Dear Benjamin,

I hope you know that you are my whole world; you mean everything to me. I am so glad to be married to you. 

Thank you for doing the dishes when I don't. 

Thank you for driving me to dance when I didn't have my glasses. 

Thank you for making such an effort to make date night special. 

Thank you for getting Subway for me that one day. 

Thank you for making me oatmeal in the mornings. 

I know I don't always do the best at showing you that I notice and appreciate the effort you put into our marriage. I want you to know that I do notice. I know that you are committed to us and I want to show you always that I am too. I will love you forever. 

Thank you for being so patient with me, all the time. You always treat me like I'm the best thing that ever happened to you. I love you so much for it. 

Love Eternally, 
Charly 

The Moment I Decided to Marry Charly

I remember exactly what I was doing the day I decided to marry Charly.

Charly and I had been talking again through Facebook, texting, and even Skype. She had sent me a book that told the story of the things she had been doing since our breakup.

I was at my sister Melissa's house and I was reading the book she sent me. Something about the book captivated me. I couldn't put it down. I read it from start to finish with almost no interruptions. The book made me realize how much I missed Charly and even how much she had grown. I felt the Spirit very strongly and I knew that I wanted to marry her.

That night I prayed about it.

"Dear Father in Heaven," I started, "I want to marry Charly. What do ya say?"

After asking the question I was filled with a sense of peace and I knew that Charly was a great choice for me and that God approved. I could almost imagine Him saying, "Go for it Ben!"

It was a special moment for me and I will never forget it. I know without a shadow of a doubt that Charly and I will have a happy marriage and that I made the right choice when I decided to marry her. It won't always be easy but it will always be worth it and I know that as long as we choose, God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost will help us in our lives and marriage.

The Moment I Decided to Marry my Husband

This one is tricky for me. Have you ever tried to pinpoint a moment that gradually grew into being?

I remember a couple months after we went on our first date, we were at my cousin's house together. I was sitting on the couch and he was rolling around on the floor with my seven-year-old cousin, playing some sort of game with her. As I sat watching, I knew that Benjamin was the sort of guy I could marry, the sort of man I wanted as the father of my children. 

It wasn't until later that I decided Benjamin was the one for me. I think it happened before we were officially dating; I knew that Ben had all the qualities that I was looking for in a spouse. 

I remember after we were dating, I was so sure Benjamin and I would end up together. We were in love and I knew that, so I didn't foresee anything coming between us. I would pray to Heavenly Father at night and say, "Heavenly Father, Benjamin is the one I want. I want to marry him." I felt so good afterwards, every time, I was sure that meant that I just had to be patient because eventually, my wish would come true.

Then we broke up. 

That put a damper in all my plans. It was hard for me because it had been a done deal in my mind. I felt that I was giving up on Benjamin and that it wasn't right to fall in love with someone else when I had been so in love with Ben before. 

Luckily for me, Benjamin later decided that I was the one he wanted to marry. 

Luckily for him, I hadn't changed my mind. 

New Family Goals

Eat Healthy 
No eating refined sugars
Drink enough water for the day
Eat fruits and vegetables for the day

Budget Money 
No spending money without consulting the other person (excepting necessities)
No eating out, even when traveling
Plan date night expenses in advance

Exercise 
Exercise every day ... even if it's Just Dance together.

Fast Sunday Breakfast!

Charly and I missed fast Sunday last month. We forgot it was fast Sunday and ate. In order to make sure that didn't happen again we reminded each other constantly over the course of this last week. Charly really wanted to remember and reminded me quite a bit.

When I woke up this morning (Fast Sunday) Charly was already awake. I was a little sleepy still and so I sort of stumbled out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

To my surprise Charly was standing there beaming, and pointing and the wonderful breakfast she had made for me. It looked amazing and she had made my two favorite things to have for breakfast, German Pancakes and Fruit/Veggie Smoothies! Right when I saw it I remembered that it was fast Sunday...

"Oh boy," I thought.

I walked up to Charly and just hugged her. She of course wasn't sure how to take that because it was an odd time for a hug.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm giving you comfort." I said. "It's fast Sunday."

"Dang it!" Charly exclaimed.

I just kept hugging her and then we started laughing about it.

"I guess we'll just have to fast next Sunday," She said through the laughing.

A List of Charly's Gifts and Talents

Charly and I are taking a marriage class at Church. It's really fun. This week we decided to take some advice from the class and list each others talents and gifts. We are starting off with 5. We will update this as we go.

