Some of My Favs

I've had this blog for about 1.5 years now. Only in the last 6 months have I really began to consistently blog. This change has come, in part, due to the gentle prodding of friends and family. I love reading their blogs, but I feel I am not doing my part if I just reap the benefits. I feel the need to contribute some content (even thought its not much) and not just be a comment blogger. In light of that, here are a couple blogs that have encouraged me, made me laugh or made me think.

Jesus is Extravagant: Owner: Gene Pensiero
-I met Gene my freshman year of college at Fresno Pacific; we were roommates. Gene came from CVC and as most of you know I from Immanuel. As you might also know, those two schools had a healthy rivalry and I was interested to meet this CVC kid. Turns out Gene was pretty cool and we laughed about most of the stupid stuff we did in high school.
Over the years I have grown to admire the Godly man Gene is. His blogs reflect the passion he has for God, the Church and his family. I have loved his most recent series titled "Working a Vineyard". If your not a regular to his site you really need to check it out. I also really enjoy the "Positive Post Tuesdays". Another must see while you're there is Gene's music page.


Andrewandlisa.org: Owner: Andrew Shinn Contributors: Lisa and Liam Shinn
-This is partly going to be a 'shout out' that is trying to get more content out of Andrew. He is my brother-in-law and I enjoy reading whats going on in the Shinn household. Andrew is very intelligent and when he blogs it is a good read. But I also love the picture updates of my nephew Liam. It is a great way to bridge the gap from Fresno - Reedley and I know family up in Lodi love the updates as well.
p.s. He is also a world renown...no maybe not...how about United States renown.....no...not yet....OK I will just say it. He is an awesome professional photographer. He does weddings, senior pics and many other creative sessions. You can check shinnphoto.com or his flickr photo stream.


Spanish Speaker in the Making: Owners: Jake and Renee Harder
-Jake and Renee are family who have moved to Guadalajara, Mexico to study the Spanish language. Jake is my cousin and Renee is, you guessed it, his wife. In this blog you will read about 2 people that have agreed to allow God to take them where he wants. There are in Guadalajara for a set but not in stone amount of time and plan to use this experience to minister to people in the Spanish language, both now and in the future. They have a little girl, Gracie, who they are teaching English and Spanish. Most of all it is fun to read about them living in a different culture and the struggles/victories they come across.

Last but certainly not least,

A Case of the Mundys: Owner: Luke Mundy
-Interestingly enough, I have never met Luke in person, but I went to elementary/jr high with his wife, Sarah. I feel like I have known Luke for years after a few months of blogs and following his twitter feed. I was introduced to Luke through Gene's blog and have been a faithful subscriber ever since. And lets be honest here, that is one clever use of a last name!! I still don't really know what Luke does for a profession, although I know he did start a new job recently. What I do know is that Luke works with the youth at River Valley Church in Clovis. I continue to follow Luke's blogs because I can see his passion for ministry and I love reading things from people with passion. I like reading his posts about that ministry also because jr/senior high school students are a fun bunch of students that make for great stories. Luke also has a "Positive Post Tuesday" series that is a good read each and every Tuesday.


To all other bloggers that read Wide World of Mike; you are greatly appreciated and I look forward to more amazing content!


Here's to a great weekend!

Mike

Life Group

I am excited about this evening. Do you know why? It is because tonight is the start of a life group I am joining at The Well. It is a study through the book of Romans. I am super excited because I have done this study before and it never gets old. I am also excited to be in a life group again. During the spring I was not able to be in a life group because of my schedule with baseball and work. But, you gotta love spending time in the word with other men.

God Bless

Mike

Coming Home

What a trip it has been so far. We have toured the historic streets of Boston and learned many new things at the conference. But I guess all good things must come to an end right? Funny thing just happened while I was typing this message. A businessman sitting behind me was talking on the phone about his flight. It just happened to be going to Fresno; to him that was not a good thing! In his words, ''I am flying to Fresno and that sucks.'' Can't say I can blame him.

Well we had a wonderful time last night at a banquet at the Crane Family Estate. We arrived to a wonderful assortment of hour'dors (sorry don't have spell check on m phone) and drinks in the Italian Garden. After a welcome and awards ceremony in the garden we moved up to the Great House where we sat down to dinner outside overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The food was very tasty; I had the butternut squash ravioli in a alfredo sauce. We then took some group pictures up at the Great House with the bay and castle in the background. In the pictures I posted last night you saw the rolling hills; we waked to the end that opened up to a beautiful landscape that looked into the nearby towns boat port and the Atlantic. It was well worth the walk! (pictures coming soon)

We were so happy the weather cooperated during our time here. However, when we woke up this morning it was raining. I guess it is just good timing! We are excited to be coming home and gain 3 hours. See you all soon.

