It's a Christmas Miracle!

We made it safely to Oregon. There's no plows or salt out here, and most people don't even have shovels to clear the snow, but we're having a great time.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Gah

Our flight to Portland, Oregon last night was canceled. The weather here has been ugly, but Oregon is receiving its worst snowstorm in 40 years. So, until things clear up a bit, we'll be "stuck" at home. The forecast isn't very favorable right now, but I'm hoping the situation improves before the end of the year.

In the meantime, my thoughts and prayers go out to any place that is receiving more snow that it can handle, which could be said about any number of communities throughout the country.

WHOA Friday!

This past Friday was the company holiday celebration. It was also a day when a foot of snow fell. Jenelle coordinated the company event, so it was a busy day for her. I also kept busy, as the schedule below will show:

4:30 a.m.: Ben wakes up and clears the driveway and nearby sidewalks. He's finished at about 5:15.

5:00 a.m.: Jenelle wakes up.

5:45 a.m.: Ben leaves and heads to the office, and Jenelle leaves and heads to the event site.

6:20 a.m.: Ben arrives at the office and joins his colleagues on our annual "Profit Sharing Day Run". The treacherous conditions limit the attendance to only three people (including Ben), but the tradition continues!

6:30 a.m.: Jenelle arrives at the event site, following a plow most of the way.

7:00 a.m.: Finished with the run, Ben gets cleaned up for the event.

8:40 a.m.: Ben and many others leave the office for the event site.

10:00 a.m.: The formal program begins.

11:00 a.m.: The formal program ends, and the informal celebration begins.

12:00 p.m.: Family photo time!

1:30 p.m.: Ben returns home and clears the driveway AGAIN.

2:00 p.m.: Jenelle gets home as Ben is finishing up the snow removal.

Most of the rest of the day: Ben and Jenelle RELAX.

The Annual December Endeavor

Here is our 2008 Christmas letter. We hope you like it!

New Decorations

Currently on display at Ben and Jenelle's house -- a new tree and a new nativity set. We got the tree on Thanksgiving night (half price sale), and we got the nativity set at a HUGE discount in Oregon last year after Christmas. They both get two thumbs up from me.

Eighties Party

Last Saturday, Jenelle and I went to an 80s party thrown by one of her co-workers. It was totally awesome. We found some killer threads at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. Jenelle's dress had shoulder pads, and I wore a Z Cavarici shirt. Fun times.

San Antonio Photos

Those who don't regularly check the running log might not know that I went to San Antonio with my parents to run a marathon. The photos are up.

New movies

Head on over to the movies page for two new movies. One is of the five waterfalls we visited in Oregon, and the other is from the Chicago Lakefront Fall 50K.

Wish Lists Updated

If any of you, for some reason, want to know what we want for Christmas, feel free to check out Ben's list and Jenelle's list.

Please don't spend too much on us -- we've got a lot of stuff already. :)

Music Bookcase

I was considering the purchase of a bookcase at Ikea for all of my music books and related items. However, Jenelle noticed one that was on sale at Target, so we got that one instead. It was only $65, and we didn't have to drive nearly as far. We set it up in about an hour.

Back from Oregon

Jenelle and I spent almost a week in Oregon, and we just got back last night. We took a bunch of pictures along the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway, so I uploaded some to share with everybody. I also took some movies at each of the waterfalls we visited, so I hope to have more online soon. Enjoy!

Zoo!

Jenelle and I went to the Brookfield Zoo on Saturday. This is actually Brookfield, Illinois (a lot of you family members might be more familiar with a town in Wisconsin with that name). It was an absolutely beautiful day -- I should have worn shorts. We went there to hang out with Jenelle's roommate Sarah, who flew in from Boston with her husband, Josh. Sarah's parents also joined us. We all had a great time. All the pictures are right here. My favorite one is below. I caught a snow leopard mid-yawn.

Office Rivalry

Tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. CDT, the Northwestern football team, which hasn't lost this year, takes on Michigan State. Here's a picture of me and Marc, a colleague who works in the office near where I sit.


After tomorrow, it is likely that only one of us will be smiling. :)

Another Busy Week

Well, all of the playoff teams in the Midwest are out, so we don't have any more baseball games to go to. Darn.

However, there's still plenty to keep us busy. Take this week for example. Besides work, here's what we do:

Monday: I went to a worship band practice because I'm playing at the service at Kenosha Bible Church (KBC) this Sunday. I then joined Jenelle at our weekly small group gathering.

