Rose Trifecta is Complete...

California, here I come!!

That's right, I'm going to the Rose Bowl!!

A guy I work with knows a guy who was able to order some tickets to the big game, so I jumped on that like a kid in a bounce house.

So I am planning on heading out to Pasadena with my dad and my brother-in-law on New Year's weekend to witness the pageantry that is "The Granddaddy of Them All" firsthand.

Sure, it was a little pricey, but I know it will be worth it. Getting a chance to watch your team play in the Rose Bowl may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And what better way to enjoy that experience than to share it with my dad and my brother-in-law? Besides, in the words of Ned Flanders, "sometimes you just have to spoil yourself."

And now the "Rose" trifecta is complete. OSU makes the Rose Bowl, I see Pete Rose at lunch, and then I score tickets to the Rose Bowl Game. Sweet! I just hope the Bucks come ready to play...

Ironic (Don't Ya Think?)...

So it's official...

The Ohio State Buckeyes are going to face the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. I'm actually really excited for this one. Like I said before, the last time OSU went to the Rose Bowl was in 1997 (hard to believe, no?).

The other BCS matchups:
National Championship Game: Texas vs Alabama
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs Cincinnati
Fiesta Bowl: Boise State vs TCU
Orange Bowl: Iowa vs Georgia Tech

Potential for some great games here...

But what if the events of my everyday life could predict the outcome for the Buckeyes? Let me explain...

So today at work, my boss treated our section to our annual "end-of-the-year" lunch. This year, we went to Montgomery Inn, famous for their ribs and barbeque. Yum!!

But the ironic part didn't involve the food. So we went in and sat down and after a few minutes, a group of men came in and sat down at the table across from us. I thought that one of the men looked familiar and I recognized who it looked like right away. I didn't say anything to anyone because I didn't want to create a scene and also because I wasn't sure that it was really him. But as our lunch progressed, I became more and more convinced that it was him.

So towards the end of our lunch, the group of men got up and left. As they walked out, my co-worker beside me said to me, "Hey, wasn't that Pete Rose?" And I said, "That's what I thought too, but I didn't want to say anything. It sure looked like him!"

And then I casually dropped in this beauty of a joke: "I'll tell you what, I'll bet you $100 that it was Pete Rose." And my friend just laughed. Could it have been the great "Charlie Hustle?" Eating in the same restaurant as us? Well, he does live in the area. Maybe it was him. Like I said, it sure looked like him.

So the irony here is that a day after Ohio State officially earned a Rose Bowl berth, we see the great Pete Rose eating lunch at Montgomery Inn.

Call me crazy, but I think that seeing Pete Rose at lunch is a sign that OSU will come away with a Rose Bowl win this year. Anyone want to take that bet? Haha...

Smelling Rosy...

It's a good time to be an Ohio State football fan...

Last weekend, the Bucks celebrated another victory over the rival Wolverines. Granted, with "That School Up North" struggling through another painful season of rebuilding, the victory was pretty much assumed this year.

The Wolverines did not play well, as Ohio State beat them soundly by the final score of 21-10. UM committed 5 turnovers, including 4 interceptions and a fumble that was recovered by OSU for a touchdown. The Buckeye defense played well yet again and the offense scored just enough points to win (typical "Tressel Ball"). While OSU's offense has been pedestrian (to say the least) for most of the season, they did gain over 225 rushing yards for the 5th game in a row. The Bucks finish the regular season at 10-2, recording at least 10 wins for the 5th year in a row.

Meanwhile, the Wolverines finish at 5-7, their second straight year below .500 and their second straight year without bowl game eligibility. It seems that Rich Rodriguez's style of football will take a few more years to catch on in Ann Arbor.

Even so, the Bucks have turned this rivalry into a rather lopsided one over the last few years, winning 6 straight games against Big Blue. Jim Tressel has pretty much secured his legacy at Ohio State by opening his career with a sparkling 8-1 record against them.

With the win last weekend, Ohio State earned yet another outright Big Ten Championship. They have now either won outright or shared the conference title for the last 5 years in a row! An amazing accomplishment, even considering the overall struggles of the Big Ten over the last few years. So now Tressel's bunch can only sit and wait for the rest of the country to finish their regular season schedules and for the BCS bowl pairings to be announced.

In all likelihood, Ohio State will be heading to the Rose Bowl as the Big Ten Conference Champion. They will likely end up playing the Pac-10 Champion, which will be either Oregon State or Oregon (whoever ends up winning the huge showdown in Eugene on December 3rd). Hard to believe, but this will be Ohio State's first Rose Bowl trip since 1997 when they beat Jake Plummer and the Arizona State Sun Devils 20-17 on a last-second TD pass from Joe Germaine to David Boston.

