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Wedding Blog: Wedding Planning Tastes So Gooooood!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:41:00 +0000

So I want to take a vote. Raise your hand if before ever being seriously involved with your future spouse, you had thought of (and possibly planned) how your wedding day would go. Keep 'em up! Now I'm almost certain that 99.99% of those who raised their hands were female!

Now be honest. How many of you girls were marrying your Barbie & Ken dolls??

I can't remember exactly when I first starting thinking about marriage. I want to say it was relatively late – maybe not until college. But even during those thoughts, I was more so thinking of what married life would be like, not how the wedding day would go. I mean, I'm sure growing up I probably had some assumptions about the wedding, based on things I had seen in movies and the like, but I definitely wasn't walking the red and pink Power Rangers down the aisle to unite them in holy matrimony!

I think it's because girls have been thinking about their wedding day for sooo long that the guys take a back seat during the planning of it. Shoot, some guys are in a whole 'nother car a few exits back when it comes to wedding planning.

Thus far, I've been pretty involved in the planning of our wedding. I've had my hand in just about everything, except for the wedding dress (because apparently I can't see it at all until our wedding day). I've actually been getting quite a deal of compliments for being such an involved groom-to-be. I'm very appreciative of the praise, but I can't take full credit like it's 100% altruistic. Of course I want to be a good fiancé and help out Rashida, but to be honest there are some ulterior motives behind me being so involved (aside from the fact that by nature I'm someone who's involved with planning).

My new mantra.

Ulterior Motive #1 is that the more involved I am in the planning, the more control I have over keeping us within our budget. Sounds kind of bad (and obvious), but the more money we don't spend on the wedding, the more money we'll have for our new life together. I'm not saying that if left alone Rashida would go all wild and crazy with the money (cuz if she would, we'd have much bigger issues than the wedding), but it's those "is it REALLY worth $300 more for the napkins to be "kelly green" instead of regular ol' green?" questions that help keep costs down.

You've heard the phrase "Happy Wife, Happy Life" right? Well there is the "happy fiancé, your engagement won't be doomsday" corollary. Enter Ulterior Motive #2. The more involved I am in the planning, (hopefully) the less stressed Rashida will be, which in turn will make my life muuuuuch better. As I'm coming to find out, wedding planning is pretty stressful when you can't afford a wedding planner. There are emails to send out, meetings to attend, decisions to make, etc. Rashida sometimes already feels overwhelmed with all the stuff that we have to do, and I'm right there helping her with everything. I can only imagine what it'd be like if she were rollin' solo. You may find it surprising, but her "stressedness" doesn't just go away when I go over to visit her. So in an effort to make our time together more enjoyable, I help with the planning to reduce her stress. Well, that and back rubs...

But fellas, even if you're like "Ben her parents are paying for the wedding so she can knock herself out for all I care!" or "Ben I'm too lazy... I'll just take an L during the engagement period", I highly suggest that you at least participate in the food tasting. Why?? Because it's free fooood!!! I never knew this (well honestly I never really thought about it), but as you're trying to find a location for the reception, you also get to taste the catered food they'll be serving. And guess what?! It's all F-R-E-E!!

One of the many dishes we got to try for free at the Biltmore Hotel

Rashida and I spent our lunch & dinner on Saturday tasting the food at our top 2 location choices. The first place gave us full plates and meals! Of course, all the meat-tasting was left to me, so I was definitely stuffed afterwards. Rashida ended up trying two veggie dishes, so she left the tasting 5 lbs heavier too.

Rashida slurping up a bite of the pasta primavera

The place was cool because for the meats, they had many different sauces available. So instead of getting multiple dishes of chicken and multiple dishes of beef (which I definitely couldn't have finished), they gave me one of each, with two different sauces to try for each. Rashida originally only got a pasta dish with marinara sauce, but after being wary of how that would impact her wedding dress, they also let her try an alternate ravioli dish.

Proof that going with the pasta was a bad idea. Where's club soda when you need it??

The second location wasn't as generous or accommodating of Rashida's meatlessness, but the NBA Dunk Contest (while extremely disappointing) was on TV so it made the experience a bit better. Instead of full plates to try, they only gave us little handful samplers. There was a greater variety of food, but after coming off a stuffed lunch, we were expecting a bit more. And unfortunately most of the food wasn't vegetarian-friendly, so Rashida was still hungry when we left. That's not a good sign for our wedding reception...

Feeding each other food is only one of the perks of food tasting

Rashida and I already have had two cake tasting as well. Those have been fun because not only do we get to try a handful of flavors, we get to take whatever's left over in a to-go box! We have another tasting scheduled for sometime this week and potentially a fourth for this weekend. I'm going to need to make an appointment with the dentist when this is all said and done.

With all this free food we've been getting, Rashida and I were joking around that if planning for a wedding wasn't so time-consuming (we still have to find a photographer, videographer, DJ, florist, etc.), we'd just spend every weekend scheduling tastings with various caterers who we're "interested" in. We could use all the money we'd be saving on food towards a better photographer or an hour more music with the DJ.

So fellas, if you're hemming and hawing about joining your fiancée (i.e., the woman you love) on the tastings, I would strongly suggest that you go! Not only will you get to taste good food for free, but she'll think you're so loving and caring for taking time out of your "busy" schedule to join her for the tasting. Unless of course she reads my blog too... Then it's just about the good food...

Be sure to check out the full album of pictures from the food tasting...

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Wedding Blog: Wedding University Running Diary

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:22:00 +0000

Earlier today (Sunday), I had the privilege(?) of attending the 2nd Annual Wedding University at the Four Season Hotel, Silicon Valley. What's Wedding University you ask? Well, while planning a wedding can be fun and exciting (for the bride-to-be), it can also be pretty stressful (for everyone). So the goal of the Wedding University was to feed us with lots of information to help us evaluate options, make decisions and "design a wedding that truly expresses who [we] are."

Nearly 2 weeks ago, I got an email from Jubilee Lau inviting me to this Wedding University, offering free tickets to the first 5 couples who responded to her email. I didn't know who Jubilee was, how she got my email address or what this "Wedding University" thing was, but free is free so I emailed her back 10 minutes after receiving her email and won a pair of free tickets (valued at $100).

Little did I realize that the Wedding University was a 6.5-hour event (from 11AM - 5:30PM)! Had I known it up front, I probably wouldn't have tried to win the free tickets. But (unfortunately?) we did win and Rashida seemed mildly excited about it, so we decided to go. Plus there were going to be a number of giveaways at the event (the grand prize being a 3-Night Honeymoon stay at one of the luxurious Tropical Four Seasons Resorts), so that was even more reason to go. And fearing extreme boredom for 6+ hours, I decided to do a running diary of the event in order to keep myself occupied. It turned out that this gimmick wasn't necessary because the event was actually pretty interesting on its own, but it was still fun to do. So without further ado...

(wait, before I start, I want to give a shoutout to my iPhone. I was able to take all my notes and pictures with it. No pen & pad, no laptop, no digital camera, just my iPhone. "Need a gimmick to keep you from falling asleep & drooling on yourself during 6+ hours of wedding talk? There's an app for that!")

Registration Desk
(courtesy The Flirty Blog)

10:50 - arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel. We left straight from serving in SafariKids at the 8:30 service so we were actually early for the event. "Ben" & "early" is a rare, rare occurrence.

10:53AM - because we were early, after checking in we had to wait outside before the event opened. There was no room in the lobby, so we waited in the bar of the restaurant that was right next door.

11:00 - the organizers are telling groups of people that the event is starting and we can head on in, but they forgot the Black couple in the back (remember we're in the bar). As we're getting up to join the group, the restaurant hostess says she'll be right us to seat us, not realizing that we had been sitting at the bar for nearly 10 minutes. I think this is a new record for the longest two Black people have gone unnoticed in a fancy hotel...

Other folks seemed to like the food - I just stuck with the dried fruit
(courtesy The Flirty Blog)

11:05 - turns out that the other coordinator of the Wedding University, Jean Marks, attends Abundant Life and her husband works with Rashida and I in SafariKids. I had seen him earlier in the day running around with Marlan in Special Adventure. We were talking to Jean while waiting in line to grab some food. Let's just say that the conversation was much better than the food. I think it's a problem when the best part of the food is the dried fruit. Fancy food has never been all that good to me...

11:30 - the show begins with the MC completely amazed at how many grooms-to-be are at the event. Apparently they didn't have too many in last year's event. I gotta say I'm kind of surprised too. I thought I'd be one of the few dudes there. I mean if Rashida had really wanted to go to this event and we were paying for it, we definitely would've only shelled out the $55 for one ticket. I'm pretty sure I didn't bring anything to the table besides someone to talk to (and to hold her purse while she went to the bathroom ).

The Wedding University Professors
(courtesy The Flirty Blog)

12:00PM - they just finished introducing the 13 Wedding University "Professors" (the people giving the informative talks). They came in walking in like runway models. I guess it makes sense since a wedding is a "fashionable" event, but it woulda been a lot cooler if they would've been introduced like Jordan's Chicago Bulls and ripped off some breakaway pants. Hmmm... maybe this 6+ hours would've been better spent watching basketball games...