Tuesday: I traveled to Evanston for a Delta Chi Alumni Board meeting and stopped at the grocery store on the way home. Jenelle was busy cleaning up the house in preparation for our bi-weekly deep cleaning.

Wednesday: I have the "night off" from organized activities, but Jenelle will be at KBC because she's an AWANA (youth group) leader.

Thursday: I'm playing at the service at Our Savior's. After that, we're both going to get our picture taken for the KBC directory.

Friday: I have no idea, but I bet something will come up.

Not the world's most exciting events, I know, but we're doing our best to live life to the fullest. :)

Playoff Bound

Lots of baseball for us this weekend. We had friends and family over on Friday night to watch the Brewers defeat the Cubs 5-1 and take a one-game lead in the wild card race. On Saturday, we were present to watch the Cubs win the second game of the series 7-3, putting the Brewers back in a tie with the Mets for the wild card.

To top it all off, we were also in attendance at today's game. The Cubs took an early 1-0 lead, but the Brewers tied it up in the 7th inning on a bases loaded walk. Ryan Braun smacked a home run in the eighth to put the Brewers up 3-1. C.C. Sabathia, who pitched amazingly well throughout the game, took care of business in the 9th. With the win, the Brewers clinched at least a tie for the wild card playoff spot. If the Mets lost today, the Brewers would win the wild card outright.

The Mets-Marlins game was in the bottom of the 8th when the Brewers-Cubs game ended. We stayed in our seats (along with pretty much everyone else) to watch the end of the game on the jumbotron. Chants of "Let's go, Marlins!" rung throughout Miller Park as the Marlins took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of ninth. To make a long story short, the Marlins won, and the celebration was on.

MOVIE of the celebration at Miller Park after the Brewers clinched the NL Wild Card!

We are now hoping for the Cubs to beat the Dodgers and the Brewers to beat the Phillies in the first round of the playoffs, which would result in a Cubs-Brewers NL Championship Series. That would be awesome.

No-No Way!

As Adam and Allison mentioned in the comments, I count myself among a very elite few who had the great privilege of witnessing the first Cubs no-hitter since 1972, when Carlos Zambrano shutout the Astros at Miller Park last week. It was by far the best baseball game that I've ever been to.

The entire game was a fluke - the Cubs were supposed to play in Houston, but due to Hurrican Ike, the game was moved to a so-called neutral site - Miller Park. So along with about 23,400 other Cubs fans, we headed north to witness the Cubs take on the Astros in Brewer territory.

There are no words to describe the game. The crowd was electric, and we all felt like we could witness history from very early on. Zambrano brought his A game and kept it up for 115 pitches.

I'm not a very nervous person - I generally take things in stride, but this had me and everyone else on pins and needles. I got a little worried during 4 and 5, when he walked and then hit a batter - but Zambrano pulled it out.

After about the 6th, any time an Astro hit a grounder, you could hear everyone holding their breath until the throw to first. But the infield was on it. After 7, and especially 8 and 9, there was a loud cheer after every pitch.

And after the last strikeout, it was unbelievable. Nobody wanted to leave - Zambrano got about three curtain calls - Go Cubs Go broke out a few times - they dug up the pitchers mound for him - it was truly fantastic.

And I counted Astros jerseys - I saw 8. Out of 23,441.

I really hope the Brewers can pull out the wild card - because an NLCS at Wrigley and Miller Park would be so fun!

Poke poke poke

Even though I spent the first three days of this week in Nashville at a work-related conference, I didn't find it especially exciting. Maybe that's because the last time I was in Nashville, I ran my best marathon ever.

Anyway, I'd like to post a link to a YouTube video of one of my favorite Bert & Ernie sketches from Sesame Street. Classic.

Is Bert Asleep?

Gonna Fly Now

My good friend, Mark, easily did ten push-ups with Caleb (his son, left), and David (oldest son of Steve & Mary, right) on his back. He can also beat me in running races 10 miles or shorter. :)

Flip This Kitchen

Here's another entry in the "Other peoples' lives are more exciting than ours" category. Jenelle's parents (Dave and Pam) recently remodeled their kitchen.

Here's a picture I found from August, 2004:
And here's a picture they sent us about a week ago:
It's tough to tell from the picture, but the oven was previously at the far back wall, and there's now a double oven on the right side. Most impressive! I can't wait until we visit so that we can see it in person.