So yes, the Bucks won "the big game" yet again this year and they won the Big Ten title again. But I am a little worried about the bowl game. For starters, the Big Ten has been incredibly weak the last couple of years, so that may have inflated OSU's record a bit. But also, after having to endure watching Tressel's bland no-risk offense underperform all year, what kind of performance can they turn in against a solid Pac-10 foe? Remember, Tressel's ultra-conservative play calling cost them a Fiesta Bowl win against Texas last year. And we all know how well Tressel's teams have performed in BCS bowl games... Not well!!

So here's hoping for a Buckeye win in the Rose Bowl. At least they won't have to play USC again...

Shake and Bake...

Every year at work, our team goes on a team-building section outing. Usually, we are presented with a list of choices and we vote on what we want to do. In years past, we have done things like attending a Reds game, going on a riverboat dinner cruise, going to Dave & Buster's, and other fun things.

Well, this year the team voted to race go-karts. And not just any go-karts, but some serious go-karts!

We decided to go to Competition Racing, a go-kart racing facility in Indiana. Their go-karts max out at about 35 mph, which is fast when you are only inches above the ground (helmets are required, of course!).

So the company rented out the facility for about 3 hours. We arrived and had some pizza (not the best I've ever had, but still pizza nonetheless). Then we engaged in a 2-hour LeMans style team racing competition.

We split up into 6 teams of about 5 drivers. And the goal was to, as a team, accumulate as many laps as you could in that 2 hours. So each driver would get about 24 minutes of drive time, if split equally. However, pit stops to change drivers counted against your time. Also, penalties could be enforced that could count against your team's time for not following safety rules (such as intentionally bumping other cars, failing to control your own car, etc).

So we divided into our teams, grabbed our helmets, and we were off!














It took a few laps just to get used to handling the car. Also, there were 6 cars on the track at once, so it was challenging just to avoid running into the other cars. But I got the hang of it pretty quickly.

There were a few yellow caution flags, a few disabled cars, and a few wrecks, but fortunately no injuries.










But let me tell you... I will never make fun of race car drivers again! If anyone thinks these guys are not athletes, try driving in a competition race like this and see for yourself. After two intense 12-minute driving sessions, my arms were really sore from steering. And I was mentally exhausted just from processing all of that information at such a high speed to keep myself from crashing while trying to pass other cars. And this was just after 24 minutes with breaks in between. Imagine driving a 500-mile race, for about 3 solid hours with no breaks! When I got back into my own car after work, the first thing I noticed right away was how much we take power steering for granted!














In the end, my team came in at 2nd place. When the 2-hour time had expired, we were only 1 lap behind the winning team, which is pretty good. The other teams were all more than 4 laps behind.














All in all, a really fun time. I highly recommend trying it out sometime!

More New Music...

I've added a few more new songs to my playlist.

A couple that really have a lot of meaning for me right now:
"Your Love Is Strong" by Jon Foreman
"The Stand" by Hillsong United

I just really love "Your Love Is Strong." What an absolutely beautiful song...

Weakness...

I hate being in a place of weakness...

How is it that God knows exactly what my biggest weaknesses are? And, furthermore, why is it that He chooses to stretch me in those very areas of weakness?

I just feel so weak and feeble right now. Logically, what He is asking me to do appears simple. But pure logic does not apply when it comes to matters of the heart. My logical mind tells me that I need to move forward. However, my emotions are fighting it with everything they have to hold me right where I am.

I just feel so weak because He is asking me to do something that I cannot do. Well, something that I can't do in my own strength.

And maybe that's the thing... He stretches us in the areas of our weakness so that we will learn not to rely on our own strength, but to rely on Him in order to turn our weaknesses into strengths through His power.

Jesus, I fully admit that I cannot do what You are asking of me on my own. I just don't have the strength. I desperately need You. I want You. Please come and make my weakness a strength through Your power. I willingly lay all of my cares at Your feet.

Kelly...

So I've been thinking...

I'm afraid that what I wrote in my last blog may have been taken the wrong way by some folks. I'm not saying that enjoying things of this world is bad. Not at all. In fact, I believe that God Himself placed a lot of things in this world specifically for us to enjoy. And He enjoys what we enjoy. So don't think that you have to go off and sell your TV or your guitar or never do anything else you enjoy. That would be crazy.

But what I am saying is that we shouldn't love or desire anything in this world more than God, and we shouldn't let any earthly desires come between our personal trust in Him. And that was more what I was talking about.

Definitely right now for me, I am struggling a lot with my singleness. God has put the desire in my heart to someday get married and start a family. And I know that He has given me a strong desire for female companionship. For someone to share my life with. And it is difficult to want that so badly, but to have to give that up. And it is even more difficult when everyone around you (family and friends) seems to have someone.

