I've spent the past 5 weeks in Bellingham, Washington, working at Faithlife on revamping the Logo Bible app for Android. My family is here with me, and in another week we'll be heading back to Searcy.
We've really enjoyed our time in the northwest. Bellingham is located near the Pacific and just 20 miles south of Canada. We've spent most of our weekends traveling to nearby destinations like Mount Baker, Seattle, Vancouver, and Olympic National Park. Below are some landscape photos I took at Olympic just to give you a sense of the incredible beauty in this area.
Working at Faithlife has been a huge blessing. I've worked with a very talented group of guys who have taught me a lot. I'm especially thankful to David Mitchell, an alumnus of Harding's computer science dept, who arranged for me to spend 6 weeks here as a visiting developer.
I can't say enough positive things about Faithlife. They have a company culture that encourages excellence, and their mission is to service the Church. The vibe I get from the employees is very positive; everyone seems to really enjoy their work. I was even able to have coffee with the CEO, Bob Pritchett, who eagerly desires to meet one-on-one with all his employees, even the interns!
Speaking of interns, shout out to Stephen Hoffmann, one of our current CS students, who is doing a summer internship at Faithlife. Stephen competed in a company-wide hackathon yesterday, and his team was awarded the "Awesomeness Award" for developing a live-streaming capability that churches could use in during worship!
What am I going to miss about this place?
- The fantastic weather, which at this time of the year is lots of sun, low humidity, and temperatures during the day around 70 degrees.
- My work. I enjoy doing software development and working with a great group of guys. (But I also really enjoy teaching... it's my dream job.)
- The church. We've worshiped with a local church and made some great connections. We are thankful for those who invited us into their homes.
- The pro-environment focus. People here are very conscientious about treating the planet well. You won't see a single plastic bag at the grocery store, and every restaurant allows you to recycle your used plates, forks, etc.
- Walking to work! We live only a block away from work, and it's so nice to be able to come home for lunch. Many days I never even get into an automobile!
What am I not going to miss? Hearing loud/drunk people leaving the bar at 2am. Living downtown is cool for 6 weeks, but I'm thankful to be going back to a house in a quiet neighborhood! :-)
