How We Met, Nickname

Sorry, this weekend has been busy and again zoomed by so FAST - I totally forgot that I wanted to tell our little 'how we met' story. Didn't mean to create such a hype about it, I think it's funny & sweet but not really a huge or mysterious story. Anyhoos here it is:

****Warning, longer than I intended, oops. You've been warned!****

Ben and I graduated high school the same year (different schools) and started Mesa Community College that same year. He wanted to be a Firefighter and I wanted to be Registered Nurse, so we were taking our pre-requisites for those programs. I really enjoy exercising, so I decided to get some easy credits by going to the Fitness Center. It was either the 2nd or 3rd week in September when I walked into the Fitness Center and went straight to the mats to stretch out, looked up and saw this really cute guy working out on the pec deck machine! I saw him smile and he had THE CUTEST dimples (hmm wonder where Anson gets his dimples)! I totally thought - JACKPOT!! Totally glad I signed up for that class. tee hee :) It almost seemed like he was on that same machine (and lifting a LOT of weight) at the same time that I arrived each day, so hence the nickname "Pec Deck Man" or "Hot Pec Deck Guy" was how I referred to him with my friends for the longest time! Well, we smiled at each other every time we saw each other, but didn't really talk. After a couple weeks we finally said "Hi" to each other. Ok, that totally 'broke the ice' and then we started chatting & joking around every time. He was so much FUN to be around & we had FUN together! I kept waiting for him to ask me out. I had made another friend in the gym and asked her to have a 'little talk' with him before I got there the next day. (I know it sounds like jr high, but I needed to know why he wasn't asking me out when we were laughing together all the time & totally flirting) By the way, for some reason we never really introduced ourselves for several weeks, and the only we way we finally found out each others' names was because I asked to look at his school I.D. card, then I flashed him mine too. Yep, I was a clever one. ha ha

Oh, I forgot to mention that he usually arrived before me & left before me because he had class. So, when he left, he had to walk past the huge window that spanned half the building. He always took off his shirt as he went out the door and strutted past the window. Ok, I totally took the bait and made sure that I was working on equipment that kinda faced the window, so I could watch (but I didn't let him see me - I know I'm a dork, but hey, he looked good). heh heh

Back to the story, my friend mentioned to him that he should ask me out. Turned out that he was already dating someone! So, all that flirting was just him being friendly and funny, I guess. I was SO BUMMED!! But we still laughed together all the time, and of course, I teased him a little but he thought it was funny. I kept hoping that he would break up with his girlfriend and ask me out. I know, not very nice, but that's what I was thinking. Couple months later, I started dating someone too.

He had to take extra classes the next semester, so I didn't see him in the Fitness Center anymore, but only once in a while around campus. He also gave me HIS phone number at the end of the semester in December, knowing we would hardly see each other anymore. I didn't call him because I was dating someone. I finally called him a couple months later when we broke up. We chatted for the longest time! And he said he wasn't really a phone person, well he could've fooled me, but maybe it was only with me that he could talk for hours. We chatted a few times on the phone, but by then he was dating someone else. Geesh, it was like we just couldn't get our timing right together. One day he called me and we had both recently broken up with someone so he FINALLY asked me out in April! YAY!!

However, my friend, Alicia, had also set me up on a blind date for the night before my BIG date. Ok, so my blind date went really well, my first date with Ben the next night, was ok. I thought he looked totally HOT when he picked me up and in his truck was a tape (yes tape not cd) of "Flash Gordon" soundtrack. That was one of my favorite movies!! None of my friends really knew that movie. I was thrilled! We played the music and sang! We went to see the movie "Speed" with Keanu Reeves & Sandra Bullock - great movie. We had fun, but it was also a little weird. After our date, he kept calling me, but I refused to take his calls & didn't call him back. He seemed kind of self-centered and I didn't want to date someone like that. One day I had answered the phone and it was him, so I told him to 'get over himself' and call me when he figures out how to do that. I know it may seem rude, but I thought he was too vain. Somehow, I ended up dating my blind date for the next few months. It wasn't until the end of summer that I heard from Ben and he seemed very humble and really sweet, so we hung out just as friends one night. He had changed & totally for the better! Soon my blind date boyfriend had received his mission call and was leaving soon, so we decided to be 'just friends'. YAY!! That meant that I could date BEN!! We hung out at school all the time and it was the BEST!! We both had been hurt before in past relationships, so we were trying to be cautious and didn't want to consider ourselves 'dating' just yet (but neither one of us was dating anyone else). By Christmas, we were boyfriend/girlfriend and not just friends anymore.

It wasn't long after that we totally fell in LOVE! We really wanted to get married, but we were still in school and had lame part-time jobs. We decided that as soon as our semester was over in May, that we needed full-time jobs to have enough money to support ourselves (we were both still living with our parents). That summer we both did exactly what we set our minds to do. I also moved into an apartment by myself.

Then, the most wonderful day came - November 2, 1995. Ben proposed to me while we were walking around the Mesa Temple grounds. It was so perfect!! I didn't even suspect it. It was a total surprise! I LOVE surprises and I don't get surprised very often, so it was GREAT!!

We were married on March 15, 1996, 7:17pm. (my Aunt Carol checked the exact time and let us know afterward)

So, we met September 1993
Flirted and laughed for a while not even knowing each others' names (just friends)
Went on FIRST date in April 1994
2nd date/hang out July or August 1994
Actually dating (boyfriend/girlfriend) by Christmas 1994
Engaged November 2, 1995
Married March 15, 1996
Married for 12 years - March 15, 2008

I think Ben is totally my Mr Right! I'm so glad we met, got to know each other really well, became best friends, and fell in LOVE! He is my #1 BEST FRIEND and Partner!! I LOVE him with ALL my HEART!! I know that he LOVES me too & would do anything for me and our family! He is the BEST husband and father I could have ever asked for! (And he is still HOT after all these years!)