The problem for me is not my singleness itself, but rather the fact that I often tend to dwell on it, which prevents me from enjoying the fullness of where God has me right now. I know that God has promised me a wife, but I often want to force the issue myself instead of waiting on Him to bring her to me. And it becomes a problem for me in my relationship with God when I desire the gift more than the giver of the gift. So that is what I meant when I wrote about desiring and loving things of this world more than desiring God.

But on to a lighter subject...

So lately I have been unable to resist musing about what my future wife may be like. And I think I found a few good examples of what I would find attractive. Of course, they are from TV shows.

So I think that tops on my list would be someone like Pam from "The Office." She's the really gentle and caring type and she definitely values the small things. She has a great sense of humor, she's an aspiring artist, and she has a really cute look. She always looks good in casual settings and she cleans up nice when she needs to. And you can tell that she really loves Jim (even if she didn't want to admit it at first). I always thought I would want my relationship with my future wife to be like Jim and Pam's, where we would be good friends first and then slowly develop into more. That way is best I think, since you know so much about the person and you have so much in common. That kind of chemistry can lead to a long and healthy relationship.

I think the second choice on my list will surprise a few folks. Believe it or not, I am really digging Kelly, the hardware store owner on the kids' show "Handy Manny" (you can tell I have young nieces). Yes, I know it's a kids' show and that it's a cartoon, but I don't care. She is adorable!

But I really love this music video about Kelly. Take a watch...



Wow! How can you not love Kelly? She is always nice and polite, she is always glad to help Manny find what he needs, and she has a great laugh. Not to mention great juggling skills. And she is obviously smart, since she owns her own hardware store. Plus, she is a real cutie. She definitely has that cute "girl next door" look going on. And you can tell that there is some great chemistry between her and Manny. If I were Manny, I would ask her out in a heartbeat! No wonder Manny wrote a song about her. I would too!! If I only knew how to play guitar...

So if anyone knows of a nice single girl like Kelly, please hook me up!!

My Prayer...

So let's just say that these past few weeks have been trying for me.

I'm still struggling internally in dealing with my breakup with Julie and I am now being faced with huge changes in my life in a lot of areas. It seems that The Lord is bringing about a lot of changes in my life right now, especially concerning my group of close friends and other areas of "comfort" in my life. The Lord is moving me out of the comfort zone I've had in place for awhile now in order to grow me and move me into a new place in relationship with Him. But the problem is that I don't deal with change very well. I know the end result will be better than where I was before, but getting there is the hard part.

I am really being challenged right now in my relationship with Christ, which is a good thing. I am currently in a catalyst group that is reading a book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. There are definitely a lot of things in the book that are challenging. But I came across a specific chapter last week that I wanted to share with everyone. The chapter essentially challenges those proclaiming to be Christians to take a step back and evaluate their true relationship with (and love for) Christ.

Here is an excerpt from the book that is actually quoted from "God Is the Gospel" by John Piper:

The critical question for our generation - and for every generation - is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

Wow! What a profound thought!

How long have I thought of heaven just as it is described above... simply as a place where you could have and enjoy everything you ever loved about the world we are currently living in, but with no problems or suffering? To be honest, for a long time I didn't even think of Jesus when I thought of the concept of heaven, other than that He would be "overseeing" things, so to speak. And as long as I could have everything I'd ever enjoyed about this world, I would be content for eternity.

But this challenges the very essence of what many people think that heaven is. Heaven is not just a place that Christians go when they die where they can have everything they've ever wanted. But I would suggest that heaven, by its purest and simplist definition, is living eternally with Jesus. Period.

But I find this text to be very challenging because there are so many things about this world that I love and enjoy. Like how can I imagine a heaven without Chipotle burritos and Ohio State football? Now I'm not saying those things won't be there. In fact, I'm sure they will. But what I am saying is that why is it that when we think of heaven we always think of earthly things we enjoy rather than simply being with Christ Himself? When it comes down to it, our love for Christ should be such that as long as He is there with us, nothing else matters.

And here lies the root of why this is rocking my world right now. Plain and simple, I often love things of this world more than I love Jesus. But why? I mean, after all, Jesus loves me more than anyone else in this world ever could, so much to the point of dying in my place. He knew me and loved me even before I was formed and He loves me even when I choose to be stupid and go my own way. But yet I continue to love things of this world more than Him and I somehow can't manage to simply put all of my trust into His way instead of the ways of this world and what I desire.

For me, it all comes down to surrendering everything to Christ. In the past, I would choose what I was willing to surrender to Him and what I would keep for myself. And I thought that was good enough. But I think that, during this difficult time in my life that is so full of uncertainty, God is clearly training me how to surrender everything to Him and put my trust fully in Him. But it is definitely not an easy lesson to learn!

One of the worship songs at church a few weeks ago says it best:

What can I say...
What can I do...
But offer this heart, O God,
Completely to You?