MSHS

More Mansion Fun!

Can't you just see this being the mansion that was in Great Gatsby!

There are rolling hills going away from the mansion that roll right into the Atlantic Ocean.

Boston Day 3: In Sam's words

So today I’ve decided to put my (little overdramatic) spin on the days activities. So read it with my enthusiastic tone of voice and insert my sarcasm and pessimism as you will.

Sunday night we all decided that we would skip Monday’s breakfast, as we were still having difficulty with the west coast to east coast time change. So we began the NACCAP conferences with a little chapel sesh in Gordon’s new Science Building. (I have bittersweet feelings about attending these NACCAP conferences on different campuses. I am SO jealous of their location, buildings, amenities, and weather) We then had about an hour break as Dunkin’ Donuts sponsored a breakfast break. Since we’ve been here I’ve seen almost 2000 (my overdramatic-ness) Dunkin Donut places. It’s insane.
We all were still in the “west coast time” and decided to skip out on this and head back to the room for more computer time (which has taken up a lot of our free time since the conference started). The sessions then began for the day which really made us do a lot of self evaluation, as far as what FPU is doing and how we can improve on it. I know my first session has been my favorite. The guy that was presenting is a consultant for college campus tours. He shared a lot of really great information on the effectiveness of campus tours and really gave some really great (and cheap!) advice. I’m looking forward to sharing this information with everyone at the office.

Lunch came and went. The Gordon cafeteria reminds me of the Old FPU caf with the rows of chairs and tables backing into one another. We tried to avoid the high traffic areas and sat on the outside. The food selection was BARE and the set up and flow of the food getting areas was AWFUL. I think I cut off a few APU-ers (which we think are DB’s) and chatted my way in front of the CBU-ers. Whatevs. We all ate and were back in our rooms on our computers, sitting in silence, and laughing to ourselves.

Another afternoon of sessions were ahead, that were somewhat interesting nonetheless. By the end of the day we were pooped out. We had decided to not participate in the NACCAP games because…I guess we just didn’t want to. I haven’t been feeling all that great, Silvia isn’t one for games, Mike and Heidi were fine with just hanging. We decided to head on down to the nearest Target (a little farther away than we are used to in Fresno) to pick up a few essentials for the remainder of our stay. Because the weather hasn’t been as “chilly” as had been the forecast, Heidi was in need of a short sleeved shirt that would provide her much needed heat relief. She was successful in her endeavor and found a cute top, right in her budget J. Silvia and I were looking for chapped lip/cold sore relief and also were successful. I’m not sure what Mike was looking for, but he did make a purchase at the counter. Whatevs. ON THE TRIP, somehow we found out that Silvia only owns 1 pair of flip flops. WHAT THE HECK. How does she live in California and only own 1 pair of flip flops?!? If there weren’t “standards” in our office, I would only wear them. She was going to purchase them at this particular Target, but forgot. I guess Silvia will just have to wait until we get back. I’m still amazed.

We headed back Gordon College for Club NACCAP, which is a night of entertainment (usually an event to make fun of all of the colleges in attendance). This year, they had an awards show theme, where they researched YouTube videos from all of the schools and awarded them based on different categories. There were some really interesting videos, but one that I couldn’t stop laughing about was one provided by Houghton College’s students. They did a spoof on Homestar Runner’s Teen Girl Squad. You can play on the Homestar Runner website here. If you have extra time, watch this video. It is a really, well thought out video, that describes the “dating life” on a Christian College campus. I know I appreciated it and since you’re reading this blog and showing some interest in our thoughts, you will too! I’m actually still laughing about it…..

After Club NACCAP, Mike and I hung around and chatted with our LeTourneau friend, Karl and made a new friend from Dordt. It’s really cool to connect with people who love the same things about their job, have the same frustrations, and just have a common bond. I know we are all having a great time learning and hanging out with everyone here and can’t wait to get back to share what we’ve learned.

Right now, we are headed to downtown Boston to have lunch and get some goodies for all the peeps back in the office. Right this second, we’ve missed the turn for the freeway and are searching for downtown Boston and if you know where it is, let me know. This trip has had more adventure and good luck than I’ve ever experienced. I guess it’s just one of those things where you know God is present and taking care of you in an unfamiliar place.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed my perspective on the ins and outs of what’s been going on with us. I forgot my camera cord, in which we could have shared all of the pictures we’ve been taking, but look forward to sharing them with you!

Have a great day, bbl (be back later J)

xoxo.