12:06 - just received two pieces of information during the first talk on planning a wedding (by Mary Dann Wedding & Party Coordinators) that made me want to just skip the whole ceremony & reception and holla at the Alameda County Courthouse. 1) The reception place settings that are in bridal magazines/websites (you know, the ones Rashida reads ALL DAY LONG) cost somewhere between $700 - $1000 per table! 2) On average in the Bay Area, people spend between $300 - $500 on each person for their wedding! Now I got some good friends (some that I've known for over a decade), and I love my family members, but there is nooooooo waaaaaaay that I'm spending $400 ea. to make them happy at my wedding. And if it were me, I'd rather get the new Apple iPad and a 2-cent Polaroid of your courthouse wedding than have $500 spent on me for your wedding. Now that's what I'd call money well spent!

12:07 - Obvious statement of the day: "Sending out save-the-date cards significantly increases the number of people who will actually RSVP and come to your wedding." Really??? Why is that?? Is it maybe because they actually saved the date of our wedding??? Hmmmm... what a radical idea...

12:10 - Helpful Hint #1: Don't expect to be able to please everyone. Someone's not going to like the colors. Someone's not going to like where they are sitting. Someone's not going to like the music. It's gonna happen so don't do anything you don't want to do just to please someone else. Just give up trying to make everyone happy because it isn't going to happen and will only stress you out!

12:12 - Helpful Hint #2: Don't plan to do too much (vacation-wise or extra-curricular-related) in the last couple of months leading up to the wedding because you've got too much other stuff going on.

12:13 - Helpful Hint #3: Plan for people to disappoint you. People are people and they're going to let you down. They're going to forget to call someone, forget to pick something up, forget to send something out... wait... I think I just told on myself. In any event, expecting the disappointments to happen can help prevent those inevitable things from ruining your wedding.

12:30 - now enters Paul Kuhn, the representative for the host location (the Four Seasons Hotel) to talk to us about "beverages." Might as well have just titled the talk "alcohol" or "booze" cuz that's all he talked about for 10 minutes straight.

12:33 - just learned that a hosted (open) bar can cost around $3500 for every 150 guests. Don't be expecting free liquor at our wedding...

12:43 - just heard a hard thud, followed by a crash and then a scream. Turns out that this middle-aged lady had tripped & fell over these floor lights that had been set up for a demonstration. She hit her head on this metal thing and careened to the floor. When I got to her and helped her up, she seemed pretty dazed. She could've just been highly embarrassed, I couldn't tell the difference. When she went back to her seat and told her daughter what happened, her daughter didn't seem the least bit interested. I think she was more focused on seeing if she had won the raffle prize than if her mom might've just suffered a concussion. "Walk it off mom. Put some 'tussin on it."

12:48 - bathroom break after the first session. The lobby bathroom was quite ridiculous. Instead of paper towels or hand driers, they actually had individual wash clothes for you to dry your hands. Just throw it into the laundry basket after you're done. I wonder how much of the $200/night (minimum) rate goes towards maintaining that...

Yeah... not quite how my beautiful fianceé looks...
(courtesy The Flirty Blog)

12:58 - Rashida and I browsed around at the place setting displays, each of which had a model showcasing a wedding dress from Gabrielle's Bridal Atelier and hairstyling & make-up by Armando Sarabia. All 4 models were both tall and White. In general, there's nothing wrong with that, but Rashida is neither, so there wasn't too much comparing she could do. She's always lamenting at how all the bridal magazines (particularly Today's Bride), don't have any Black brides in them. She sees lots of pretty bridal gowns or bridesmaids dresses, but is never sure how they'll look on darker skin.

1:03 - sitting in on the session about about wedding design, particularly wedding reception design by Gloria Wong and Nancy Liu Chin. I just learned that the two most popular styles are Classic &Mmodern (whatever that means), although only 5% of the audience said that that's the type of wedding they would like to have.

1:26 - Gloria and Nancy finally did something that appealed to me! They took one of their extravagant vignettes (called "The Penthouse"), and employed some of their cost-saving tips to make their "modern" look work on a tight budget. It was pretty cool. I'm all about ways of cutting costs and saving money! Although the demo was pretty interesting, the actual cost-saving tips weren't all that inspiring. They were pretty obvious stuff like using more readily available flowers instead of rare or exotic floral arrangement, simple vs. complex centerpiece arrangements, digital print vs. letterpress for invitations & place cards, etc. Still good info to have I guess.

1:36 - funniest moment of the day: Nancy was pointing towards the centerpiece of the "budget" place setting, trying to prove a point that one couldn't really tell that the design was done on a low budget. She asked the audience "can you even tell that that centerpiece is plastic?" Unlike most of the women in our session, Rashida could tell that it was plastic (as opposed to ceramic or some other undeservedly expensive material). She quietly nodded her head "yes" to herself. The only problem was that we were sitting in the front row (10 feet away from the panel), so Nancy saw Rashida and had this "oh... well... I don't think it looks like plastic!" look on her face. It was funny because Rashida didn't mean anything negative by it – it being plastic wasn't even a bad thing. She was just being honest that she could tell it was plastic. For the rest of the talk Rashida was known as "Plastic Girl." lol

1:50 - just missed out on all the food in between sessions because we were just hanging out in the main ballroom. I didn't know there was going to be more food! All I got was a cookie.

Missed out on the food and could only get an oatmeal raisin cookie
(courtesy The Flirty Blog)

2:05 - in a presentation by Lara White & Kevin Chin about wedding photography. It seems like this presentation is going to be more about showcasing the photographers' work as opposed to providing helpful information on choosing a wedding photographer.

2:22 - looks like I was right. It was essentially a showcase of the photographers' work, but I have to admit that the work was pretty good. Now I have an idea of the quality of a photographer's portfolio I should look for. Apparently there are certain types of shots that only professionals can take either because of experience or superior camera equipment.

2:37 - there are three tiers of wedding photography pricing: FREE - $1500 (part-time inexperienced hobbyist who more than likely hasn't done too many weddings and probably has only one camera), $3000 (has been around the block a few times and may get you a couple of great shots), and $5000+ (full-time wedding professional with lots of equipment and from whom you can expect lots of amazing shots). Wait... gimmie a sec... Okay, just checked out our budget and I'm looking for a professional who doesn't mind being paid like an inexperience hobbyist. Do you exist??? If so, please email me. No seriously, email me. Please. Pretty please? With cherries on top? I'll be you're best friend...

2:57 - there's only dessert available during this in-between-sessions break. We're hungry...

It's sad when you can't fully enjoy dessert because you're hungry for actual food
(courtesy The Flirty Blog)

3:35 - funnest (not to be confused with "funniest") moment of the day: during the music & entertainment session Rashida and I got a mini dance lesson from Cynthia Glinka. She was very spunky and pretty helpful. Rashida and I might have to hit her up for a session in order to be good for our wedding dances. She was probably my second favorite professor (after Andrew Hsu, the event filmmaker). The DJ, Ron Grandia, was also pretty cool too. Helped us realize that our DJ needs to be able to handle some MC duties (like introducing bridal party, etc.)

3:50 - yessssssss! Fooooooood!!! How many short ribs sliders can I take before someone complains? Looks like 4! We were so hungry. We really hadn't eaten all day. Rashida ate three of them! No, not the short ribs – the Portabella n' Tellegio ones...

I saved all the Portabella n' Tellegio sliders for Rashida...
(courtesy The Flirty Blog)

4:02 - the next session is "attire & beauty." did somebody say "nap time"?

4:08 - Armando Sarabia offered a complimentary hair or make-up makeover for one of the brides-to-be during the wedding dress talk to show off his work (so much for this just being informative). I seriously think he was about to pick Rashida before some dude on the other side of the room offered $20 for his fianceé to go up there. I was gonna put a joke here, but that would just be mean and unnecessary. It would have been interesting, however, to see if Armando's make-up artist would have been able to work with brown skin.

4:13 - Gabrielle Medrano bridal shop sells wedding gowns cost between $1,500 and $10,000. I guess we can add another professor whose services are out of our budget. It would've been nice if all the professors of the Wedding University did something similar to what Nancy Liu Chin did and provide a "budget" alternative. I'm not judging, but it seemed like most of the "students" there, like us weren't about to have a $30,000+ wedding. But maybe given the elite selection of professors, "budget" wasn't possible. I'm sure Nancy's wedding design services weren't "budget," just the type of stuff she could help implement.

4:40 - can someone please explain why a wedding veil (you know that sheer piece of fabric covering the bride's face) costs $300 on average?!?! I mean it's a glorified sun visor! If Rashida wants a veil, I'll just cut a couple of eye holes in a sheet of notebook paper and call it a day. I mean it accomplishes the function (covering her face) right??

4:42 - the woman who had a minor concussion 4 hours ago just won a prize for wedding gown preservation. I asked Rashida if she'd want to win that and she said, "What for? It's not like I'm ever going to use the dress again." Why aren't we just rent a wedding gown again??? One of the many reason men (tux renters) are sometimes more logical than women (expensive wedding dress buyers).

5:01 - looks like they saved the best for last. Andrew Hsu of Studio MSV just showed an amazing wedding highlight video. Definitely redefines my perspective on wedding videos. Instead of "videographer" he calls himself an event filmmaker. Judging from his work that title is more than accurate. It kinda makes me want to forgo the wedding photos altogether and just do an awesome video. The only problem is that these videos can take 6 months to a year to produce! And even though a majority of Andrew's talk was centered around showing off his own work (just like the rest of them), he did also include a number of great questions to ask your videographer in addition to the typical "are you free for this date?" and "how much do you charge?"