Indeed, sometimes God leads you to a point, maybe the lowest of lows, where there is simply no other choice than to surrender and stop running away from Him.

Chan closes the chapter with a deeply profound prayer:

Jesus, I need to give myself up. I am not strong enough to love You and walk with You on my own. I can't do it, and I need You. I need You deeply and desperately. I believe You are worth it, that You are better than anything else I could have in this life or the next. I want You. And when I don't, I want to want You. Be all in me. Take all of me. Have Your way with me.

I would pray that if you are like me and that, if this describes where you are in your life right now, this would be your prayer.

New Music...

I've added some new songs to my playlist at the bottom of my blog.

I've had those original 10 songs on here for awhile now and just thought that I should offer everyone something different and new.

There are some fun ones, some classic ones, and a few that I just really enjoy. So I hope you like them.

Enjoy!!

Go Figure...

What in the Wide World of Sports???!!!

So let me get this straight...

One weekend after nearly falling to Ohio State in the 'Shoe, USC goes and loses to... Washington?? Huh??

I commented in my last post after attending the OSU-USC game that I thought that game last week should have been won by the Buckeyes. And I also thought that our ultra-conservative play-calling was to blame. But instead of my beloved Bucks defeating the invincible Trojans, the lowly Washington Huskies went out and did it instead. So, on second thought, maybe USC isn't the juggernaut this year that we have come to expect them to be year in and year out.

So what does that tell you about the Buckeyes and the Big Ten? Ohio State could not beat USC in the Horseshoe, probably the 2nd toughest place for a visiting team to play. But now, Washington was able to beat them in Huskie Stadium. And remember, this is the same Washington team that went 0-12 last year. So if Pac-10 doormat Washington can outplay Ohio State, it's going to be a sad season for the Big Ten.

Granted, USC's golden boy freshman QB didn't play this week. And a lot of people are probably going to use that as an excuse. But I would contend that it wouldn't have mattered. USC has Parade All-Americans 3-deep at QB, so I'm sure they have more than enough talent on the bench. Remember, Matt Cassel, a career backup at USC, is now starting in the NFL. Besides, with their line and talent at the other skill positions, a monkey could probably quarterback that team and win 10 games.

This is part of the problem I have with USC and Pete Carroll. Granted, Carroll comes up huge in big games. I'll give him that. But given the superior talent stocked up at USC, they should not lose during the regular season. Ever. But every year, somehow they manage to lose a game to a far inferior team (usually within the Pac-10) that just makes you go, "Huh?" Anyone remember the Stanford game a few years ago where they were favored by 40 points and lost? The Oregon State game last year? How about the UCLA game in 2006? Anybody?

Now Jim Tressel has taken a lot of flack this last week for blowing the game last week. And he does deserve some of it. But I will say this for Tressel... at least he wins the games he is supposed to win. You will likely never see Ohio State lose to a far less-talented team like Northwestern or Indiana.

But now I have a dilemma. I don't know whether to just enjoy in the fact that USC lost (which is pretty satisfying), or to be upset because it should have been Ohio State who handed them the loss and not Washington.

Oh well. They lost. I'll just enjoy that while I can.

Birthday Boy...

Well, another birthday has come and gone. I'm the big 2-8 now. Another year older. Another year wiser. Or so they say... *sigh*

This year's birthday was pretty low-key. I didn't do anything special today. In fact, I don't think anyone at work even knew it was my birthday. But I did get some cards in the mail and I got text messages from about 5 of my friends today, which was nice.

But maybe it was appropriate that things were low-key this year. For those who know me, I'm not usually big into fancy celebrations. I much prefer the simple things. And maybe this year, celebrating by myself just seemed appropriate.

But take for instance my day today: I went to work just like I always do and no one even mentioned my birthday today (which was just fine with me). But I did do some special things for myself today. I had lunch at Chipotle (yum!!). I got a milkshake tonight after dinner (always one of my favorite things to do). I drove home with my windows all the way down (rock on!). And I came home, relaxed, and watched a classic episode of Futurama (you know the one... the one where they go back in time to 1947 Roswell and Fry becomes his own grandpa... probably the best episode ever!). Hey, sometimes you just have to spoil yourself!!

Also, I treated myself to a Reds game on Tuesday night. Why Tuesday night, you ask? Well, the Houston Astros were in town and I have always wanted to see their best pitcher Roy Oswalt pitch. So I went downtown after work and splurged for a decent field-level seat.

Oswalt pitched well for the first 5 innings, but then got into trouble in the 6th. He was pulled with a 4-2 lead, but the bullpen blew the lead (again). Eventually, the Reds came back to win 5-4. For Oswalt, this must seem like a strange season. He's started 30 games, but he'll end with a record of only 8-6 and his 4.12 ERA is a career-high. Gotta be a disappointing season for a guy who has been automatic for 15 to 20 wins and sub 3.50 ERA every year for the last 8 years. Ironically, after the game, the Astros placed Oswalt on the DL for the rest of the year (back pain). So looks like I got to see him just in time!

