy, Arlington coming up, and Bethany going to Seattle for two and half weeks. I think I will be glad when it is over...

Yesterday, we went to Wal-mart and finally got a BBQ grill so we can stop broiling things in the oven and burning them. We christened the grill last night with some Carolina BBQ chicken. Very nice. However, the electronic iginition switch didn't work, and I didn't have time to troubleshoot it, so we lit it from a click-flame and it fired up. Today, I just moved the electrode closer to the burners, and now it works. Yes!

So - come on over and I grill you up something!

Jeff, Mark, and Ben

Jeff, Mark, and Ben
Originally uploaded by jeffflint.

Here is Bethany's dad, Mark, and me at the Diamondbacks baseball game.

B.O.B.

Tonight was our final night on the baseball tour. We leave for home tomorrow in the morning. I think most of the guys are ready to get home. And frankly, I am ready to see Bethany.

The game was pretty good - the Diamondbacks lost 4-2, but made a good comeback at the end. The best part was that my friend Mark got to come to the game and we had a good time just sitting and chatting and watching the game. We had a catfish and fries dinner that was actually really good. The fish wasn't rubbery or anything.

I am pretty tired, so I will write a bit more later!

Dodger Stadium

I didn't post last night because we were at Dodger Stadium two nights in a row, so I just waited to write tonight. Dodger Stadium is a classic! It is perfectly symmetrical all the way around and it has that old school baseball feel to it. On the first night we sat behind the plate in the third deck. The seats are the hard, fold-up kind where your knees are below your hips when you are seated. I had to stand up often to stretch my legs and wake my butt up.

Tonight we sat on the third base side about 30 rows up or so right in a good spot to catch a foul ball. One or two came our way, but didn't get close enough to go for.

Last night the Dodgers came back to win 5-4 after being down 4-0. Tonight they lost big time 8-3. My dad and I kept the book on this game - where you keep track of the outs, how the put out went, etc. - and it was pretty fun. I think I will do that again sometime.

Tonight some guy from the outfield ran out onto the field after the 7th inning. Security started chasing him and he finally just stopped running and gave up. However, the security guys didn't. They tackled him HARD. It was awesome. There is just something about the Dodgers that is cool.

Before the game today, I went with some of the guys to Hollywood and walked around there for a while. We parked at the Kodak Theater, which is where the Oscars are held every year now. They were having the BET awards show tonight at the place and so lots of people (fans) were lining the red carpet and an announcer was announcing the celebrities who were showing up. Hollywood Boulevard was blocked off and traffic was rerouted for the event. I didn't see any celebrities, though. Our group ended up taking a city bus down through Beverly Hills and Bel Air. I didn't see the Fresh Prince, but I started to rap like him.

We walked along Rodeo Drive and saw the thousand dollar purses and hundreds of thousand dollar Rolls Royces (yes - two of them). A lot of the cars we saw driving past us were Porsches, Hummers, Corvettes, Mercedes, BMWs, etc. It was crazy. There is lots of money flowing through that neighborhood. I can't even comprehend it.

Tomorrow we are driving a long way to Phoenix for our last game where the Diamondbacks play the San Francisco Giants. I get to see my friend Mark there while he is on a business trip - how crazy is that? It just happened to work out nicely.

Angel Stadium and Petco Park

Last night I couldn't post because the hotel's logon screen didn't come up. If I was Mark Miller, I probably could have gotten around that, but since I am not him, then I had to wait for today to post.

So the Angels game was the worst game we have been to so far when it comes to the fans. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim played the Los Angeles Dodgers, an inter-league game, so the crowd was filled with both Angels fans and Dodgers fans. The people behind us started drinking and cussing right off the bat (no pun intended) and yelling at every Dodger fan they saw. A couple of sections over, one guy threw beer on another guy who was 20 rows in front of him. He got cuffed and thrown out. We were in the cheap seats, so that might have had something to do with the rowdiness.

The stadium was pretty nice, though, with a cool entrance into it. If you look at the picture, you can see two giant helmets that welcome you to the field. Those helmets were ginormous.

The weather was nice, although colder than I thought for a Southern California game. I had to wear a wind breaker and long sleeves for the game.