5:23 - aaaaand that's a wrap folks! We didn't win the grand prize from the Four Seasons Hotel for a free 3-night honeymoon stay in any of their tropical destinations. But even though we didn't win anything, we both felt that attending the Wedding University was definitely worth our time. We learned a lot about what to look for (and what to avoid) when it comes to figuring out place settings, choosing a photographer, DJ, etc. Definitely tired now and looking forward to a much needed nap, but I'm glad I attended.

Just when I thought Rashida had enough bridal magazines they give us many more...
(courtesy The Flirty Blog)

For more pictures of the event, check out the live blog from The Flirty Blog. All of my cool pictures are from there.

Previous Wedding Blog post: Southern California Dream Wedding Giveaway!
Next Wedding Blog post: Wedding Planning Tastes So Gooooood!

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Wedding Blog: Southern California Dream Wedding Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:21:00 +0000

About 10 days ago, Rashida and I entered into the Southern California Dream Wedding Giveaway. If we were to win, we'd receive a "Platinum Affair" wedding for 100 guests valued at about $100,000 at the beautiful Rancho de Las Palmas in Moorpark, California on Sunday, June 27, 2010. We would get to work with our own personal wedding planner and designer as well as over 50 of the best wedding event vendors (a.k.a. "The Dream Crew") to create the wedding of our (probably more so Rashida's) dreams.

The contest opened up way back in October and closes this Sunday, January 31st so we just made it! The winning Dream Couple will be chosen on Valentine's Day, so that's only a couple of weeks away. Up until January 10th, all of the entries were being posted on their blog, but in the last 2 weeks alone they've received over 200 entries (after only receiving 400 in the first 3 months), so "Dream Couple stories" are no longer being posted on their site.

I believe we posted ours around the 17th, so we were one of the 200. It's too bad because I had a whole plan of blogging about it and posting on facebook in order to get everyone I know to descend on the blog to leave us comments in hopes of our entry getting a lot of visibility by the Dream Crew. You see they are going to look through all 600+ entries (starting January 31st) and pick the top 10 (announcing on February 3rd). Then it'll be up for a public vote to whittle the contestants down to only 3 (announced on February 12th). Then the winning "Dream Couple" will be picked from the 3 by the "Dream Sponsors" on Valentine's Day.

Even though our entry didn't make it to the web, it's still eligible and hopefully will be picked in the Top 10. Then the huge publicity effort can begin to get us into the final 3! If you're interested, I've included our entry below (it's written from Rashida's perspective):

Dream Couple™: Rashida Bridges & Ben Ilegbodu
Palo Alto, California and Hayward, California

Tell us your Dream Couple™ Story (how you met, the engagement, etc. We want the full scoop).
Ben and I attended Stanford University together. He was one year ahead of me. We were pretty good friends in college, but nothing ever materialized romantically. The year following his graduation in the summer of '06 we lost contact and our friendship dissipated.

However in early 2008 we began talking via IM and started getting to know each other all over again. We also began teaching together in our Sunday School program in church. By the summer of 2008 we were talking to each other nearly every day for multiple hours. Although we both were interested in each other, neither one of us made a move. It wasn't until I helped him & his roommates pack up their apartment the night before they moved (until 3AM) that he FINALLY made a move.

We began dating shortly thereafter, and even before the word got out, people were suggesting that we would be a good couple. Our dating matured into a committed relationship and we got to know each other deeper & deeper. All of our friends who knew us both, gave the relationship two thumbs up and were hoping (as we were) that the relationship would end in marriage.

Well, shortly after finishing pre-engagement class at our church, Ben proposed to me. It was so sweet. He used my 1st and 2nd grade kids to assist in the proposal. He spelled out the question "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" on 15 sheets of paper and had them hold it up. When I walked into the room they yelled "Will you marry Mr. Ben?!?!" and there he was on bended knee asking me to do him the honor of becoming his wife. Of course I said YESSSSS!! I can't even describe all the feelings that were going through my mind & body during the whole proposal. I was shocked, excited, surprised, sort of embarrassed, shocked again, and probably thousands of other emotions that don't even have names! Ben planned it so well that he had a friend of his take pictures of the whole proposal: http://www.benmvp.com/2010/01/wedding-blog-proposal.html.

After I was done with the kids, I went around showing my family and friends at church the ring and telling them the amazingly cute story. Naturally they approved... of Ben, of the proposal, and of the ring! It was really pretty and he picked it out all by himself too. Many months ago he had apparently "borrowed" one of my rings and found out its size, so that my ring fit perfectly!

Tell us about the hardest thing you as a couple have had to face to date.
Something that all couples face is how to communicate effectively with each other verbally. While Ben and I struggle with expressing our feelings when we're upset, jumping to conclusions without asking for clarification, and other common verbal communication issues, we also have to deal with how to communicate to each other physically. Before Ben and I even started dating, I had decided that I would abstain from sex before marriage. It turns out that a year earlier, Ben had made a similar commitment.

So here we are, two young lovebirds trying to figure out how to physically show each other how much we love each other without breaking our commitments. Needless to say, it's been very difficult, especially knowing that we've been wanting to get married for quite some time. Moreover, we had to learn what we could and could not do in order to keep ourselves from slipping. While our friends & coworkers were having sleepovers with their significant others and going on fun & exciting vacations together, we reluctantly & painstakingly made red-eye car trips back to our respective homes and never went on overnight vacations. We quickly realized that those environments were not conducive to us following through with our prior promises.

But in the face of numerous temptations, what's kept us focused is the faith that God will reward our faithfulness when we do finally come together as one in marriage. Society teaches us that we should seek instant gratification, and sexual gratification is no different, but we've actually found that abstaining has enabled us to enhance or verbal communication. We've no doubt gotten into more arguments with the "extra time" on our hands, but we've also learned to resolve each conflict and that has resulted in a stronger relationship and hopefully a stronger marriage.

Tell us about what you think is the key to a successful marriage.
Ben and I had the opportunity to participate in a 15-week long pre-engagement class that was offered by the church. It's similar to pre-marital counseling, except it's in a group format and it's supposed to educate us in what it means to be married so that we could make an informed decision on whether or not to pursue engagement and ultimately marriage. The class boasts of a 100% success rate: either you A) move on to marriage B) realize you need more time to figure things out or C) break up. Breaking up is a success because they rather the relationship end in the class and not in the courthouse.

From the class we learned that having a threesome in marriage is a must! There are three people involved in a successful, loving & committed marriage: the wife, the husband, and most importantly God. With God at head of the relationship, the couple can withstand any trials that they may face and love each other unconditionally as God loves his children.

In addition, we learned that communication is key. Communication has been our struggling point. If I don't understand what Ben is saying or where he's coming from and I make assumptions, that can lead to hours and days of discontentment or fights (which generally are in the form of the silent treatment). But if we make the effort to be patient and listen to what each other has to say (and ask for clarification when necessary), we can avoid a lot of that ugliness.

In a nutshell, the most important aspect of a relationship is love. Financial wealth, fame, and fantastic sex are all great to have, but it's love that will sustain a marriage. Love comes in three facets. There's the erotic love which is how we'll physically express our love for each other. There's the friendship love in which we share roll through live together enjoying each other's company and sharing in each others hopes & dreams. And finally there's the unconditional love that loves even when the other person doesn't deserve it. As opposed to treating marriage as a contract where both sides say "I will love you if you do this or that", we want to treat marriage as a holy covenant in which we say "I will love you no matter what and I am in this thing 'til the END."

Tell us why you deserve to be the Southern California Dream Wedding Giveaway Dream Couple™.
Ben's an amazing man who I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with. I love him dearly and I know he feels the same way about me. He's my other half, my support, my best friend, my encouragement, the one I know I'll be able to count on forever. He's my blessing from God!

Now we're knee-deep in the planning process and a dream wedding getaway would be both a blessing and an amazing way to start or marriage and life-long commitment to each other with our friends and family all over the world. How cool would it be for some of Ben's family to fly in all the way from Nigeria and experience such a wonderful ceremony. Our wedding would be something that would be talked about for years to come all over the world!