So now, I've been able to see some of the best pitchers of my generation live and in-person. Greg Maddux (in 1995), Curt Schilling (1997), Roger Clemens (2002), Andy Pettitte (2005), Justin Verlander (2008), and now Roy Oswalt this year. Not too shabby!













By the way, the Reds game was interesting also because it was "Bark in the Park" night. Which is a fancy name for their promotional night where fans can bring their dogs to the park. So in addition to seeing Oswalt pitch, I also got to see a bunch of really cute dogs! The funniest part was when they did the "Kiss Cam" portion... a bunch of folks kissed their dogs when the camera was on them! Too funny...

I also got a sweet handout at the game. A Reds doggie dish!! So consequently, I have a pretty nice Reds doggie dish if anyone wants one...

Heartbreaker...

Wow!! What a game!!

As many of you know, I was one of the lucky ones to score tickets to the Ohio State vs USC game yesterday. I met my brother-in-law Matt early in the morning and we spent the whole day on campus soaking in the atmosphere and awaiting the prime time showdown in The 'Shoe.

I have to be honest, I didn't know what to expect going into this game. On one hand, USC is among the top 2 or 3 teams in the nation year in and year out. They don't rebuild after losing top talent to the pros, they just reload. And after last year's 35-3 embarrassment at The Coliseum, I was secretly hoping just to avoid getting blown out at home, let alone picking up a win.


But on the other hand, USC seemed as vulnerable as they have in a long time. They would start a true freshman quarterback, Matt Barkley, before a rabid crowd of over 105,000 in Ohio Stadium (by the way, actual final attendance was 106,033 -- a new record for Ohio Stadium). So all bets were off as to how Barkley would respond to the pressure and the crowd noise. Bucks fans were no doubt hoping the intimidation factor of the large crowd could force him into a few mistakes.

What actually happened was a little bit in between.

Ohio State's defense played a whale of a game, holding the dynamic Trojan offense in check for most of the night. However, when all was said and done, the USC offense came through when it mattered while the OSU offense sputtered all night, costing Ohio State a chance for the big win.

The OSU defense seemed to control the game for 3 1/2 quarters. They got pressure on Barkley and forced him to hurry a lot of his throws. And they were able to hold the running game in check early on. Anytime you can hold an offense like USC's to 10 points through 3 1/2 quarters, you are doing something right.

Meanwhile, the OSU offense made some big plays early, but then went stagnant. Terrelle Pryor made a few good plays, but overall played very average. OSU's offensive play calling was again ultra vanilla. Pryor, who could be one of the best running QB's in the nation, ran just 10 times for 36 yards, with most of those plays being scrambles. And his passing was hit or miss, going 11 for 25 with 177 yards and an interception. Instead of utilizing Pryor's running abilities, the team decided rather to attempt running Dan "Boom" Herron up the middle over and over again. Not a great idea when the offensive line was obviously overmatched.

So the net result was a low-scoring game that came down to the wire, typical Tressel-ball. Tressel showed complete lack of faith in his offense, with ultra-conservative play calling and choosing multiple times to punt for field position instead of going for points. And for awhile, it seemed like that strategy would work.















But you can't hold an offense like USC's down for long. Eventually, they are going to score their points. So with OSU leading 15-10 with 6 minutes left in the game and USC taking over possession, I got a sinking feeling in my gut. And sure enough, Barkley and the Trojans marched right down the field, going 86 yards in 14 plays and scoring the go-ahead touchdown with only 1:05 left in the game. They then made good on the 2-point conversion to take the 18-15 lead.

Ohio State had one last chance, but squandered all hope with an intentional grounding penalty. And just like that, the game was over with Ohio State again on the short end in a big game and USC leaving Columbus with the 18-15 victory.

This game reminded me a lot of both the Texas game in 2005 and the Fiesta Bowl against Texas last year. Each time, Ohio State played a great defensive game, but lost in the final minute. When you play close games, your margin for error is tight. It seemed like Tressel played not to lose instead of playing to win. Yes, our defense appears to be the team's strength and it's ok to build your game plan around that. If you would have told me before the game that our defense would hold USC to just 18 points, I would have been ecstatic. But you still have to score points to win. And anyone can tell you that you need to score more than 15 points to have any chance to beat a good team like USC.

A great defense with only an average offense is a recipe for a lot of close games. So it looks like we may be in for a frustrating season of a lot of close games that go down to the end. And sometimes in close games, you come out on the short end.

So while the outcome wasn't what I had wanted, Matt and I still had a great time. I'm sure I'll be excited to go again next year.

Faith Like a Child...