Petco Park




By far the nicest stadium we have been to is Petco Park where we saw the Padres play the Mariners today, Sunday the 26th. It is a sweet facility with lots of open air walkways, lots of food choices, a grassy knoll behind the outfield bleachers to sit and watch, an old factory warehouse in left field, and nice box seats for the really rich people. San Diego is only an hour and a half or so away from Anaheim, so we got here in plenty of time.

I got there early enough to try and catch some batting practice balls. Twice I had a ball in my mitt, but some kid had his hat there also and another kid caught it right as it went into my glove. Oh well, it feels pretty cool to watch the ball come sailing your way. The Mariners were playing the Padres, so it was cool to see the home team on the road. Sexson and Beltre were belting the balls out in BP.

The Mariners lost 5-4, but it was a very good game with lots of highlight reel worthy material. Our seats, however, were on field level, but far enough back where we were in the shade from the bleachers above us. The wind was blowing in on us, so that made sitting in our seats like sitting in 50 degree weather. It was cold. All I had were shorts and a t-shirt, so I got up and went to the sunny outfield where you could lay on the grass and watch the game from the big jumbo tron they had on the back of the tall score board. That was a cool place for kids to run around, for parents to play catch with them, and to just lounge out in the sun.

McAfee Coliseum - Oakland

Tonight we were in Oakland for the cross-bay rival interleague play between San Francisco (yes, our third day to watch them) and the Oakland Athletics. It is the same place that the Oakland Raiders football team plays in. The ballpark was definitely more crude than Safeco or SBC Park earlier this week. The walkways were cramped and the concession lines plugged up the flow of the crowd. It was an older stadium, so that gave it a little bit of character.

One cool thing was that there was a booth behind the outfield bleachers sponsored by some Hawaiian drink company that had a small surf board ride. If you could stay on the mechanized surf board for 1 minute, then you got a free t-shirt. It is a cool t-shirt, so I tried it out. Well, I have a new t-shirt! Yes!

Since the game started at 7:05pm, we spent the day sight-seeing in San Francisco. We went to Fisherman's Wharf again and took a boat ride under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. That was fun - it was a gorgeous day for a boat ride that's for sure. We also road the classic streetcars throughout San Fran hanging off the side and everything.

Tomorrow we drive a long way to San Diego, so see you then!

SBC Park - San Francisco

SBC Park - San Francisco
Originally uploaded by jeffflint.

Thursday afternoon we caught the 4:05pm game at SBC Park. This time the Giants lost 7-2 to Arizona. We sat in the third deck for this game to give us a different perspective of the game. It overlooked the bay and were pretty good seats, although 10 rows from the top! I would have taken a picture of our view, but my camera broke. This picture in this blog took 5 minutes to take.

That is another story! I couldn't take any pictures, so I thought the batteries were dead. I wanted to take a cool picture of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, so I ran into a touristy camera store and paid $18 for batteries! Ha! Then the camera still didn't work. I was pretty upset... Bethany's birthday present is going to be easy to decide.

On Our Way!

The first game of our trip was yesterday, starting off at Safeco Field, where the Mariners lost, but I got a cool new Mariner's hat for only $10.

We then got up this morning and had devotions and breakfast, and then flew to Oakland airport. We are actually staying in the San Francisco/Oakland area for three nights before we move on. Tonight we saw the San Francisco Giants play the Arizona Diamondbacks at SBC Park where the Giants won 4-0.

There are about 22 of us guys on the trip, with 6 of them being sons/friends-of-sons of some of the guys here. We rented 4 Ford Expeditions which are brand new and super nice. While here in San Francisco I am rooming with my dad, which is pretty nice to be able to chat and catch up with him.

Ahh, vacation - where you stumble into it trying to wrap up everything before you leave and where you try avoid thinking about things you have to do when you get back...

Baseball Stadium Tour Schedule

Starting Tuesday evening, I am going to catch a game a day. Here is the itinerary:

1. Oakland @ Seattle, June 21st - 7:05pm
2. Arizona at San Francisco, June 22nd - 7:15pm - in San Francisco
3. Arizona at San Francisco, June 23rd - 4:05pm
   
4. San Francisco at Oakland, June 24th - 7:05pm - in Oakland
5. Dodgers at Anaheim, June 25th - 7:05pm - in Anaheim
   
6. Seattle at San Diego, June 26th - 1:05pm - in San Diego
7. San Diego at Los Angeles, June 27th - 7:05pm - in LA
8. San Diego at Los Angeles, June 28th - 7:05pm
9. San Francisco at Arizona, June 29th - 6:40pm - in Phoenix

I fly back to Seattle on the 30th. Good times, good times...