Yeah, we kinda wrote a lot. That became even more apparently when we read some of the other "Dream Couple stores." If you've made it this far you must either be really interested or really bored (maybe a lil' of both?). In either case, you may also want to read all the many, many things we'd get if we won:

Designer Wedding Dress (not to exceed $1500) from Watters Brides and Lili Bridals & Formals
Bridemaids Gowns, Flower Girl Dresses, Groomsmens Ties and Pocket Squares (up to 5 bridesmaids, 5 groomsmen, and 2 flower girls) from Coren Moore
Orchids for all Wedding and Rehearsal Dinner needs from Amy's Orchids
Groom's Tuxedo from 1800MYTUXES
Rehearsal Dinner Invitations from Adair Designs
Wedding Day Photography and Albums from Alex Neumann Photography
Limousine Service from American Luxury Limousine
Bridal Party Jewelry not to exceed $1060 from Bonita J
Candy and Sweet Shop Bar and Gift Baskets from Butter 'n Eggs Gift Company
Rehearsal Dinner Location from Camarillo Ranch
Dance Lessons from Cliff Housego
Thank You Cards/Personal Blog/Graphics up to $500 from CNI Designs
Catering and Bar for up to 100 guests from D.J.'s California Catering
Ceremony Music from David Vito and the Morgan Sisters
Custom Cuff Links for Grooms Party & Grooms Boutonniere (groom, up to 5 groomsmen, 2 dads, and 2 ring bearers) from DeAnna Cochran Jewelry
Hair and Makeup from DeVenir Beauty
Rehearsal Dinner for up to 50 guests from Events by CP Catering
Lounge and Outlaying Area Floral Designs and Execution from Fleuretica
Tuxedos for Groom's Party (up to 5 groomsmen, 2 dads, 2 ring bearers, 2 ushers) from Friar Tux
Engagement and Reheardsal Dinner Photography and Albums from Gloria Plunkett Photography
Custom Wedding Garter & Ring Bearer Pillow from HCC Custom Wedding Garters
Ice Sculpture from Images In Ice
Wedding Invitation Calligraphy from Calligraphy by Jennifer
Bride's Cake from Judy's Great Cakes
Custom Purses for Bride/Bridesmaids (bride and up to 5 bridesmaids) from Katie Gallagher Handbags
Cookie Favors from Luv Bug Cookies
Event Photography (covering Launch Party, Top 10, Top 3, and Winner reveals) from Marie the Photographer
Potted Plants from Merrill's Garden Party
Photo Booth/Lounge from Mint Photo Lounge
Brides and flower girl shoes not to exceed $200 from Nina's Shoes
Ceremony Floral Designs and Execution from Paul Bott
Event Design and Full Wedding and Ancillary Event Coordination from Percy Sales Events
Wedding Ceremony and Reception Location from Rancho De Las Palmas
Officiant Services from Reverend Barbara Laughray
Mothers Dresses (up to 2 mothers) from Beverly Siri, Inc.
Event Linens/Chavari Chairs from Sitting Pretty Chair Covers
Bridal Party Facial (bride and up to 5 bridesmaids) from Skin Care Solutions
Rehearsal Dinner and Wedding Day Videography Services from Skyline Videography
Custom Hand Painted Aisle Runner from Starry Night Design Studio
Full Set of Lashes (bride and up to 5 bridesmaids, Oxygen Infusing Treatment for bride, Travel kit of supporting products) total not to exceed $1598 from Studio Lash
Groom's Cake from TC Bakery
Vinyl Graffiti from Ten23 Designs
Wedding Invitations from The Invitation Spot
Reception Rentals from The Tent Merchant
DJ and MC Services from The Wedding Music DJs
Pre Ceremony Quartet from Windsong Quartet
Reception Flowers/Bridal Floral Design and Execution from Your Image Botanical Design
One Year Membership from Golds Gym
Custom Gift Tags not to exceed $100 from Just Wenderful
Jewelry Set (necklace, anklet, bracelet, and hand jewelry) from Ladybead
Custom Bride and Groom Containers from Rebecca Sue Inc.
1 Complimentary Night Stay for Family Members for Sunday, June 27, 2010 (7 doubles, 3 executive suites) from Grand Vista Hotel
Wedding bands by Lumar Jewelry, Camarillo, CA
Party Trolley by Camarillo Trolley Company
Wedding night stay at the Acacia Mansion, Ojai, CA.

Yeah, that's a whole bunch of stuff! Most of which would not be in our wedding that we'd be paying for ourselves. In any event, we're hoping and praying that we win. Feel free to join us in praying for God's favor!

Previous Wedding Blog post: How about an Asian wedding???
Next Wedding Blog plost: Wedding University Running Diary

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Wedding Blog: How about an Asian wedding???

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:57:00 +0000

So Rashida and I went to Wells Fargo yesterday (Thursday) to set up a joint bank account so that we could budget and manage our wedding finances. Hopefully this will prevent us from overspending because once the account is empty, there's no more money!

Anyway, we were talking with Paul, the guy helping us set up our accounts. Turns out he's also engaged and is planning to get married in August. He asked us how many people were going to be in our wedding and we said around 100 folks or so. He told us that he and his fianceé are inviting 600 people! We're slowly seeing the work involved in just planning a 100-person wedding, so the thought of 6 times that amount sounds ridiculous.

Paul told us that original he and his fianceé wanted to have a nicer, small, intimate wedding, but their parents (both Chinese families) wanted to have the traditional Chinese wedding where you invite everyone. At first they relented, but then they realized what the positive implications of having a Chinese wedding were.

In Chinese weddings (and apparently most Asian weddings in general), people don't give wedding gifts (like juicers, toasters, etc.), but give the couple money. So even though a 600-person wedding is expensive, inviting 600 people who each give you money, not only covers the wedding, but pays for the honeymoon and then some! Think about it, 600 people giving approximately $100 each...? That's $60,000! Sounds like a wise financial decision to me!

It kind of makes us wish we had a similar tradition. If only Rashida were Asian...

Previous Wedding Blog post: Let the planning begin!
Next Wedding Blog post: Southern California Dream Wedding Giveaway!

See all Wedding Blog posts...

Wedding Blog: Let the planning begin!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:34:00 +0000

Well planning for the wedding "officially" began yesterday. I say "officially" because Rashida had begun thinking about everything shortly after she said "YES!" But I set a 1-week planning embargo so that I could enjoy the engagement before filling my mind (and schedule) with appointments, tastings, fittings, and the like.

The hiatus was semi-successful. Every now and again, Rashida would suck me into a discussion, but when it got too detailed, I'd quickly say "we can talk about it on Monday." That turned into a running joke between her and my mom. If I'd mention anything about the wedding, they would sarcastically ask "Is it Monday yet?"

Anyway, the first item of business was to figure out our budget. Basically everything is predicated on how much money we can spend. There are tons of resources available for budgeting a wedding. We used a budget planner from aboutWeddings.com. I was astounded to find that 43% of the costs go towards the reception, while on 2% are towards the ceremony — you know the part where the couple exchanges their covenant vows in the presence of God and witnesses. What should be the most important part of the whole day. Even stationery spending (invitations, menus, place cards, etc.) is higher than the ceremony expense. Sort of makes me want to save money and just have the ceremony and roll to iHop afterwards! But I'm sure a certain someone wouldn't approve...

Check out the wedding expenses by category:

Reception: beverages, cake, catering, rentals	43%
Ceremony: facility, clergy, rentals, license	2%
Wedding Coordinator	9%
Apparel: gown, formalwear, accessories	9%
Photography & Videography: shoot, edit, prints/copies	11%
Flowers: ceremony, cocktail hour & reception	7%
Music: ceremony, cocktail hour & reception	7%
Stationery: invitations, menus, postage, place cards, etc.	3%
Accessories:favors, flutes, cake & knife servers, etc.	1.5%
Gifts: attendants, parents, hosts, etc.	1.5%
Transportation: bride, wedding party, guests	2%
Beauty: hair & makeup / bride and bridesmaids	1%
Wedding Insurance	1%
Overages: tax, tips, etc.	2%

Previous Wedding Blog post: The Proposal!
Next Wedding Blog post: How about an Asian wedding???

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Wedding Blog: The Proposal!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:47:00 +0000

So on January 10th, 2010 at around 9AM I asked Rashida Bridges to marry me and... well she said "YES!" While getting engaged wasn't a surprise, the timing/location of the proposal was a total surprise for her. With the help of some friends (Tina & Tiffany) and a group of 1st & 2nd graders, I was able to propose in what will hopefully be a memorable way! Check out the pictures from the proposal.

Down on bended knee: "Rashida Kaleen Bridges, in front of witness big & small, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Rashida and I both teach in the Safari Kids Children's Ministry (i.e. Sunday school) at Abundant Life Christian Fellowship. She teaches 1st & 2nd graders and I teach Preschoolers (3-5 year olds). I coordinated with Tina (who thought this was going to be a birthday surprise) to get Rashida out of the room for a little while so that I could set up a surprise with her kids. Once she was gone, I told the kids (most of them already know me) that "Ms. Rashida" was my girlfriend. The response I got was "ewwwwwwww!!!!" I told them that when boyfriend & girlfriend are together for a while they decide to get married and the first step is that the boy proposes to the girl. And I asked for their help.

We hug after she said "Yes" and I put on the ring

I had spelled out "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" in crayon on 15 sheets of paper and I got 15 little ones to hold up the signs for me. The rest of the kids hid around the room. Once Rashida came back into the room, they all yelled out "Will you marry Mr. Ben?!?!?!" She was obviously very shocked & surprised at the time. I popped up from behind the kids, got down on a knee and asked her (in front of witnesses big & small) to do me the honor of becoming wife. And as they say, the rest is history...

The soon-to-be-married couple: Ben & Rashida

I'm still riding high on Cloud 9. The fact that I am engaged and soon to be married is finally sinking in. I'm excited! I think it'll fully sink in on Monday when the planning officially begins... Here goes nothin'!

Head over to facebook for the rest of the proposal pictures.

Next Wedding Blog post: Let the planning begin!

See all Wedding Blog posts...

Create Your Own 2010 Photo Calendar!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:50:00 +0000

November is almost here and 2010 is just around the corner. It's about that time to start buying 2010 calendars! Now you could go to the store and buy some cheap calendar that you and thousands of other people would have, OR you create your own 2010 calendar from your personal photos.