Well, another weekend with my family has come and gone. Bethany, Matt, and my nieces Lexi and Jill came down this weekend to spend some time with Uncle Benny. While I was definitely looking forward to seeing everyone, this time around was very thought-provoking for me.

I had a lot of things on my mind this weekend that I wasn't expecting to have, so maybe that made things a little harder on me. But I just couldn't help but notice the parent-child interaction this weekend between Matt and Bethany and their oldest child Lexi. With everything that has happened in my life over the last couple of days, I just immediately thought of how Lexi's weekend sort-of resembled my own relationship right now with my Heavenly Father.

This weekend was tough for Lexi. For whatever reason, she was just very difficult and was not very cooperative. Bethany told me that she had been really excited to come to my house for the last couple of days. But when she got here, things seemed to unravel.

First, we decided to go to the aquarium downtown since she had never been there. We figured she would enjoy that. So we headed out for lunch with the aquarium to follow. Well, the line at the restaurant was really long, so we just decided to do the aquarium first so the lunch line would die down a little. So that meant that Lexi did not have lunch at her normal time. Strike one!

Once we got in the aquarium, it was very crowded and it is dark and narrow in some places. Well, Lexi was scared of that and scared of some of the fish as well. So most of the time she was clinging for dear life to Matt instead of enjoying the sights. Halfway through the aquarium, we let her try out a playground area (like a McDonald's Play Place). She was fine for about 2 minutes, but then got lost in the maze of tunnels and cried until someone led her out of it. Strike two!

So by now, we just decided to get through the aquarium and get some lunch. As we were walking out the door of the aquarium, Lexi appeared to be much better now and said, "That was cool." You can imagine our frustration as we walked back to the car, wondering where that attitude was half-an-hour ago.

So later Saturday night, we are back at my place and Bethany tells Lexi that we are going swimming. You have to understand that swimming is her favorite thing to do in the whole wide world. But imagine our surprise when we get to the pool at my complex and find out that the gates are locked and we can't get in. Lexi didn't understand what the problem was and just started crying. She kept asking us the rest of the night where the keys were so we could get in. And we had to explain to her that we didn't have them. And she just kept saying, "Someone locked the door. That's so mean." And you can imagine how bad I felt. Strike three!

But just seeing Lexi as she approaches her 3rd birthday really makes me think. Lexi is at that age where she knows what she wants and she often cries if she doesn't get it. Don't get me wrong though... most of the time she is very good and surprisingly easy-going for a kid. But when she makes up her mind to throw a tantrum, she does it with style.

So the more I witnessed Lexi's rough weekend, the more I thought about my own relationship with my Heavenly Father. How much, I wonder, am I like Lexi right now? That is, throwing a fit whenever I don't get what I want? In my relationship with God, I feel like I am where Lexi is right now with her parents. I am old enough to know better and old enough to know that my Father loves me and only wants the best for me. But I still want to have things my way.

Why is it that I hear God telling me things and I can know and understand why He is doing it, but I still don't want to do it? I know that He only desires to bring good things to my life, but I keep fighting what He tells me because I think I can do better on my own.

I think sometimes it's because I assume that short-term happiness always leads to long-term happiness. But like earthly parents, who sometimes tell their children to do things they don't want to do because they know it is good for them, everything God has me to do is for my good. So why do I keep fighting Him as if I know better than He does?

Imagine what God must feel when He tells His children (you and me) to do things and we say "No!" or we throw a fit. He loves us so much that sometimes He has us to do things that we don't like or that are difficult for us because we do not know what is best for ourselves. And imagine that God is preparing something wonderful for you, but he can't give it to you until you obey Him and let go of the things that you think you want.

I think for me, maybe God is training me and building my trust in Him right now. He has just brought me out of a relationship that was wonderful and amazing to me in every way. And while sometimes I understand why and I am in agreement with it, other times I fight it and I wonder why He decided to take that away from me. It just brings a great sadness to my heart. It's sort of like Lexi asking us where the keys to the pool were because she just didn't understand that we didn't have them. There was that pristine swimming pool just sitting there and here was Lexi who wanted nothing more than to swim in it. It just didn't make sense to her why she couldn't swim in it.

But having faith and trust in God is to not question why He does certain things, but rather to embrace what He does through them. For God brings all things together for the good of those who love Him.

A dear friend of mine, a Brother in Christ, shared a wonderful summary of what it means to trust fully in The Lord. He posed the question, "How do you know when you are trusting God with your whole heart? You know you are fully trusting in Him when you don't have a back-up plan."

Revisiting Mankind's Giant Leap...

Today is the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the first manned lunar landing. On July 20th, 1969, two men step foot on another celestial body for the first time in history. Neil Armstrong made the historic first step, proclaiming the now famous words, "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind." Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin followed shortly thereafter, joining Armstrong on the moon's surface.













