You asked for it, here it is! The Ben questionnaire extraordinaire!

I rather suspect Ben might have some addendums. If he does he'll have to leave them in the comments section ...

How did you meet Ben?
We met sometime over Christmas break 2006-2007. He was home from BYU for the holidays and we went bowling with our mutual friends. I thought he was really cool and wished he lived closer. Turns out, he thought that same thing.

Where did you go on your first date?
Well, what I would consider to be our first date was dinner at Ted’s to celebrate me getting a long-term subbing job. Apparently at the time he wasn’t thinking of it as a date, but I knew he liked me so I considered it a date since it was just the two of us and he planned and paid for it and it, although though I had no intention of dating him at the time. Our first official date after we hooked up was to Shakespeare’s theater where we ate some scrumptious food and watched A Midsummernight’s Dream.

How long have you been together?
Well, officially, 1 month and 1 day. (I know, I know …)

Who eats more?
Depends on what we’re having. A lot of times we eat about the same amount, but sometimes Ben eats more.

Who said I love you first?
Well, I knew he wanted to, so I said it first to break the ice and he started gushing soon after ;-)

Who is taller?
Uh—definitely Ben. He’s 6’2”.

Who is older?
That would be me! I’m 27 and Ben is one month shy of 24.

Who sings better?
You really have to be more specific; who sings “what” better. We are both very good singers (if I do say so myself). But if I had to answer one of us, I would say I sing better. Ben sings louder …

Who is smarter?
We are both so uber smart it’s sickening. He has an amazing memory but he loves it when I go on and on about nerdy scientific stuff.

Who does the dishes?
We do them together, always.

Who cooks dinner?
Well I have a slightly larger repertoire and I really enjoy cooking. He will always help me in the kitchen though. He is an eager assistant. He also has a few things that he cooks very well. It stresses me out when he fries the garlic before the onions though … Yesterday I was so tired that he made dinner all by himself and MY it was tasty!

Who drives when you are together?
Ben, always. He loves to drive and I hate it. Perfect combination. He always opens the car door for me too. I love it!

Who is more stubborn?
Hmmm…I think I pretend to be. We’re actually both pretty flexible. If he’s not being flexible I call him on it. If I really want something though I can use my feminine wiles to get it.

Who is the first to admit when they’re wrong?
What? Are you saying I’m sometimes wrong?

Whose parents do you see the most?
Right now, we see Ben’s parents the most as he lives with them and my parents live in NY.

Who kissed who first?
Ben kissed me. He claims he could tell I was dying to kiss him. Whatever. Anyway, I taught him how to be a good kisser and, oh baby!

Who proposed?
Well technically Ben brought up the subject of marriage first but I decided first that I wanted to marry him. It took him a full week beyond me to decide. I kept playfully trying to hurry him up so I did ask him to marry me first, but he wouldn’t commit. Ha!

Who is more sensitive?
Definitely Ben, but we’re both sensitive to others’ needs.

Who has more friends?
Not sure really. Probably about equal.

Who has more siblings?
Ben is the youngest of eight. I am the second of five.

Who wears the pants?
That would most definitely be me.

Palmyra it is!

Well initially we were thinking we would get married in Atlanta but some things came up and we started to rethink where we wanted to get married and began seriously considering other options, including Palmyra and Washington, D.C. The more I thought about Palmyra, the more I could see it happening there and the more excited I became! So we made the decision to get married there and I called the temple this morning and made the appointment! The seating is limited and Ben has a big family so we're sending out individual invitations to the sealing. It was so crazy after I called, it was like--wow, this is really real! I'm really getting married! So we're planning on getting married in the morning of July 12th and we'll be having the reception the night before, Friday the 11th at the church. We didn't want to drag everybody all over the place on Saturday and have to have everything ready while attending a sealing at the same time. Not to mention, we can leave on our honeymoon right after the wedding luncheon, and all our guests from out-of-town can tour Palmyra. Hooray! Also, we'll be taking engagement pictures this week so as soon as I get those, I'll be posting them here. Things are crazy but they are coming together ...

Engaged ...