I have a new 2010 calendar template on Zazzle. All you have to do is click on the individual months, upload your pictures, and your done! You can also add your own photo to the cover too. And all the images that you put on the months, show up on the back for a one-page keepsake once 2011 rolls around.

Check out the calendar:

Create Your Own 2010 Photo Calendar by Personalization Shoppe
Browse 2010 Calendars

Here's a sample page with your photo at the top:

And the back page with all of your photos:

So what kind of calendar could you make? Well, you could use photos of:

Family
Friends
Pets
Artwork
Cars
Club/Organization
Landscapes/Sceneries/Flowers
Sports
Anything!

Get a head start on your holiday shopping and create a personal calendar for someone you know and/or love...

Zazzle Launches Letterheads and other Paper Products!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:43:00 +0000

Last week Zazzle, the leader in on-demand retail manufacturing, launched 7 new paper-based products including letterhead, photo cards, and invitations, furthering their foray into the multi-billion dollar business industry. They've had business cards, greeting cards, postcards, and calendars for quite some time now.

Hoping to nab just a sliver of that multi-billion dollar industry, I've created my own suite of classic letterhead designs. Each set of designs comes in 20 different colors, including black, red, green, cerulean blue, just to name a few.

Cerulean Blue Left Sidebar Letterhead by Personalization_Shop
Browse Sidebar Letterhead

Brown Left Sidebar Letterhead by Personalization_Shop
See other Sidebar Letterhead

Black Bars Letterhead by Personalization_Shop
View more Bars Letterhead

Navy Blue Rolling Hill Letterhead by Personalization_Shop
See other Rolling hill Letterhead

Britney Spears Tank Tops on Zazzle

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:41:00 +0000

The always-popular Britney Spears has recently made the yellow "B" tank top she recently wore on tour available on Zazzle.com. It comes in 3 versions: the standard "B" tank, the rhinestone "B" tank, and the customizable tank that allows you to put whatever letter you want on the tank! Check 'em out:

Britney Spears "B" Standard Tank Top by Britney Spears
Buy t-shirts at zazzle

Britney Spears "B" Rhinestone Tank Top by britneyspears
Design Custom T-Shirts at zazzle.com

Customizeable Britney Spears Tank by britneyspears
Many more tshirt designs available on zazzle.com

Can't get enough Britney? You can check out all of her merchandise over at the Official Britney Spears Zazzle Store.

ZAZZLE Referral Link Builder

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:35:00 +0000

Earlier today, Zazzle University released a new video tutorial on building referral links to ZAZZLE. Referral links are links to a ZAZZLE page with your ZAZZLE associate ID added to the end of a link to a ZAZZLE page. If someone buys a product on ZAZZLE as a result of your referral link, you'll receive a 15% commission of the sale. You can find more information on this topic on the ZAZZLE Associate Referral Page.

Anyway, this particular video outlined how to create a bookmark that'll automatically generate a referral link to any page you visit on ZAZZLE. The bookmarklet (that's the technical term) can be found at: http://www.robgreenleaf.com/rfIDbuilder.txt. You can copy the code there and create a new bookmark with the code as the "link." Or you can just go to any ol' site, bookmark it, and then change the bookmark to use the code. The video gives a good in depth explanation of this process.

However, there is an even easier approach. You can right-click on the "ZAZZLE Referral Link Builder" link below and select the "Add to Favorites..." option (or "Bookmark This Link" in Firefox). It's just that easy! Then anytime you want to build a ZAZZLE referral link, you can find the "ZAZZLE Referral Link Builder" bookmarklet, click on it, and your referral link will appear on the screen.

If you use Firefox, it's even easier. All you have to do is click & drag the "ZAZZLE Referral Link Builder" link up to the toolbar where your other bookmarks are, and your bookmarklet is automagically created for you!

Here's the link:

ZAZZLE Referral Link Builder

Hope that helps! Happy Zazzlin'!

Zazzle Photoshop Templates

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:43:00 +0000

If you're serious about trying to create attractive products in your ZAZZLE store that people will actually buy, you'll want to first create your design in some photo editing software. You will have to size your canvas to be the dimensions of the product that you're trying to create.

ZAZZLE makes this easy by providing Photoshop Templates (they call them "Guide Files") that you can download and use to create your designs. After you're done with your design, you can save the image (PNG format is best although they also accept JPEG, GIF & TIFF) and upload it into ZAZZLE's design tools. Using their image templates ensures that your canvas is the right size and that the image resolution follows ZAZZLE's image guidelines.

Also, if you don't have $600+ to shell out for Adobe Photoshop and you're using another image editing software (like IrfanView), the guide files are also available as transparent PNGs.

So enough reading, get to designing! Check out the ZAZZLE Guide Files for t-shirts, skateboards, postage, business cards, mugs, and many more!

2008 Philippines Missionary Basketball Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:06:00 +0000

Three months ago, I embarked on a trip that hopefully will continue to transform my life. On December 27, 2008, I left San Francisco airport with 13 other guys and one young lady for Mindanao Island in the Philippines, where we traveled all around the island playing basketball and telling people about the love of Jesus Christ. I had never been on a missions trip in the States, let alone in a foreign country, and for my first one I flew 14+ hours across the world. The closest I've come to missions trip were my biweekly visits to San Quentin Prison. It was actually through that ministry that I found out about the Philippines trip.

The 2008 Philippines Basketball Ministry Team

Before I go any further I'd like to stop and take time to thank everyone who supported my trip through their continuous prayers and financial contributions. In just 50 days, I was able to raise the $3100 needed to cover my flight, housing, and travel expenses in the Philippines through generous giving by friends and family. But while the financial gifts were instrumental in me making the trip, the prayer support was critical in us surviving the trip. There were a number of situations in which we avoided potential danger, and I can only attribute that to the Lord listening to the prayers of his children.

We traveled all over Mindanao Island, playing 27 games in 12 days and as many as 3 games in one day. A majority of the games were prearranged against the city or neighborhood's all-star team. Imagine the best players from a city basketball league playing against a traveling team. Those were the types of teams we faced. A couple of the games, however, were completely impromptu. We would be driving down a road, either on our way to our next game or home, and we'd pass by a basketball court with players playing a pick-up game and fans surrounding the court. We would stop, they would welcome us in, and we would play against them.

One of the unplanned games we played. The court was half concrete & half dirt.

You see the unique thing about the Philippines is that basketball is their national pastime. They are absolutely crazy about it. And the basketball infrastructure is pretty amazing considering the poverty level, especially in Mindanao. In the middle of what would seem like nowhere would be a concrete-paved basketball court with two backboards and rims. Sure the concrete might be broken, the backboards made out of wood planks, or the rims too high/short, but at least it was something. And in many cases the court was the center of the neighborhood, so when American basketball players are on the court, word got out quickly and we would have our audience.

The number of people who came to our games was simply amazing

So in a typical game, we would arrive maybe 30 minutes early to set up and begin drawing in the crowds. In the cases were there was nobody there, we would drive around the city in trucks parade-style, inviting people to the game. After warm-ups, the players from both teams were introduced. After shaking hands, we'd put a hat on each one of the players' heads and the audience loved it. I'm still not sure why that was. Towards the end of the 2nd quarter, the players who weren't in the game would go out into the audience handling out these blue pamphlets that was written in Tagalog (the primary native language). I don't know exactly what they said, but it basically gave an analogy between a basketball game and coming to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. They had time to read the pamphlet before the halftime show began.

Team photo with the other team before the game began

The halftime show was run by Tom Randall, the founder of World Harvest Ministries, and four of his boys from the Sankey Orphanage (Gilbert, Roy, Randy, and E-Mat). First Tom would do a series of juggling tricks with as many as three basketballs, and then the boys would come out and perform a unicycle show with him. I was amazed at how fluidly they moved on those things. Then the show ended with Tom pulling a little kid from the crowd, putting him on his shoulders and riding around the unicycle. The crowd always loved that.

Tom Randall riding around with a boy on his shoulders while riding the unicycle. He seems a bit terrified.

Following the show we would sing Alive! Alive! Alive Forevermore! in both English and Tagalog. Then one of our players would give his testimony on how a relationship with Jesus Christ has changed his life. I'm not quite sure how much they understood what we were saying, but they would always clap for us after telling our story. I came to learn that most Filipinos do know some English since most business and legal matters are conducted in English, but it's certainly not their primary conversational language. David, a Filipino who works at the Sankey Orphanage, would follow after us (speaking in Tagalog), summarizing the testimony, and explaining the purpose of the pamphlet we handed out earlier. The pamphlet had a tearaway portion, which the audience was to fill out in order to sign up for a Bible study that would be run by the local area pastors. At the beginning of the third quarter (and for the remainder of the game) we went around giving them pens and collecting the slips.

Crowd encircling us to listen to the testimony

In total, we received nearly 6000 Bible study sign-ups (out of the 10,000 we started out with), which was simply amazing. It was truly unfortunate, but we actually ran out of pamphlets for the last day of games because so many people were interested in the Bible studies. And it's not just those 6000 people whose lives will be affected. Those 6000 will tell others about Jesus and they too will become active in Bible studies and church. And then the next thing you know, there'll be hundreds of thousands of people coming to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Praise God!