The first moonwalk lasted only a couple of hours, but it was an amazing achievement resulting from the untold hours of work put in by hundreds of thousands of people. And for a brief moment during a turbulent era in world history, a peaceful mission to another heavenly body brought the world together as one.













Although I wasn't alive 40 years ago when the moon landings took place, I'll never forget the first time I discovered the history of the Apollo Program through some books in our school library. To a young boy in 5th grade, the thought of men traveling to the moon was awe-inspiring. I guess you could say that learning about the history of man's travels in space and to another world helped inspire me to get into science and engineering. I always dreamed that someday I could be part of such a great achievement myself.













And even more awe-inspiring to a young kid like me was that Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, was born and raised in Wapakoneta, Ohio! Wapakoneta is only about 40 miles from where I grew up, so it was such an inspiration for a country kid like me to know that anyone can achieve great things in life. I still remember to this day when my grandmother took me to the Armstrong Museum when I was a kid. Little did she know that she was fueling my passion for a future career in science and aerospace!

The Apollo moon landings were possibly the greatest achievement in the history of mankind. Well, the greatest technological achievement anyways. I'm sure people may argue that other achievements (such as invention of the wheel, developing sustainable farming, developing written communication, and even harnessing electricity) had a greater impact on the history of humanity. But the moon landings really proved that man was capable of incredible things. Even things that people could only dream about.

In all, the United States landed 12 men on the moon between 1969 and 1972 and successfully returned them to earth. A feat once thought impossible had proven to be otherwise. I'm looking forward to the day when man returns to the moon, so I can witness it first-hand!

Kaitlyn's Birthday...

Next week, Kaitlyn will turn 2 years old!! So Brittany scheduled a nice birthday party for her this last weekend at my parents' house.

Both of my sisters and their families came home, so we had a full house! For the party, we had Dora cupcakes and ice cream and Kaitlyn got a lot of great gifts! As you can see, Kaitlyn got more of the cake on her face than in her mouth! She is such a messy eater!!






















I got her some Dora bedsheets for her big girl bed. So now she can sleep with Dora and Boots every night!













It was a fun trip, but a very hectic one! There were so many little kids running around, it was pure chaos! But a lot of people made sure to tell me that they were glad I was able to come. Last week, I had plans all in place to be in France this week on a business trip. But fortunately, my trip was cancelled at the last minute by my management. So I was able to come after all! Brittany was really excited that I wouldn't have to miss Kaitlyn's party. And I was even on the prayer list at church ("Pray for Ben as he is working in France"), and one person mentioned right during church that The Lord was kind and wise enough to have me here right where I belonged!

So maybe I'll get to go to France later this summer, but for now I'm glad I was able to spend time with my family and help celebrate Kaitlyn's birthday!

Independence Day...

Well, I'm back home after an exciting July 4th holiday weekend at Bethany's! So much to recap, so little time!!

So I spent the weekend at Bethany's with my parents and my Grandma (and of course, Bethany's family). We started off the weekend with a bang, taking Lexi and Jill to the Akron Zoo on Friday. I hadn't been to a zoo in years, but it was a lot of fun! It was a great day (unusually cool for July), and the animals were out and about.

























We saw the penguins, the leopard and her baby cub, the huge lion, the giant tortoise, and jellyfish too! Lexi had a great time, but she was exhausted by the end of the day! And Uncle Benny was too.


































On Saturday, we had a cookout for the 4th of July and watched the parade go through the neighborhood. Lexi played all afternoon with Uncle Benny. We went on the slide, we played Dora match game, and she even tried on my shoes! My shoes were a little big for her though.













Then, later in the evening, Matt, Dad, and I went to the Indians game! We got some great seats behind home plate and watched the Indians beat the Oakland A's by the final score of 5-2. After the game, we stayed and watched the fireworks show at the stadium. I'd never seen so many fireworks in my life!!

Lexi talks constantly now and she likes to say "Oh sure!" in response to just about every question. And she loves "chicken wuggets" (still having trouble with her "N's"). And Jill has grown so much since last time I saw her! She is at least twice as big as she was a month ago!!

All in all, it was a great weekend, but I am pooped! Keeping up with a 2 1/2 year old can be a lot of work. I am glad that Lexi likes to play with Uncle Benny, but I'm also glad to come back home so I can rest and recover!!

The Summer of Ben...

I apologize for not having posted in a few weeks, but I'll try to cover as much as I can here...

Let me just say the last 17 days have been pretty darn awesome. Perhaps the best summer of my life so far? Let's go for the recap:


June 13th: Seinfeld Live!!
The Summer of Ben seemed to have started a little over two weeks ago when I treated Julie to one of my trademark "surprise date nights." Of course, I had been planning the evening for over two months, but it was well worth it. We went downtown for the evening to grab a delicious hamburger at Zip's before seeing none other than Jerry Seinfeld live and in person at the Aronoff Center! Both Julie and I love Jerry and we watch reruns of the old show all the time. Let me just say that Julie was really surprised and excited!