1. Charly is supportive. This is something I learned about her just recently and I love it about her.

2. Charly is great at dance and great at teaching it.

3. Charly is an amazing writer. I love everything she has ever written.

4. Charly is loving. Not just with me but with everyone she knows. She cares about people.

5. Charly is a great wife! I'm serious. Other men should be really jealous of me.

A List of Ben's Gifts and Talents

This will not be comprehensive or the list will never end. I'm serious; my husband does EVERYTHING. I've never met anyone so talented. 

1. Patience. Benjamin has this gift as no one else I know. There have been many times since we've gotten married when Ben has needed to patient with me. Those times come mostly when things don't go according to my plan and I get grumpy. Those are the times when, even though I don't show it, that I am most grateful for Ben and his patience with me. Our relationship thrives on his patience. 

2. Believing. Ben has a talent for helping others believe in themselves.  

3. Learning. Ben has the gift of learning. I attribute this in part to his home schooling and the way his mother taught him to learn. He isn't afraid to try new things, he is observant enough to pick up the tricks of how to do things, and he is just naturally good at new things. 

4. Love. Ben has the gift of love. He is always serving, always looking for ways to help others. There are so many times when I catch him thinking of others, especially his family, before himself and I don't think he even realizes it. 

5. Everything. This one might be cheating, but Ben seems to have the talent of being talented at everything. This probably is due to his ability to learn and his fearlessness in trying new things. If you know Ben, you know that Ben also really gets into things. He goes through phases, but during his "piano phase," he does piano all the time. When he goes through his "art phase," art is all he does. 

Pear Picking Pair! (I'm the best at pear jokes)

Oooooh boy am I cutting this blog post close. It's 11:33 pm and I'm just starting. Luckily for you guys this one should be short and pear sweet.

Charly and I went to got pick some pears last Saturday because Charly wants to make fruit leather out of them... can you even make fruit leather out of pairs?

Anywho, it was pretty fun adventure. When we got there most of the pears near the ground were small and not very ripe so I volunteered to climb the tree and try to grab some of the better one higher up. Have you ever climbed a pear tree? DON'T. Anyway, after getting attacked by evil branches and giant spiders I managed to escape with a few pears.

I did manage to make a funny joke though. While I was up in the tree I grabbed a two pears and handed them to Charly.

"Here is a pair," I said in my silly voice.

Charly just rolled her eyes at me but she clearly thought it was funny. I can always tell.

Charly in One Word

Charly is determined.

"having made a firm decision and being resolved not to change it." - Google

I chose this word to describe Charly because it is the word that stands out to me most. Charly doesn't give up. She stands strong for what she believes. If there is something that needs to be done she will work until it gets done. If something isn't working out for her she will try multiple different ways of trying to get it to work. I see this as a glimpse of her faith.

One time on my mission I asked an investigator what the word "faith" meant to them. The investigator said, "faith was never giving up."

Charly is determined and she has that kind of faith.

The Things Charly Does to Keep Our Relationship Strong

I think the title explains this post pretty well. These aren't in any specific order. I just wrote each one as I thought of it.

1. Charly loves me.

I know because she tells me and  because she serves me and puts up with me.

2. She works hard.

She is always doing something whether it's school, cleaning the house, or working her part time job. She is a hard worker and she is always busy.

3. She spends as much time with me as she can.

Sometimes it's hard with school and work and all of the things we are doing but she always makes time for me. Even if all we do is watch a doctor who episode during lunch, we make sure to spend time together every day.

4. She listens to me.

Let's be honest... I talk a lot. Sometimes I talk about things that I know that Charly really isn't interested in, like math or programming, but she still listens.

5. She shares her feelings with me.

I'm very grateful that she tells me how she is feeling. I know I'm not the best yet when it comes to validating and empathizing but it makes me feel like I'm part of Charly's life when she shares her frustrations, joys, and other feelings with me.

6. She feeds me.

Yup. I'm a guy. I need food. I try to help with preparing the food, even if I just get out the dishes or clean them after but lets be honest, she is a much better cook.

7. She lets me hold her hand almost all of the time.

8. Sometimes she kisses me first.

Let me tell you. I'm pretty lucky. Sometimes I get kisses when I'm not expecting them and I love that about Charly.

9. She helps me make sure that we read our scriptures and say our prayers together every night.

10. She goes on dates with me every week.

I think this one is one of the most important ones. It's up there with spending time together. We always have fun on our dates even when they only consist of buying a couple books at Barnes and Noble.