Me & a group of kids after the game has ended. I signed a lot of autographs too

This trip has motivated me to do more to evangelize for the Kingdom. In my eyes, Tom Randall is like a modern-day version of the apostle Paul. He's done and is still doing so much (while going through many struggles) to get the Gospel out to those who don't yet know Jesus. In Mark 16:15, Jesus says to go into all of the world and preach the good news to all creation. It is not enough for us to just be content with our own salvation. In fact, that's selfish because someone else had to preach the good news to us in order for us to come to know Jesus and accept His freely-given salvation. So I'm hoping that this is just the beginning. I want to get over my fear of sharing with others my relationship with Him, and use this trip as a launch pad for being more active.

Me & Tom Randall (I'm also sporting the two-week old beard)

It is really hard to condense 27 games and 2-weeks of life experiences into a single account and I also took nearly 700 pictures while in the Philippines. So if you're interested in finding out even more about my trip, you can check out my photo albums over on facebook:

Your Name... in Braille!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 22:13:00 +0000

I've been quite busy with my efforts to revive my NameGear store on ZAZZLE. For the longest time, I only had "Hello My Name Is..." gear. But in the last couple of weeks, I added "I Love" gifts, Name Banner shirts, and now Braille t-shirts. Here are some examples:

Kalee in Braille by Name Gear
Many more t-shirts online at zazzle
View more People Health Cultures T-Shirts

Melo in Braille by Name_Gear
Make Custom T-Shirts At www.zazzle.com
Browse more Humor Sayings T-Shirts

WARNING: Wearing this Braille shirt may cause strangers to spontaneously rub on your chest. Wear with caution!

So basically, the name is in Braille across the chest and in small print below is the name in regular text. This would definitely make be a unique gift that no one would ever expect to receive. And it will also draw a lot of attention. Tell me what you think!

Curious as to what your name is in Braille? Search below:

Oh and one interesting thing to note is that I used the UIZE JavaScript framework to aid in creating all the designs for the 2000+ names in Braille. UIZE is intended to be used on websites to do cool on-page features, but it can also run outside of the web context. Photoshop has JavaScript scripting capabilities, and I was able to load in the UIZE framework and take advantage of some of its data libraries. From a technical standpoint, it was pretty cool. If you are interested in a free, open source, JavaScript framework, you should definitely try out UIZE.

I Love You Card (in 30 languages)

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:51:00 +0000

Yesterday I wrote a blog post featuring a new line of I Love (I Heart) t-shirt, mugs & hat gifts to show your love for someone. And a week ago, I showcased the Create Your Own Valentine's Day Card, that allows you to personalize a Valentine's Day card with your own picture nestled in between four hearts. Both are available with the help of ZAZZLE.

Well today, I present to you my last ZAZZLE Valentine's Day design. It's another card that says "I Love You" in 30 different languages! So whether you speak English, French, Spanish, Italian or even Latvian, this card will totally work for you. Check it out:

I Love You (30 Languages) by Holiday Gear
card at www.Zazzle.com
Browse Expressions Cards

The inside of the card reads "No matter the language my love for you will always be the same." Pretty cool, eh? The card cover says "I Love You" in the following languages: English, French (Je t'aime), Spanish (Te amo), Tagalog (Mahal kita), Chinese, Italian (Ti amo), Japanese, Hebrew, Yoruba (Mo ni fe), German, Portugese, Arabic, Korean, Swedish, Hawaiian, Polish, Thai, Swahili, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Russian, Afrikaans, Catalan, Romanian, Latvian, Ndebele, Gaelic, Slovak and Czech.

So if you've been holding out, looking for the best, most unique card to give to your loved one this Valentine's Day, this is it! I guarantee that they'll love it and love you for it.

Update: My I Love You (30 Languages) card was added to ZAZZLE's Today's Best for February 3, 2009!

I Love (Heart) Shirts, Mugs & Hats!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 06:16:00 +0000

Valentine's Day is less than 2 weeks away... have you gotten your significant other a gift yet? Well if you haven't, I've got just the gift for you: an I Love shirt, mug or hat! Show your love and appreciate with this great gift! Check out these samples:

I Love Rashida by Name Gear
Design personalized t shirts At www.zazzle.com

I Love Ben by Name_Gear
Design custom coffee travel mugs on zazzle
Browse Love Mugs

I Love Emily by Name Gear
Make a trucker hat On Zazzle.com
Browse People Health Cultures Hats

There are over 2000 names in the Name Gear store, so it's highly likely that your name will be there too! Search below:

Reminder: Valentine's Day is next Saturday, February 14^th. Suprise them with this lovely gift!

Create your own Valentine's Day Card!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:19:00 +0000

I just created a card template on ZAZZLE that you can personalize by easily uploading a photo of you and your sweetheart to create your very own Valentine's Day card.

So look through that "Me & my boo" photo album on your computer, Flickr or Picassa, pick the most lovey-dovey picture out of the bunch, and add it to the Valentine's Day card below!

LOVE Card by Holiday Gear
Create a greeting card online at ZAZZLE
View more Valentine's Day gifts

Looking for other Valentine's Day gift ideas? Check out:

Witness Mo Boobie!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Okay, okay, I promise this will be my last post concerning Bill Simmons (for a while at least). Yesterday I wrote about how The Sports Guy would like to be appointed to President Obama's cabinet in a newly-created Sports Czar role and last week I created a Bill Simmons mosaic poster.

LeBron finally has a good supporting cast

Well in his mailbag on November 14, 2008, Bill Simmons anointed the streaking Cleveland Cavaliers team this year as the Witness Mo Boobie era, named after LeBron "Witness" James, Daniel "Boobie" Gibson, and the newly added Mo Williams. No longer does LeBron have to carry the Cavs on his shoulders. He finally has other pieces on his team that can hopefully have him wearing an NBA Championship belt soon (if the Spors Czar has his way).

The Cavaliers have been playing fantastic ball this season, boasting a 24-4 record. Only the scorching-hot Boston Celtics have a better record in the league (27-2). The two teams meet next on Friday, January 9, 2009 in Cleveland and the game will be televised on ESPN.

So in typical BenMVP fashion, I have immortalized the Witness Mo Boobie era on a t-shirt using ZAZZLE. There are two designs:

One for dark-colored shirts...

The Witness Mo Boobie Era! by Sports Gear
Design Custom T Shirts On Zazzle
View more Sports Guy Shirts

And one for light-colored shirts...

The Witness Mo Boobie Era! by sports_gear
Get shirts on Zazzle.com
View more Bill Simmons gifts

Got ideas for other Bill Simmons shirts? Let me know!

Bill Simmons for Sports Czar!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:36:00 +0000

In his hilarious mailbag on November 13, 2008, Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy, accepted the "nomination" for Sports Czar in President(-Elect) Barack Obama's cabinet. On the first week of 2009, he will post a complete platform for his bid to become the first Sports Czar of the United States.

Among the duties he plans to faithfully uphold, he wants to create a college football playoff system (finally!) and have championship belts (a la WWF) for the reigning NBA champs to wear to every NBA game until they are dethroned (still gotta wear that collared shirt, though). He will forbid bullpens from emptying during baseball brawls (for some reason in baseball & hockey it's okay) and force NHL tickets to be no more than $75 (would I even watch the San Jose Sharks for free???). And my favorite, Gus Johnson will be promoted to CBS' lead play-by-play announcer for March Madness (particularly the Final Four). We shouldn't even need the Sports Guy for that to happen. It's really common sense.

In a blog post a few days ago, I showcased the Bill Simmons Mosaic Poster that I had created on ZAZZLE (it's pretty cool, check it out). Well, I'm so excited about the possibility of the Sports Guy becoming the Sports Czar, that I made an entire Bill Simmons product line on ZAZZLE with new Bill Simmons for Sports Czar gear.

I created a t-shirt that comes in many different styles and colors:

Bill Simmons for Sports Czar! by Sports Gear
Make personalized t-shirts At Zazzle.com
Browse other Bill Simmons t-shirts

A nice ringer mug:

Bill Simmons for Sports Czar! by sports_gear
Make ceramic coffee mugs With zazzle
Browse other Sports Czar Mugs

There's even a pack of 20 skinny cards to give out to spread the word!

Bill Simmons for Sports Czar! by Sports Gear
Create quality business cards online with Zazzle
More Sports Guy gear

Wondering what to do with that Obama/Biden bumper sticker (or even worse that McCain/Palin one)? Wonder no more! Cover it up, with a Bill Simmons for Sports Czar bumper sticker! Yes We Can! Yes We Can!

Bill Simmons for Sports Czar! by sports_gear
Create a custom bumper sticker Online at zazzle
Check out more Bill Simmons gifts

But that's not it! There are also ties, stickers, magnets, buttons, bags, hats, key chains, mouse pads and grilling aprons too! I also created real U.S. postage stamps, but they got rejected for "policy violations." I think it's because I had "Czar" on it. Not a very American-friendly term. The USPS doesn't fool around...

Rep Yo City!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:38:00 +0000

I just launched a new store on ZAZZLE called Rep Yo City, where you'll find gifts and products for your very own city, state or country! The store has actually been filled with thousands of products for a few weeks now, but I just finished up the look & feel of the site. Also, I made the navigation through the countries, states and cities much easier than ZAZZLE's default navigation. The store even features a big search bar on the storefront to make it super easy for you to find the place you are looking for.