Well, I'm engaged! Only it's not April 1st and I'm not kidding this time! Ben and I have decided to get married. Just a note for those thinking about getting married--buy the ring a month in advance since that's about how long it takes to order these things nowadays. We ordered the ring from the jeweler today and found out that it will take 3-4 weeks to get here. So, we went to Wal-Mart to get a cheap costume ring and then we went to the park and as we were walking across a bridge he dropped on one knee and proposed then put the interim ring on my finger. It was cute. I can't wait to get my real ring as it is BEAUTIFUL. I can't even begin to describe how frustrating it was at the jewelers this morning when we found out that it would take 3-4 weeks to get the ring. They could custom make a similar one in 2 weeks, but without the bezel-set diamonds that I love. So we decided to go ahead and get the ring I really wanted.

The diamond we got to go in the ring is beautiful too. The jeweler brought out several different diamonds, all of which were either too low-quality or too expensive. We were getting frustrated again when another of the gals that works there said, hey we just got this 1 carat colorless SI2 in yesterday. When the salesman unwrapped it we both just gasped and went WOW. It was in our price range too so we said, "done deal" and got it all set up. I'm so excited! I know it's going to be three weeks before I get it but I'm okay with that. So, we're planning on getting married on July 12th. We're not sure exactly where we'll get married yet, but we'll let everyone know as soon as we know!

Tootsie Rolls

I couldn't think of a title for this post so I looked up at my bookshelf and saw the package of tootsie rolls left over from my trip to Washington DC. We stopped the second day we were there to get some more ice for the cooler and I saw a small bag of tootsie rolls that for some insane reason I was really craving right at that moment. So I bought it and immediately devoured half of the tootsie rolls in there and I finished the rest for breakfast. I'm not even sure how you classify tootsie rolls. What kind of candy are they anyway? You can't describe them! I just may have to do some research on this. (Note: upon further research I discovered that Modern Marvels describes them as "not quite caramels, not quite fudge, but something like both". Makes sense to me!) I think one of the reasons that I like tootsie rolls is almost completely sentimental. My Grandmother Brown used to take me to a candy shop when I was a little girl and she would buy me a couple of these little brown candy bears which, incidentally, tasted a lot like tootsie rolls. So every time I bite into a tootsie roll, I remember walking out of that sweet shop with my grandmother many many moons ago.

In other news, things with Ben are going really well. We have both fallen very deeply for one another, despite the fact that it has only been a month. I am SOOOOO glad I finally decided to give him a try.

We had a really fun time last Saturday. We went and saw ironman in the afternoon and then we went over to Stone Mountain at around 7 and started hiking around the mountain. Well, I did not realize that when Ben said we were going to "walk" around the mountain, that we were really going to HIKE around the mountain. So here I am thinking 5 miles, 2 hours, no problem. Well, we got about 1/2 of the way and it was already 9 o'clock and dark. We made it to the laser show around 9:30, watched that until 10, and then took the road instead of the trail back to the car. It was really fun but we were tired by the end of that. Sunday was a good time too. We are just loving all this time we get to spend together. There never seems to be enough time to be together!

I'm also working, hooray! My long-term for subbing was up on May 6th, and the very next day I started a new job working with my roommate as her assistant director up at Legacy Academy which is a preschool/daycare. It's been pretty fun so far. It's not full-time, but I've been enjoying it nonetheless. Some days are full-time, others are not. It just depends on how many teachers are out, etc. Anyway, I can't complain. Life is very, very, very good!

Ben and I at Stone Mountain

Life is Good

I know it has been FOREVER since I've posted anything. Believe me, I know! I honestly haven't had two seconds to sit down and think about it until now. The reason why I've been so busy is that I started dating someone 2 1/2 weeks ago. It was really funny how it all worked out. Ben has liked me for about 3 months now but I kept pushing him away because I was so devoted to Joe and I didn't want to ditch Joe on his mission. But after Ben and I got back from DC I didn't see him for a week, I really missed him. It was the first time I had gone several days without seeing him. I realized then what that must mean and the Spirit softened my heart. I began responding to his advances and I must say, the last 2 1/2 weeks have been some of the most amazing in my life. I am very happy to be with Ben. He is an amazing man and he is head over heels for me. I am becoming head over heels for him too. Life is Good ...