And then there were two

CONGRATULATIONS to our good friends, Steve & Mary, on the birth of their second son. Daniel was born at 3:33 a.m. on Saturday, August 9, 2008, weighing in at 8 pounds, 14 ounces. We wish them all the best!

Still here

We haven't had a lot of super-exciting things to write about lately. So, until the next post, have a great summer! :)

"Young Ben" turns 30

For some reason, I have nothing profound to write today. In any case, I guess I can't check the "20-29" box in surveys anymore. That'll be a change. :)

And many, many more

It's officially summer, which means that somebody is celebrating another milestone today. For that reason, I'd like to post an answering machine message we received one year ago today.

Birthday Wishes from Grandpa Milt

New York Photos

I've finally put up 138 photos from Jenelle and Pam's New York trip on Mother's Day weekend. I uploaded pictures from both Jenelle's and Pam's camera, so you have plenty to enjoy. :)

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Jenelle here...

It's been a while since I've written to my loyal, devoted fan base, so I thought I'd fill you all in on some fun stuff we've been up to lately.

A week and a half ago, Mom and I took a short trip to New York for Mother's Day weekend to see some of the sights of the big city. Mom and I always enjoyed watching Mary Poppins together when I was a kid, so the highlight of the trip was seeing Mary Poppins the Musical on Broadway... but more about that later.

First, here's a quick look at our trip:

Friday
I met mom in Chicago on her layover from Portland to New York. We hopped on a plane and headed to LaGuardia. It was pouring, but we made it to our hotel just fine, found an umbrella at Duane Reade and began wandering the streets of New York City. We stayed at the Westin Times Square and overall thought it was great! The first highlight of the trip was when an angry New Yorker swore at Mom for getting to close with her umbrella. It was hilarious! We spent Friday walking around Times Square, doing some touristy shopping, and just taking it all in.

Saturday
We got up Saturday morning and headed to Battery Park, on the southern tip of Manhattan to board a ferry for the Statue of Liberty. When we arrived at the park, we were so grateful we had purchased our tickets in advanced, because the line was at least 1/2 mile long. We went through security, and boarded the ferry for the quick trip to the island. The view from the boat was incredible - we were both awed by the incredible statue. It was so fun to see the statue, visit the monument, and even climb up the pedestal to see the view from Lady Liberty's feet.

The trip didn't take nearly as long as we expected, thanks in large part to avoiding the long line, so we arrived back near Times Square in time to pick up tickets to another show. We decided to see A Chorus Line. I didn't know much about the musical, but liked the idea of singing and dancing. We both decided the musical was good, but not wonderful. And it didn't have nearly enough singing and dancing in it. One funny note - Mario Lopez played one of lead characters. I think he was much better as A.C. Slater in Saved By the Bell.

Sunday
On Sunday, Mother's Day, we slept in a little and then grabbed a bite to eat at a cafe around the corner from the hotel. Then, we headed off to see Mary Poppins. I cannot begin to explain how amazing this production was. We both thought it was absolutely fantastic. I won't give away any of the secrets if it comes to your town any time soon, but it was so much fun to watch. The singing and dancing was so impressive, and the set design was so fun to see, and there were definitely a few fun surprises as well. I was so excited to see they had a great rendition of Step in Time - my favorite part of the movie, where all the Chimney Sweeps tap dance.

We had an absolute blast and it was so fun to see this with my Mom on Mother's Day!

After the play, we tried to get same-day tickets to Hairspray, but they were sold out. So we thought we'd do some more touristy things. So we walked to the Empire State Building and took the elevator to the top. It's really nothing like they picture it in Sleepless in Seattle or an Affair to Remember. There's security, and separate elevators and all kinds of hoops to go through just to get to the top. But once you're up there, the view is great. We could see for miles and felt pretty proud of ourselves that we could identify all the major buildings.

After that we walked some more, past Bryant Park, Grand Central Terminal and down 5th Avenue to St. Patrick's Cathedral, over to Radio City Music Hall and back to Times Square. We did a TON of walking. We also stopped along the way for dinner and some shopping.

Monday
Monday morning we got up early and headed to Rockefeller Center to try and get our 5 seconds of fame as a plaza-dweller on the Today Show. And I'm happy to say that we made it on the show! I have it on our DVR, so we'll try to post it to the blog soon. (UPDATE FROM BEN: Here's the clip!) We also took pictures of ourselves with Meredith Viera - she's very nice and stops to talk with nearly every fan.