The store has products for every U.S. state, its capital city, and its major metropolitan cities as well as every country, its capital city, and its major metropolitan cities (and a bunch of other cities I decided to throw in). This results in nearly 10,000 products (9,693 to be exact) in the store. Even with such a high product count, there are actually only 3 designs (Area Codes Gear, Banner Gear, and I Love Gear), which come in a variety of colors. I plan to increase the number of designs to at least 10 soon, but I just wanted to focus on getting the store in good shape.

Well enough talk, check out some of the products on display in the Rep Yo City store on ZAZZLE:

And there's many, many, MANY more! Search for your city or find it in the list below:

Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy, Mosaic Poster!

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:24:00 +0000

Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy, is probably my favorite writer. He's definitely my most favorite sports writer, and if he's not my overall favorite he's gotta at least crack my top 3 writer's list. I try to catch all of his articles over on ESPN.com within The Sports Guy's World of Page 2. If you haven't noticed, his microsite is listed under the "Sites I Like" section in the right-hand column.

Anyway, in his honor (and in hopes of making into one of his columns), I created a Bill Simmons Mosaic Poster over at ZAZZLE, ranging in sizes from a tiny 11 in. x 16 in. sheet to a colossal 4.25 ft. x 6.5 ft wall poster. That's bigger than me! Check it out:

Bill Simmons Mosaic Poster by Sports Gear
See all the posters At www.zazzle.com
See more Basketball shirts

This Bill Simmons photomontage mosaic poster is made up of 750 smaller images of past and present NBA players, both in action and portrait shots. Can you spot Kobe Bryant in his forehead? Even though he writes about all sports (although he mostly just makes fun of hockey), I chose NBA players because basketball seems to be the sport he likes the most. Now that I think about it, I should've just chosen Celtics players, past and present, to make up his portrait. Oh well... too late now.

If people really like this idea (and actually buy a couple of posters), I may actually do some more for famous athletes and other celebrities. Could be pretty cool.

Tell me what you think!

ZAZZLE Expands to the UK, integrates with PayPal

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:35:00 +0000

ZAZZLE has been pretty busy in the past 10 days. Last Wednesday ZAZZLE extended its reach across the pond by launching a localized offering for United Kingdom Zazzlers, www.zazzle.co.uk. The site is essentially the same in terms of functionality (the products & galleries on the main site show up on the UK site), but there are some differences that make the site fine-tuned for its UK audience. The most visible difference is that prices are shown in British Pound Sterling (£) instead of US Dollars.

The hope is that more British users will be willing to shop on the UK version of the site with the pricing in their own currency (with value-added tax and custom duties already included). Also the product search results, featured products and Gift Centre will be different since the types of products being purchased on the UK site will be more UK-focused (something tells me that very few Obama bumper stickers will be sold).

Having a UK-specific domain is also beneficial for shopkeepers because of the search engine optimization (SEO) benefits. ZAZZLE galleries off of the UK domain should rank higher for UK web surfers who use UK versions of Google, Yahoo! and other search engines because local websites generally get a higher ranking.

There's also other cool little things to help the British users feel right at home, like spelling things in their funky way (centre instead of center, personalise instead of personalize, basket instead of cart, etc). ZAZZLE has a special UK Launch promotion going on until November 30^th where you get FREE standard shipping to the UK and EU for all orders over £30. Enter UKZAZZLESHIP in the shopping cart to redeem the promo.

In order to help improve the relevancy of the products available on ZAZZLE.co.uk, ZAZZLE has launched a design contest around the following categories: British politics, humor, pop culture, sports and history. The overall winner receives £2500 (that's like $3700!) and the winner of each category receives £500. Check out the contest entries.

As of this Tuesday, ZAZZLE is also now fully integrated with PayPal. This means that users can now make all of their purchases using PayPal in lieu of credit cards. Contributors have been able to redeem their earnings as PayPal credit for some time now. So now the money you make hawking stuff on eBay can be applies to cool stuff on ZAZZLE!

I'm a PC store on Zazzle

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:20:00 +0000

It's pretty much impossible now to watch TV without seeing one of those Mac vs. PC commercials. You know... the ones with a supposedly cool 20-something (Justin Long from Live Free or Die Hard) and a computer geek with a striking resemblance to Bill Gates. It's funny because those Mac commercials never explicitly mention Microsoft, just PCs (although they do mention Vista a lot in the most recent ones), but they're obviously jabs at Microsoft. And if somehow you've happened to miss these commercials, here are 15 shorts from early on:

15 short Ads Mac vs PC

Well for a while it seemed like Microsoft was just going to continue to be the butt of Apple's commercials, but now the (evil?) empire has struck back. Instead of attacking Macs (which I don't think they would really be successful at), they've decided to just tout how great PCs are, listing the plethora of (cool?) things you can do with a PC. They have a new slogan, "Life Without Walls" and seemed to have spent lots of marketing/advertising dollars on their "I'm a PC" campaign. Apple has turned around and made a number of funny new commercials surrounding Microsoft spending significantly more money on marketing than on fixing Vista. Check out some of the I'm a PC commercials:

Pharrell Williams - Exclusive Video - I'm a PC

The Real PC - Sean Siler (I'm a PC)

Microsoft has also launched their I'm a PC ZAZZLE store. Some of the designs are pretty geeky, but I guess they are cool:

I'M A PC CLASSIC Tee by imapc
Shop the t-shirts section of zazzle.com
See more I'm a PC T-Shirts

I'M A PC And I Like Coffee Mug by imapc
Create a coffee travel mug with zazzle.com
View other I'm a PC Mugs

I'M A PC Pattern Board by imapc
Shop for a different skateboard design from zazzle.com
View more I'm a PC Skateboards

Check out Microsoft's store on ZAZZLE for I'm A PC mousepads, I'm a PC ties, and more...

Create Your Own 2009 Calendar

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:46:00 +0000

I created a 2009 calendar template on ZAZZLE that allows people to easily upload their own images and create their own personal 2009 calendar. It also won ZAZZLE's "Today's Best" award too!

So if you've got a bunch of family photos that you would like to turn into a calendar for grandma & grandpa, click on the EZ 2009 Calendar Creator below!

EZ 2009 Calendar Creator by BeneSol
Create a photo calendar made at zazzle.com
View other Events Holidays Greetings Calendars

Freedom of Dress vs. Freedom of Speech?

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:52:00 +0000

Dear BenMVP,

I'm SOOOOOOO mad at my (soon-to-be-ex) boyfriend right now! I can't believe him! He's supposed to be there for me and have my back, but he basically left me hanging. Here's what happened...

It was a warm & sunny day last Saturday, so I decided to have some R&R in the sun at the park that's a few blocks from my apartment. Because it was pretty hot and I wanted to get maximum tannage, I wore this tank top with some short shorts (picture Beyoncé in the Crazy In Love video... except I'm not that tight).

Learn how to train your man like you do a dog!

After 2 enjoyable hours in the sun finishing up Men are Dogs, I headed back to my apartment. About a block away from home, I saw a group of guys congregating in front of the corner store. I immediately got apprehensive because I knew that they were gonna say something. I just hoped that they wouldn't cross the street and try to make physical contact (I had my can of mace ready).

And as I passed them, they (unfortunately) didn't disappoint. They shouted out all sorts of humiliating things that ranged from crude to lewd. It's sad to say, but I'm now used to the "I hate to see you go baby, but I love to see you walk away!" comments, but c'mon... "Can I get some breasts with those thighs?" is not something I want yelled at me from across the street in front of my apartment building. I'm trying to remember this one dude's comment. It had something to do with a monkey wrench, tweezers, and baby oil. Now that I think about it... I don't even want to remember.

So anyway, I get home and I'm completely disgusted and feeling like a piece of meat, so I call up my (soon-to-be-ex) boyfriend. I told him what happened and about the comments those guys made. But instead of immediately being on my side and saying how disgusting those guys were, he asked me what I was wearing! As if it mattered! So I told him: tank, short shorts, flip flops, and some mean Gucci shades. And you know how he responds??? "Yeah... ok... yeah that makes sense then." THAT MAKES SENSE??? He's lucky he wasn't in the room with me or I woulda two-pieced him like this unfortunate girl in McDonalds.

All dudes are grimey! And apparently my (soon-to-be-ex) boyfriend is no exception. I still can't believe he thought their actions were acceptable. I should be able to dress however I like and walk wherever I want, WITHOUT BEING HARASSED!!! It reminds me of the time me and my girls went out to the club and I was wearing this sexy, black strapless halter-top thingy with a slit down the right side. I looked good. And I know I looked good cuz the next day when I put the pics on facebook, all my homegirls posted comments like "u look so cute girl!", "girl, u look fabulous!" and "OMG u look so fly!" (even though I know they really were just talking about my dress and not me).

But anyway, dudes at the club were grabbing at me constantly and made the same nasty comments too. Ok, I'll admit that my thang thangs were hanging out a lil' bit, but it's not my fault that I'm well-endowed in the upper respiratory region. I wanted to look sexy so I showed off my best assets. I mean, I wanted to attract attention, just not that type of attention.

But I still cannot believe my (soon-to-be-ex) boyfriend!!! Why doesn't he get it?!?! AND WHY ARE ALL MEN SO GRIMEY?!?!

Hating men right about now,
Vaseline (pronounced Vaz-lyn)

P.S. - When I say "all men are grimey" please know that I'm not talking about you. I know that you are the consummate gentleman. You could've hosted From G's to Gents instead of Farnsworth Bentley (shotout to Creepa!).