Old Man @ Fenway

Remember how we (Mike, Sam, Heidi, Silvia) told you yesterday about the tour guide we met at Fenway yesterday? Well I just realized I forgot a great line he told us. This is how it went down.

For this monologue:
Old man = Bob
Mike Sam Heidi Silvia = MSHS

Bob: How you folks doing today?
MSHS: Great! How are you?
Bob: Doing fine, you guys need to get somewhere?
MSHS: Nope, just sitting on the steps waiting for the next tour.

Narrator: This part I can't remember the exact dialogue, but Bob, mentioned something about going somewhere he didn't want to; then asked us another question

Bob: So where you guys from?
MSHS: (said with a California accent) California

Now for the money line

Bob: (gasping as he commented) Oh man!! I guess we all have problems! (old man chuckle)


There you go. I just wanted to make sure you got the full experience of our encounter with Bob. If you ever get a chance to tour Fenway Park, make sure you ask for Bob. Although, now that I think about it you can't request Bob because that is not his name. Sorry, I guess you'll just have to sit on the steps across from Fenway and hope his car is parked in front of you!

Boston Day 2

Well the night ended very late last night and we did not really sleep well because we were still kinda on west coast time. But here are the details from Sunday in Boston. If you don't want to read the whole thing make sure you at least read numbers 2/3 under 'We need to tour Fenway!'

Enjoy!

Getting up at Gordon:
1. The plan was to leave the campus around 9am and go to a world famous steakhouse called, Hilltop Steakhouse. Then go to Logan Airport to pick up Silvia. I got a call around 8:30am from Sam asking, "would you want to skip breakfast and just leave at 10:45am to pick up Silvia?" My reply was a quick, "absolutely" because we were dog tired.
2. We finally started our day and headed to Logan Airport. We made it without much a problem; that was the end of our travel without issues.

On to save Heidi's cell phone
1. Next step was to travel to the Prudential Center to pick up Heidi's cell phone from the Sky Walk. I knew we wanted to go south on one of the freeways, but that was easier said then done. Make a long story short, we started to head into Cambridge, but ended up taking the U-turn back to Boston. We finally made it to the Prudential Center and got Heidi's cell phone. Did I say thanks Bostonians? Well thanks!
2. Our next step was to make our way to Fenway Park to tour. We took the T down there and made it pretty easily. We decided that since we were at Fenway we had to eat at the Bleacher Bar in center field. We sat and watched Fenway in all its glory as we ate. Pretty sweet! Check out the pictures in my previous post.

We need to tour Fenway!
1. We finished eating and looked at our watches. The time read 1:55pm. I know the tours started on the hour so we rushed up and around the corner to the team store to get our tickets. We arrived at 2:03pm and missed the 2'o clock tour. That ended up being a big mistake. See number 2.
2. We ended up buying tickets for the 3'o clock tour and then proceeded to sit on the steps outside store. An old man came walking down the street to get in his car that was right in front of us. He asked us if we needed to get somewhere and we told him we were just waiting for the next tour. This is why it was a mistake missing the 2pm tour. The old man was a tour guide for Fenway and had a 2004 Red Sox's world series ring. We looked in amazement and Sam took a picture. The old man responded, "This thing is really a chick magnet!" We laughed and still looked in amazement. He then told us a story about the ring and its powers. He was on a tour and towards the end a younger woman pulled him aside and asked, "What do I have to do for that ring?" The old man replied, "What are you willing to do?" The young lady responded, "ANYTHING". He told us this with a devilish grin. He said he felt he needed to get out of there ASAP because he could get fired!
3. We really enjoyed the short lived company of this old man. He then went to get into his dinged/scratched/dirty 2001 Honda Civic. He started the car, put the transmission in reverse and started backing up. Mind you, his head was faced forward the whole time and there was a car about 3 feet behind him. He did knock into that car and just looked over at us with a 'OH WELL' and drove off! It was pretty amazing; we laughed as left us.

Heading back to Gordon College
1. We made it back to the parking garage and yes I had rolled up the window this time. We had got our parking ticket validated earlier that day, but the validation expired at 5:00pm. We got to the pay booth at 5:11pm and the lady made sure we knew we were late. We were pissed and paid the $34 for 5 hours of parking!
2. We left the garage and were on our way. Of course we went the wrong way, but we got to see another side of Boston we didn't expect to see. We did make it back to Gordon where the NACCAP festivities started.

Lost in Translation: Boston

Well as many of you know I am going to Boston. I am traveling with 2 other friends, Sam Weatherly and Heidi Elizondo. Here is a quick play by play of what has gone on from leaving Fresno to arriving at Gordon College; the site of the 'conference'.