Jerry didn't disappoint. He put on a great show. A good hour and a half of pure comedic genius. He talked about the weather (Why do we have 5-day weather forecasts every day? To me, if they're so good, then the 5-day forecasts should only be once every five days!), cell phones (Why do we always have to have our phones completely charged before leaving the house?), and of course, the show. And in a fun Q&A session afterwards, he answered questions about a possible reunion show and about his favorite moments from doing the show (which, by the way, were when Susan died from licking the wedding invitation envelopes, when Jerry stole the rye bread from that old lady, and when Kramer hit the golf ball into the whale's blowhole).

Classic Jerry. I highly recommend going to see him if he comes to your town!


June 19th-21st: Father's Day in Warren
Over Father's Day weekend, I got to go home with Julie to her dad's house and spend some quality time getting to know her dad and her brother. We had a great time! We hit up the Hot Dog place (best hot dogs in the world!) on Friday night, then went to Outback with Julie's Uncle on Saturday night. We also rented a movie Saturday night called Seven Pounds. Very interesting movie. I highly suggest it if you're into the mysterious drama types of movies. I got to see some embarrassing photos of Julie (which is always fun) and she showed me some of her old school projects and yearbooks. And I got to see her dad attempt to catch a pesky chipmunk that's been destroying his garden (of course, he caught 3 squirrels instead!). Good times!!


June 25th: Just Lazin' Around
The Summer of Ben continued when Julie offered to make me dinner after work on that Thursday night. She made a delicious batch of lasagna and we spent a real nice evening together just lazing around watching movies.


June 27th: 'Till Death Do Them Part
My good friends Scott and Andrea got married this last weekend. I have known both of them for over 3 years now and they are both dear friends of mine. It was a blessing to attend their wedding and I thought they had a really nice ceremony. I will say this was the first wedding I had ever been to where they actually had a part of the ceremony where the people just worshipped together. Pretty cool!

Here's a cute picture of Julie and I at the reception. Aren't we adorable?















June 29th: The Fray in Concert!!
And last, but not least... Last night we went downtown to Riverbend and saw The Fray live in concert!! It was a really awesome show! Julie and I had always said if The Fray were to come to town that we could go in a heartbeat. So we did!

But they put on an awesome show. They played for a solid hour and a half and did probably over 20 songs. They did all their new hits (You Found Me, Absolute, and Happiness), some of the classic ones (Cable Car and How to Save a Life, anyone?), and even a few great covers (Counting Crow's Long December and Kanye's Heartless). Totally worth it. Great show.










And now let's hope this great summer keeps rolling on!!

Hello Old Friend...

So last weekend, I met back up with an old friend. Who is this friend, you might ask? It's not a person, but rather my old friend, the 5k.

Yup, last weekend I ran in the Redlegs 5k, which is a charity race that is held every year downtown. The course circles around downtown, but the coolest part is that the race ends inside the ballpark. For the last 0.1 miles of the race, the course takes you around the outfield warning track and it ends near home plate. It's such a cool experience to finish the race on the playing field and see yourself up on the Jumbotron as you finish. Pretty neat stuff.

And to top it off, after the race, there is all sorts of food and goodies. Stuff like Powerade drinks, cookies, pizza, ice cream... all for free!! Pretty sweet deal! Plus, who can argue with a free t-shirt? I'm probably one of the biggest suckers ever when there's a free t-shirt involved!

Anyways, this year I ran in the 5k along with some friends. J-Tizzle, Julie D, and some of Julie's co-workers decided to run too. So we had a good time going downtown on a Saturday morning, enjoying the nice weather, and getting a good workout... all before 11:00 am!

I've been feeling the urge to start running again lately. I am finding that I miss that part of my past life (when I used to run all the time in high school). I miss the feeling of being in that great of shape, with my legs, upper body, and lungs all working like a perfectly-oiled machine. And I miss the feeling of gliding effortlessly along the course with the wind in my face and being able to recover quickly when the race was over instead of being sore for 3 days afterwards. Sometimes I just long for those days.

But I am also finding that getting back into shape is not easy. The more I run now, the more I get frustrated because I remember how fast I used to run in high school and now I get down when I can't even come close to that anymore.

My goal for this 5k was to finish in under 30 minutes, which is a pretty modest goal. I finished with a time of 30:39. Not great, but at least that's a sub 10-minute-mile pace. But considering that in high school, I used to routinely run 5k's in under 19 minutes, it's quite a fall from glory.

I would like to someday get back to running a 5k in under 20 minutes, but that just seems so impossibly far away right now. But at least sub 25 minutes may be more realistic.