I’ll admit it.
I made you wait WAY TOO LONG for this third and final part.
I wish I could say I have just been enjoying married life (I HAVE!!) but what I’ve actually been doing is vacuuming.
In the wedding chaos Martin managed to pick up fleas…. And bring them INTO MY HOME. And everything I’ve read says that vacuuming everything, everyday is key.
I said so many bad words this past week. Which is unfortunate because before I discovered any bugs I had promised Ben I would stop saying the F word (Because #motherhood). But all bets were off when I found those little suckers. Anyways- I vacuumed for HOURS, did more loads of laundry than ever before, and exposed my new husband to a level of crazy that even I didn’t know existed. But- I am happy to announce- we are FINALLY a bug free home.
But I’m guessing you want to hear less about bugs and more about how the story ends…
Spoiler alert- we get married and have a baby. (Didn’t see that coming. I know) But BEFORE that happened- we worked out.
Early in the summer when we were still trying to hide our feelings- Ben would workout… STEPS away from my desk. I’d be minding my business, look up from my computer and see this hunk of a man working out, lifting all the things, usually shirtless. ————-It. Was. Torture. ————-Sometimes he’d be doing an extra heavy lift and he would ask me to come watch… for motivation. (….How did I not know that he was into me? So freaking obvious.)
Anyways, by the end of the summer we were working out together. It wasn’t pretty. Not because we didn’t know what we were doing- but because when you put two people together that are stubborn as heck AND crushing on each other- it’s gonna be a cold day in hell before one of us says “ya that’s probably good for today”. We did some crazy stuff. 1000 rep work outs, 10 minutes of strict pull ups, long runs, and lifts that were way too heavy.
But there was this hill…We called it The Monster. And it was. The loop was exactly 1 mile. And a quarter mile of it was STRAIGHT up. Listen guys- I love running hills but this thing was nasty. Even talking about it now gives me goosebumps. So naturally at the END of our first workout together- we decided to run it. Both of us being stubborn AF resulted in a dead sprint to the top and that feeling where you’re certain you are either going to die or vomit. Or both.
We ran that hill 87 times before the Summer was over. There were days when Ben would grab my hand and all but PULL me up to the top. I don’t know why but it felt like the harder the workout, the closer we became. The more painful the workout, the more I learned about what kind of man he was, and what kind of woman I was when I was with him.
As Summer came to a close, Ben and I put the finishing touches on a gym event called The Fit Games. We planned to host a fitness challenge for all our members and their friends and families. After the challenges were over we would declare a winner and then all head out for celebratory drinks.
It was the perfect plan…. For several reasons.
- 1) The theme was superheros and I had the PERFECT costume in mind.
- 2) Ben had suggested we hangout after the Fit Games and I was PRETTY sure he didn’t mean as work friends (#FINALLY)
The day before the event, I was training the kids with Ben and one girl asked what I was going to dress up as.
My Answer?
Mrs. Captain America. Because why be Miss America…when you can be MRS. America. (You’ve all seen Captain Americas butt in that blue suit, you see where I’m coming from….Right ladies?)
Anyways… I’m pretty sure that nugget of wisdom is something she will carry with her always. She skipped over to Ben to ask him what he would dress up as…
“I don’t know… Maybe Captain America”
GAME. ON.
You know when you’re so excited for something but also kinda nervous because you know it will be a big moment. Like it feels hot and cold all at once and you cant stop sweating. (TMI? Never.) YA. That’s how I felt on August 26th. It was a Friday and the event would be held that evening. We taught classes as normal Friday morning and then ran around like crazy people to set up the event.
Balloons.
Drinks.
Scorecards.
All of it.
When everything was set, I left to go get dressed. My outfit was pretty dang perfect- but there was one thing missing. A rock. I knew Mr. America would not disappoint in the ring department so I needed something big and flashy. A blue ring pop would do just the trick.
Except NO ONE sells ring pops these days. (There are childhoods at stake here people!!) I casually mentioned to Ben that a blue ring pop would complete my outfit and if he happened to see one- I needed it. It turns out Ben wasn’t about to let my request go unnoticed. I learned later that he went to 4 different stores to find one to deliver to me. Can you say DREAM MAN?
Red, White, and Blue everything.
The event went off without a hitch. There was loud music, sweaty high fives, and lots of laughs. Just like we had hoped. When it came time to clean up and go out for drinks, Ben and I rode together.
Not pictured: My shield and american flag tennis shoes.
All the competitors!
Now, we are three parts deep into this story and by now you HAVE to know that I am a mess. Just always. But I am CERTAIN I am not to blame for this next one.
There are signals. Everyone knows that when a guy is going to kiss a girl, you lay the groundwork so she knows it’s coming.
We parked on the street just a block or so away from the bar. We were making small talk about how well the event had gone and I’ll admit– I knew he wanted to kiss me. But when he leaned in, his arm placement was all wrong. And I SWEAR he was trying to hug me. So…that was awkward. Mainly because it ended with a weird neck hug and Ben walking me into the party thinking he had somehow misread all the signals. Naturally I had no idea. I was just happy to be at the party with Ben, and HAPPIER knowing that we would get to hang out together afterward.
Once we made it back to his place, I swear I fell in love for real.
It seemed we had settled into the evening just right- Good conversation, pizza, and lots of laughing. All the sudden Ben stands up, puts a record on, and asks me to dance.
Wanna know the best part?
I had never slow danced with a guy. I always joked to friends that I didn’t know how and that I would save slow dances for my husband. And here I was standing in Benny Reece’s apartment for the first time, slow dancing to an old country song.
It felt like the most natural thing in the world.
In that moment I knew God had set this whole thing in motion long before I tried to. It was like He knew I needed an obvious sign- He used my own words and declarations to show me- so there was no chance of getting mixed up.
Ben asked if he could kiss me, and I said yes. I could feel his heart pounding. He told me later that he was thinking- “wow, this is the girl I’m gonna kiss for the rest of my life”. It was my first slow dance and my last first kiss. A killer combo if you ask me.
The concert Ben had gotten tickets to came eventually, but by then there was no turning back. We didn’t fall in love- we jumped in head first. We chose each other. And we kept choosing each other. And on October 13th 2018 we stood up on stage and promised to choose each other everyday for the rest of our lives.
So that’s the story of us. Or at least the first chapter in a book that seems to get sweeter and sweeter with each turn of the page. Life is by NO means perfect. We argue, we cry, we spend lots and lots of time picking ourselves up and dusting ourselves off. But this life we live is filled with love, and if you take a second to look- I bet yours is too.
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