San Jose Airport:
1. McDonalds in Santa Clara had curb-side pickup and catered breakfast, lunch and Dinner. Probably the nicest McDonalds we have been to.
2. On the bus from long-term parking to the San Jose Airport terminal there was a lady that asked about 5 times if this was the stop for Alaska Airlines. After the loud speaker in the bus told us where to go the lady asks, "I did not hear a word that said. Are you gonna drop me off here?"
3. Saw San Jose Earth Quakes at the Delta ticket counter. (Major League Soccer team for those who don't know)
4. As mentioned in prior post; stood 2 people behind Jerry Rice at the security checkpoint. No we did not talk to him, we were scared. But when we asked the guy at the counter if it was indeed Jerry Rice his response was; "Duh, he was only wearing his ring around his neck!" Side note: Sam bet me $2 that it was Jerry and I didn't believe her. She won.
5. While going through security checkpoint Heidi got yelled at because she put her computer, backpack, sandals and contents of her pockets in the same bin. Sam thought she was getting out like a bandit till the guy asked I need to inspect your bag for a blade. She had her athletic tape cutter from volleyball in her bag. He offered to return the cutter after removing the blade, but Sam responded in her disgust, "it's no use to me anymore, I don't play volleyball anymore" and walked away [of coarse in a non-snobish way].

I know you are thinking to yourself right now our trip could not get any better, but just keep reading!

Logan International Airport
1. Flight was hassle free, however Sam came down with something and slept pretty much the whole way! She didn't even eat her $8 sandwich she bought in Salt Lake City. In Sam's terms, "you know I am sick when I don't want to eat".
2. We have rental car reservation for AVIS. I call AVIS and they say that we can "take the Budget shuttle because AVIS is right next to it". This was bad information.
3. While on the Budget shuttle the driver, who was named Joe and had a wicked comb-over, asked where we were headed. I replied, "Winthrop". Joe Comb-over proceeded to give us step by step directions to Winthrop and none of us really listened because we were too tired and had directions already.
4. Joe Comb-over gave a ride to the AVIS station and we got the car and drove to Winthrop, got to our hotel and went to sleep.

Winthrop to Boston
1. When we woke up Heidi realized she had left all her make-up in Fresno, sitting on her bed. However, she did have her mascara & eyeliner in her purse.
2. Our first stop was a grocery store 'Shaws' in Winthrop to get some essentials: HEIDI - things she left @ home SAM - nasal unclogger (remember she got sick on the flight) MIKE - nothing (typical male who remembers everything!)
3. We then made the trip towards Boston. Went along the Atlantic Ocean where we got on the 1A South to the Rt. 145 to Mass Pike. When we went into the tunnel I said "hold your breath"; I didn't realize it was about 6 miles long. Don't worry we didn't hold our breath that long!
4. We finally made it into Boston and got off the Mass Pike in the financial district. We drove by the Hay Market, Feneuil Hall and countless other landmarks trying to find parking. We finally found parking in a garage.