After that, we walked back to St. Patrick's Cathedral to see inside (the doors were locked on Sunday - go figure.) The inside of the church is so beautiful. We had lots of fun staring at all the stained glass windows and beautiful stone carvings all over the walls.

Then, we went to the Museum of Modern Art to get our fill of culture for the day. We checked out Monet's Water Lilies, Van Gogh's Starry Night, Warhol's Soup Cans and much much more. Although some of the "art" we didn't quite understand.

Our last stop was a quick walk past Carnegie Hall and then through Central Park. It was starting to rain a bit, so we didn't walk very far but it was neat to see the park and the cute bridges and beautiful trees. We then stopped at a cafe for lunch before walking back to the hotel to grab a ride to the airport.

Our flight was delayed, but we were able to grab an earlier flight to Chicago so that Mom wouldn't miss her connection back to Portland.

Overall, we had such a fun trip. It was really great to spend some time with my Mom, who I don't get to see as often as I'd like. And it was great to get to explore a place and do some of the touristy things that I hadn't done before.

We took LOTS of photos so I'll hopefully have those posted to the blog soon!

Go, Cubs, Go!

I've put up a photo album from the Cubs Game that Jenelle and I attended on April 15. I also have a movie that I took at the end of the game -- I'll get that uploaded soon.

Dad and I going to the Cubs-Brewers game at Wrigley Field tonight, so more fun times are ahead!

UPDATE: Check out the movie listing for a post-victory sing-along after the game!

Remembering Grandpa Milt

Earlier this month, Grandpa Milt (my dad's dad) passed away at the age of 91. A special thanks to all who provided comfort and sympathy for us.

For those who like to know more about Grandpa and what he meant to me, I've put together the following web page:

Remembering Grandpa Milt

You'll find a variety of information on Grandpa Milt, including a photo slide show, his obituary, and an audio file of his memorial service. I've also uploaded some messages that Grandpa Milt left on our answering machine. Two are humorous, and one is especially touching. I hope you enjoy it.

I'll end this post with a quote from Grandpa Milt, as delivered at the end of his 90th birthday celebration video:

"Bye bye. Be talking to you."

50K complete

Head on over to Ben's Running Blog for a recap of the 50-kilometer (31-mile) race I ran on Saturday.

Also, here's a link to photos from the race. Enjoy!

Five years and counting

We had a lot of fun celebrating our wedding anniversary over the weekend. On Friday evening, we had a nice dinner at Sebastian's, a classy place on the north side of Racine. On Saturday, I made breakfast (waffles, bacon, etc.) for the two of us.

Saturday night brought some great group fun. Kenosha Bible Church was having a "Wii Night" for young couples. It was great to meet and get to know lots of other KBC couples our age. Despite never having played anything on a Wii before that night, we managed to finish second in both the Wii Tennis and Wii Bowling tournaments. Lucky us. :)

What's that in the BenCam? It's not the best picture, but it's Jenelle standing in front of the Prius, and the Prius has a KAYAK on top of it! We bought ourselves a Malibu Two XL sit-on-top tandem kayak rather than exchange anniversary gifts. We're really looking forward to warmer weather so that we can take it out for a paddle or two.

Are we turning into one of those "active" couples that are always busy exercising? Only time will tell.

Winter Easter

It's been almost a month since the last post, but we've had some exciting times -- especially this past weekend.

According to the calendar, spring should be here, but we have evidence to the contrary. Last Friday (March 21), we got over a foot of snow! We had to park the Prius on the road for about an hour while we shoveled the driveway. It was the weirdest Good Friday that I can remember.

On Saturday, the temperature hit fifty degrees, but there was still so much snow! The plow came by in the morning and forced us to do a lot more shoveling. The strange thing was that I didn't even need a jacket while I was doing it. After we knew we could get our car out, I went for a six-mile run on the well-plowed streets in our neighborhood. No tights required.

Some luck finally came our way when we were able to catch some earlier flights from Milwaukee to O'Hare to Portland, Oregon. Our original flight didn't arrive until after 10 p.m., but we made it shortly after 8. This allowed us to get some rest before celebrating Easter with Jenelle's family.

Everything about our trip was wonderful. We enjoyed the Easter Sunday church service, and dinner at Pam and Dave's house was tremendous. We had lots of fun hanging out with our nephew, Lucas, who is always full of energy. He beat me in a game of checkers, and I helped him put together some Lego sets. Jenelle and Dave joined us for a game of Clue. Dave won -- it was Professor Plum with the knife in the kitchen.