Ohhhhhh Vaseline,

First of all, slap your parents. Secondly, slap the doctor for actually allowing your parents to name you that. And lastly, thanks - I'm glad you noticed.

So I have mixed feelings about your situation. On one hand I feel bad for you because not only were you treated like a piece of meat (Kobe beef?), but your boyfriend didn't have your back. That's kind of sad. On the other hand, I feel like you should've known you would get that kind of (negative) reaction dressed the way you were so you shouldn't be so surprised.

I'm by no means saying it's your fault. Lewd comments are inappropriate and there should be no place for them. You should never feel disrespected or like a piece of meat (honey BBQ chicken?). But you can't expect to "dress sexy" and not get those negative responses (i.e. responses from dudes you're not interested in).

How not to dress for an interview

It'd be as if I went to a job interview here in Silicon Valley wearing a throwback jersey (do people still wear those?), baggy jeans, Tims, and a du-rag with the strangs wobblin' to the flo', and getting mad that they thought I was ignorant even though I am intellectually qualified for the position. I shouldn't be surprised at the reaction based on how I was dressed.

It kinda trips me out when girls showcase their best asset(s), but get mad at all the attention they are getting. I mean, I'm assuming that they are flaunting the goods to get some wanted attention. But doing that is simply "attention-seeking" not "wanted attention-seeking." They're definitely gonna get the unwanted attention too.

You mentioned that you should be able to go somewhere dressed how you like without getting harassed. But I ask, how would you feel if you went out "dressed to kill" and you got zero attention? How would you feel about that? Disregarding the inappropriate comments, I'd say that being approached by guys you're not interested in would also classify as being harassed as well. Shoot, I don't like it when weak girls be all up on me either. So like I've said, you can't get the good without the bad.

But honestly, I'm sad to say that some dudes are gonna be grimey no matter what you do. You could be looking severely tore up (from the floor up) like you just pulled a three all-nighters, wearing sweatpants with holes in them and a t-shirt that says "I'm only wearing this cuz I doo-doo'd in my good clothes," and a grimey dude would still be like "girl you so fine, you could doo-doo in my hand and I'd just laugh and say 'quit playin'." It's really sad actually.

And oh yeah, don't break up with your boyfriend. He was just being an idiot. I don't think he really meant any harm by it.

Please invest in some turtlenecks,
BenMVP

I imagine that there are some people (99.9% of them female) who probably don't agree with what I just said. I really don't think that it's the girl's fault. But then again, I feel like more conservative dressing typically results in less of that negative attention. However, I definitely don't want all females dressed like the Puritans. That would be beyond depressing.

If all dudes could behave like gentlemen and keep their thoughts & comments to themselves (or at least among their boys) even if she isn't leaving anything to the imagination, then things would be a lot better. But y'all should know that 4-tooth Jerome is still gonna try to holla no matter how you look...

This blog post is purely fictional. Any similarity or connection to actual people, places or events is purely coincidental. For educational purposes only.

Update: Check out the facebook note version of this blog entry for more comments on this topic.

San Quentin Basketball Prison Ministry

noreply@blogger.com (Ben) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:43:00 +0000

With my vacation and subsequent move from Sunnyvale to Newark, I haven't written a blog post in a couple of months. And this one is probably my first ever truly personal post.

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to participate in a basketball ministry at San Quentin Prison. It was an interesting experience to say the least and it was truly a blessing to be able to participate in it. Going in, I really had no idea what to expect. Am I going to get shanked if I dunked on an inmate? But after it was all over and I was heading back to the Bay, I realized it was more than I every could have expected and I can't wait to go back at the beginning of October.

Aerial view of the San Quentin Prison Complex

Pulling up to the parking lot outside of the San Quentin gates, I noticed that there were actually houses right outside of the gate. That's crazy! I can't imagine living right outside of a prison. The housing prices have to be great in order for people to actually live there right? But I can imagine that having a prison as your neighbor would work wonders as a scare tactic for your little kids.

Going into this whole thing, I was pretty nervous because I had no idea what to really expect. I wouldn't say I was scared, but just anxious. And the anxiety rose a number of notches when I wasn't searched when I went through the first prison gates. Sure we were a part of a Christian prison ministry and all I was wearing were some basketball shorts and a T-shirt, but still. I coulda been packing all sorts of stuff underneath. And if they weren't searching me, then that means they weren't searching everybody else either. Did that mean they weren't searching the inmates either??? Shux!

I was kinda glad that we didn't actually have to walk through the cell blocks to get to the yard. After going through another set of security doors and a long outdoor walkway, we approached the "Lower Yard." And I have to admit, I was shocked by what I saw when we turned the corner. There were hundreds and hundreds of dudes in blue jumpsuits engaging in athletic activities. The Lower Yard was actually kind of tight. It had a baseball/softball diamond, tennis court, ping pong tables, and of course a basketball court. You throw a swimming pool (and women) and it might as well be a sports club.

There was actually some rapport between the guys on my team and those on the prison team. The ministry has been going up to San Quentin every 2 weeks for the last few months, so a lot of the guys knew each other by now. And because of that they definitely knew that I was a rookie too (it also didn't hurt that I was one of 3 Black guys on a 12-man team). The prison basketball team had on orange and white Warriors jerseys and there were even prison referees. Before the game began, we took team photos and also one big group photo of both teams (pictures hopefully coming soon).

Being the new guy on the squad, I obviously didn't start. But halfway through the 1st quarter, I finally got my chance. I was mad nervous because the atmosphere on the court was kind of crazy. The court was out in the open, so there were like 100 prisoners surrounding the court watching the game as well and making all sorts of comments. Plus on the ride up, I was told about the "rookie curse" and how no one ever plays well in their first game because of the nervousness.

I was tasked to guard their best player, S.P., who supposedly is Gary Payton's cousin. He was pretty nice, with a sick crossover and great finishing ability. But he had no jumper. He definitely chopped me up a couple of times, which was followed by a bunch of "oooohs" (and other words & phrases) by the crowd. But I held my own and even dropped a few points myself. At halftime it was all tied up 39-39.

During halftime, both teams gathered at halfcourt, and a player on our team gave the message. The scripture was from 2 Timothy 3:10-17 which talks about how as followers of Jesus Christ we will all face persecution at some point or another because of our faith. It was a surreal experience hearing this mini-sermon in the center of a prison yard while people all around us were yelling and carrying on. A few inmates outside of the basketball team came to listen to the message as well, so I think it had some impact.

The defense on both sides tightened up in the 2nd half. I just completely backed off of S.P. and dared him to shoot (which he wouldn't or couldn't). He probably only had 4 points in the 2nd half after something like 20 in the 1st. Although I wasn't on the "1st team," I was in the game at the end when it was close to help us get the victory. We ended up winning 65-57, ending a 3-game losing streak.

Overall, it was a good game. It wasn't as physical and rough as I was expecting it to be. I was imagining it being "no blood, no foul" prison rules. But in fact their team was complaining about not getting any calls. The guys were real cool too. When you think of state penitentiary prisoners, you think of hardened criminals, but these guys were nothing like that. They were just like regular dudes I'd play pick-up ball with in the parks. They are somebody's son, father, husband or brother. I don't know their back stories and I was only with them for a few hours, but it's obvious that they weren't inherently bad or anything like that.

After the game, we had another group prayer where the leader of the ministry took prayer requests from the inmates. They asked for prayer for the victims of all of the hurricanes plaguing the Gulf Coast region. They also asked for prayer for a smooth transition as San Quentin racially integrates the cell blocks. Currently the cells are segregated with Blacks rooming with Blacks, Whites rooming with Whites, etc. Apparently there's an integration plan on the horizon which could cause lots of tension to say the least.

Next we went to the "Upper Yard" where cats there were walking around in orange jumpsuits. This yard didn't have any of the amenities found in the Lower Yard. It was just flat hot concrete surrounded by high walls. My guess was that these were the more serious offenders. But while we were there and all up in the mix of them, they were having a Real World Fair. People from the outside representing employment agencies, health care, and the like came to provide real world education to the inmates that they could use when they get out (eventually). The received books, booklets, and pamphlets that they could take with them. It was definitely a good thing to see.

One crazy thing was just the sheer number of inmates there were. It's just sad to see so many men behind bars. Every one of them probably represented a broken family too. And it was even more disheartening to see that at least 75% of them were Black. Especially when we only make up less than 15% of the overall US population. Something's not quite adding up.

But as I walked out of San Quentin Prison, it made value my freedom and realize how much I take it for granted. After the game was over, I got to go back home, shower, and take a nap in my bed. They, on the other hand, can't go home, and can't shower or nap unless the guards tell them they can.

As it seems with every ministry in which I participate, I feel like I was blessed more than I was able to be a blessing. The inmates did sincerely thank us for taking out our Saturday morning to come spend time with them. And it wasn't just the ones on the basketball team either. They were all truly appreciative. But I still feel way more blessed.

So I can't wait until the 1st Saturday of October when we'll be going back. The season is coming to a close so I definitely want to make the most of the few games remaining. And from a selfish standpoint, I want to have a more BenMVP-esque game as well.

Update (3/12/09): Here are the group pictures from our time in San Quentin last year. Here's our team:

The Ministry Basketball Team

The Ministry Basketball Team with the San Quentin Warriors