Boston in a Day
1. We made it into Boston around 12 noon because we wanted to sleep in. That meant we had half a day to see Boston. We first had to make a stop at Kinko's to fax Heidi's drivers license to her fiance in California.
2. Next stop was Quincy Market. This is probably one of the things I remember most of the times I visited my sister in Boston not because of its historical value, but because it has one of the most amazing food courts. I'll get back to that in a second.
3. We went to the 'fake Cheers' gift shop and bought some souvenirs for people at home. My main focus was the food. We then went to get some food. HEIDI - Bowl of Clam Chowder SAM - Clam Chowder in a bread bowl MIKE - Kielbasa Sausage & Fries.
4. We then set off on the Freedom Trail:
--Paul Revere's House (to escape the 20 minutes of rain we got)
--North Church (Where the 2 lanterns were shown in the Steeple during Paul Revere's Ride
--Saint Steven's Church (Where Rose Kennedy's Funeral took place)
5. Stopped at Mike's Pastries in 'Little Italy' to get Canolis...mmmm....canolis.
6. Walked around trying to find the T station to ride to the South End to see the prudential building and Fenway Park.
7. We went to the Sky Walk at the Prudential Center on the 50th floor. While on the audio tour Heidi happens to leave cell phone doesn't realize till we are on the T going to Fenway Park.
8. Didn't realize the Fenway stop on the T does not exactly drop you off at Fenway Park. It was about a 5 block walk.
9. We made it to Fenway and first went to the team store on Yawkey Way to buy some tourist essentials. SAM - A Boston Red Sox pint glass for her boyfriend "OF COARSE its $20", she said, when told the price by the unassuming employee HEIDI - Red Sox hat for her fiance MIKE - Nothing
10. Walked around the park and took pictures. I had a moment where I was disappointed with Sam's boyfriend, Matt because she asked "what is the green monster?"
11. Wanted to go see the 'Original' Cheers. Had an idea where it was, but had no idea where to get on the T to get there. So we had legs and walked; it was a solid 15 blocks!
--Heidi decided to wear little Old Navy sandals and by this point she was hurtin'. But she was a trooper and we finally made it. The key was to keep talking because then we could not focus on how much further we had to walk. BTW it was about an hour walk from Fenway to Cheers.
12. Once at Cheers we sat down for a lovely pint of Sam Adam's Summer Blend, amazing buffalo wings and burgers.
13. We asked the waiter at Cheers the best way to get back to the Government Center was. He said it would be about a 10 minute walk and we just rolled our eyes at him and said OK.
14. We made it into the vicinity of our parking garage, but had not idea where exactly it was! We walked in the direction we thought it was with our big tourist map in had. Standing at a corner not really sure which direction we should go an older couple asked where we were heading. Our response, "to our car that is in a garage we don't really know where." We did know it was by a big post office. From that information the couple directed us right where we needed to go.
15. As we are walking to our car Heidi is feeling "injured." Sam and Mike are laughing!
16. We approach the car and I notice there is not window up on the drivers side door. I immediately looked on the ground for glass, but there was none. I then realized I had left the window open with my Ipod and backpack in clear sight. Nothing was gone. Thank you Bostonians for being nice!

Boston to Gordon College
1. Driving down Rt. 128 towards Wenham and I get a call. I look over at Heidi and say, "you're calling me" from the phone you lost. I answered and it was a lady from the Sky Walk that had found her phone. Once again, thank you Bostonians!
2. Heidi relieved, but still injured! Sam and Mike still laughing!
3. Made it to Gordon College and hanging out in the dorms as Sam asks, "Milanos anyone?"

So this is a quick (um detailed) recap of our trip so far. We have had a lot of fun seeing Boston together and have definitely had some good luck to boot! We will definitely keep you updated on the happenings in Boston!

Mike (Sam and Heidi)

More then just Food

Yesterday I had a moment that made me realize how lucky I was to have grown up in a small town. I was in Reedley for lunch and thought I would go to Valentinos for some pizza. I called in my order and by the time I got there they had closed for the afternoon. The door was unlocked, with Martin and Dawn Barcellos [the owners] sitting at a table finishing up their lunch. I paid for my pizza then walked over to shake Martin's hand.

We started talking about me coaching baseball and my frustrations I was experiencing. From there we began talking about the different issues teenagers are facing in today's world and we are glad we did not have to deal with such things at that age. I finally went back to the counter and grabbed my pizza so I could eat and talk.

I love just sitting down with people older then me and just talking about life. As I have grown older I have had many opportunities to talk with people like this and I feel that I am closer to their level [yet I am so far away]. I was raised to respect people and this has turned into them respecting me and sharing life with me. WHAT A JOY!

The sum of this story is I went to just get lunch, but what I got was so much more. I ended up spending more then an hour at Valentinos just talking with Martin and Dawn. What a lunch I got :)

I am blessed

I don't want to become all sappy for my few readers, but I must reflect on my last few weeks of life and what has gone on.

First of all, this might not be news to my regular readers (andrew), but I am currently dating a lovely little lady. Her name is Brittany and she is wonderful! We met at FPU and have just had a great time hanging out with each other and getting to know more about each other and our crazy families. The irony of this whole thing is I was finally at a point (after almost 2 1/2 years) that I was not concerned about a relationship or anything and all of a sudden Brittany came along. It has been a pleasant suprise that I did not see coming!

On the continuing home front I was super blessed this last week. So I finally got my keys to my house last week and I have been trying to find a cheap fridge and maybe some furniture. Well, God was definately looking out! One of my best friends, Luke, worked with a guy who was wanting to clear some space out of his garage that included a fridge, loveseat, sofa chair and ottoman. I will be honest, I was not expecting this stuff to be that nice. WOW! I was blown away when I saw all this furniture and fridge. It was very nice and he gave it to me cheap which was a blessing to my wallet! Oh and for you girls, the furniture goes with my design idea of my living room!! ;)

So to wrap this all up I would just like to thank all of you that have been praying and looking out for this poor soul. I really appreciate all my family and friends that have truly been a blessing to me!

p.s. There will be a house warming party in the future, but I first need to get situated and get the essentails i.e. BBQ