Oh - and I saw the Batman Begins movie last Thursday and I was very impressed. Very cool!

First Wedding

I guess I should say first wedding ceremony. Two of my college students got married on Friday night and they asked me to do the wedding. Well, we've been doing pre-marital counseling for the past three months, too, and they tied the knot on Friday. It was a great outdoor wedding - a little windy, so no unity candle - at a place called The Links at Olson Mansion. It was a very nice place. B and I got to stay in one of the rooms there with a huge king size bed with the most comfortable mattress ever. The rehearsal went smoother than I thought and the wedding went faster than I thought - it was only about 20 minutes. That's the way they liked it, though, so it was good. Bethany wanted me to mention (for the ladies) that the dress was pretty and beautiful and there were 100 guests and we blew bubbles for them. B was the starter person in back, so she helped out a lot.

B's mom came in on Friday, also, so she is here for a few days before they go to TX next week while I am on the baseball tour. I think I am going to bring my laptop on the trip so I can blog vacation updates for you who read this.

Sitting Pretty

I have a couple of friends who just refinanced their house and got a better deal with even some cash back coming to them. Well, of course this sets off in my head ,"Can I get some money back? Can I get a better deal?" I almost couldn't sleep a couple of nights ago thinking about it! So, I went today to Wells Fargo and crunched some numbers with the lady and I found out that we are doing okay on the mortgage we have now. We got an incredible 4.375% interest rate on our mortgage a year and a half ago. The main thing I was trying to do was get rid of the line of credit they gave us for the down payment. But, the rate for the refi would have been 5.375% and about $40 more per month than what we pay now. It is just nice to have the security of knowing we are getting a pretty good deal with what we have!

House prices are crazy here in Bellingham. A 3/2 house averages about $274,975. That's ridiculous!

On a side note, Joel and I had a Dukes of Hazzard birthday party one time. I have a secret excitement about the movie coming out... Yes!

Victory on the Softball Field

We had a double header tonight at our men's softball game for FBC. We won both of them and I have decided that it is nice to win! Especially when we can win with as much graciousness as we lose, the other teams see that and Christ is glorified. That's why our church team is in a city league.

Nine of my college students graduate on Saturday. This is the first class that I have seen go from freshmen to seniors, and it is pretty weird to think about the turnover and the fact that they are not going to be a part of our college group anymore... That's the life of a college minister, I guess.

Whoever reads this is awesome.

Jonathan Lacy Medlin

Jonathan Lacy Medlin
Originally uploaded by smwood77.

My friends Jason and Pauline Medlin had their baby! May 26th at 1:38am he was born.

Congrats to them!

Long Weekend!

It was a fun, but busy Memorial day weekend for us. On Saturday, our church was in Bellingham's annual parade called Ski-to-Sea. Ski-to-Sea is an event where a team of 7 members race through 7 stages of a course that begins at the top of Mt. Baker with skiiing and ends in Fairhaven with kayaking in the bay. It is a race that Olympic athletes actually come and compete in for training. The city has a big parade each year the day before the race, and for the past two years, FBC has been in it. It was a very warm day - about 82 degrees adn we had to wait around for a long time, but it was fun. We were the very last entry in the parade! So we were telling everyone thanks for coming like we were the ones hosting it! Ha!

My pastor Jay Smith also graduated from Carey Theological Center with a Doctor of Ministry degree on Sunday night. 27 of his family and friends from the church went to see him get hooded. It was pretty cool. We are very proud of him and look forward to what happens next. He has been in school for as long as I have known him - who knows what he is going to do now!

Yesterday, Bethany and I had to repair the steps that go out from our back room because the support totally rotted away as I stepped on the last stair. It turned out to be more stressful than it needed to be - I am just glad B and I are still married! We got them rebuild finally and then went to a BBQ at Jay's house to celebrate the Doctorate.