On Monday, we "bummed around" town for a while. We went shopping all over the place, even though we didn't really need anything. We met up with Jeff, Josie, and Lucas for dinner at a restaurant called Claim Jumpers, which is actually quite fancy and very good.

We left early Tuesday morning (way too soon for us, but that's the way it goes). After a slight delay at O'Hare, we returned to Wisconsin and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

The next big thing on the calendar is my 50K race on April 5. Unless you count our 5th wedding anniversary, which is this Saturday. :)

Strumming along

I don't blog about it much anymore, but I still play guitar and sing on Thursday nights at Our Savior's. We've had a steady lineup of musicians in the band for at least a year. Besides me, we have Tina on piano/vocals, Jim on bass, and Steve on drums. We also have Melissa, who helps out with vocals and serves as Tina's page turner. I've put a picture of the band members on the BenCam, and there's a movie of us practicing on the movie page.

My goal every week is to create a meaningful worship experience for everyone in the congregation, and I do a decent job (that's what people tell me, anyways!). It's a wonderful blessing to be able to share my talents in this way -- and it's a lot of fun, too!

Austin Marathon Photos / Recap

I spent the past weekend in Austin, Texas, where I ran marathon #15. My cousin, Todd, and several of his friends ran the half marathon. We all had a great time. A full recap is on the running blog, and there's also pictures online. Enjoy!

We're all sick of it

I'm fighting a cold this week. In addition, we got another six inches of snow, and we're running out of places to put it. The latest BenCam picture features me shortly after Jenelle and I cleared the driveway. I look like a monster with my reflective running mittens and face mask. As you can see, the pile of snow is almost as tall as me. Yikes.

Tybee Island Trip + New Movies

We made a quick trip to Tybee Island, Georgia, last weekend. I ran a marathon, and we had plenty of time left over to go kayaking and enjoy the warm weather. Here's two photo albums:

Tybee Island Trip
Tybee Island Marathon

Also, be sure to check out the movies page for lots of new movies, including one of the snow that fell earlier today. Over a foot has fallen in the last 24 hours. Ugh.

Introducing: RunningHungry.org

Some of you may have noticed a new link in the right-hand column. It's a new web site I created earlier this month -- RunningHungry.org.

For the first time ever, I am running a marathon (actually FARTHER than a marathon) to raise money for World Vision, an organization known for providing aid to children and families around the globe. My favorite thing about World Vision is that they do not simply provide food -- they provide items that have a lasting effect on area communities. For example, they dig wells to reach clean water, bring in animals for lasting food sources, and donate clothing and blankets.

I haven't received any pledges yet besides my own, mainly because I haven't been promoting the site much yet. That'll change in the coming weeks. In any case, your support is much appreciated!

Arizona Photos

It's already ten days old (my, how time flies!), but here are a bunch of pictures from my Arizona trip. There's a few race-related photos, and a few more of Old Town Scottsdale, which is a neat little area mere minutes away from Laura's house.

Christmas Photos, Part 3

Sorry for the delay. Without further ado, you are welcome to enjoy pictures from our Christmas in Oregon.

In other news, the marathon went very well. Details at the running log.

Christmas Photos, Part 2 of 3

Here's the second set of Christmastime photos. These are from the "Comande family side" (aka my mom's family) gathering at my parents' house on December 22.

Also, be sure to check out the movies page for a preview of the Portland photos, which I'll publish early next week.

One final note for this post: I'm running a marathon this Sunday.

Whoa... we're okay

More Christmas photos will be coming soon.

For those who are not aware, a tornado touched down approximately a mile and a half away from our house yesterday evening. We were at work at the time. Jenelle and I are both okay, and there's no damage to our house. We didn't even lose power. We appreciate everyone who was concerned about us and/or called to make sure we were okay.

I went out for a run this morning to survey some of the damage. A church that is right next to the running trail had some pretty serious damage. According to their web site, no one was in the building at the time, which is definitely a blessing. Here's a couple of pictures.




A tornado in January that's a mile and a half from home. Too close for comfort.

Christmas Photos, Part 1 of 3

Happy New Year!

The 2007 Family Christmas album is now online. This one is just our "immediate" family -- Mom, Dad, Andrew, Holly, Ella, Lily, Jenelle, and me. I'll have a couple more out soon.

In other news, a face appeared in the northwest corner of our backyard just before Christmas, so I took a picture. Who is it?