I remember every day how lucky I am to have Charly as my wife. I'm so glad that I chose to ask her to marry me and that she chose to say yes.

Our First Date: When I accidentally forgot about Ben being a creepy Facebook stalker and fell in love with him instead.

After the night that Benjamin and I met (http://lovegogglesbc.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-first-spark-between-benjamin-and-me.html), I might have fallen in love with him. I might have, except for the fact that he turned into a creeper.

I'm not kidding.

He looked through all my pictures on Facebook. ALL of them.
All the way back to the ones from seventh grade.
And I knew about it, because he commented on half of them.
He liked everything I posted on Facebook. Everything. 
And then he would he would comment on it.
And try to start conversations about his mission and his family in the comments.
Ben was all over my Facebook.
He even friended my mom.
I was just like, Who are you? I don't even know you. 

Ben says he was being subtle.

Then came the time that he asked for my number. Ben didn't ask for it on Facebook, despite the fact that we were apparently best friends on there. Nope, he told my cousin (our mutual best friend) Jeremy to get it for him.

Jeremy called me up. He said, and I quote, "Hey, Ben wants to know if he can have your number, but he can't tell you why yet." He can't tell you why yet? What, is this some sort of mystery story? Like I don't already know why he wants my number.

Turns out, his "secret" reason for wanting my number was so he could text me on my birthday.

The week after Christmas break, I was back at work, vacuuming classrooms after school, when Jeremy called me. Our conversation went something like this:

"What're you doing on Friday?" Jeremy asked.

"Mmm ... Maybe babysitting. I don't have anything planned yet. Why?" I said.

"Just wondering." Jeremy said.

I waited, but Jeremy didn't elaborate. "What do you mean, just wondering?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering."

I didn't buy it. People don't just call other people up and ask what they're doing on a certain day simply because their curious. Especially when those people are me and Jeremy.

Before I could question him further, however, Jeremy hung up the phone. I was pretty sure I knew why he'd called. My suspicions were confirmed when, five minutes later, Ben called me.

He asked me to go with him on a date Friday night. I said yes, because I was trying to date a hundred guys and, creeper though he was, he did seem nice. I hung up thinking, We could probably end up pretty good friends.

Ben was late picking me up. When he came to the door, I was struck again with just how cute he was. I didn't let it get to me, however. There are plenty of attractive men in this world, but that doesn't mean you have to fall in love with them all.

For the date, we made sock puppets together. We had yarn and buttons, along with a package of new socks. At first, it was a little bit awkward. I didn't know what to say and Ben was (what I now know to be uncharacteristically) quiet. The awkwardness helped remind me that I did not want anything at all to happen between Ben and I.

Then Brynndi got home from school. Brynndi is Jeremy's little sister. She absolutely adores Benjamin, and Ben adores her right back. Brynndi walked through the door, saw Ben, and ran towards him. Ben held arms out for her and picked her up, swinging her. Both of them were laughing.

I watched and my heart melted to my toes. I had never seen anything more adorable in my life.

Soon after that, Ben and I started laughing together. We found food coloring and started dying our sock puppets. We spilled it all over the counter and couldn't get it to come off. For some reason, that was absolutely hilarious to us. Ben and I were laughing so hard together.

The boys had put together a little puppet show of Green Eggs and Ham for the girls. They performed it for us after we'd finished our sock puppets. It was very cute and they had us laughing our heads off.

We played a game, still laughing together, until Jeremy's date had to go home. We all loaded into the car. Because they had just picked up Brynndi, her car seat was still in the back. I climbed in, sitting in the middle seat. Ben slid in next to me, close enough that our arms touched.

I don't even know how to describe what happened. It felt like ... like when we kiss.

I know, I know, our arms touched. How romantic. Except, that it really was. It was like magic.

It was only ten o'clock and I didn't have a curfew, so I went back to Jeremy's house with the boys. We watched Psych until midnight, when they finally took me home.

I went home feeling on top of the world.

This Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (My Favorite Picture of Charly and Me)

Good thing I have a picture because I don't want to write a thousand words and I know that none of our readers want to read a thousand words.

Choosing the picture for this blog was hard because there are a ton of great pictures of Charly and me together. I finally chose this one and I'm excited to see which one Charly chose.

This is my favorite picture of Charly and I together. It's from one of our first dates. Charly and I are really goofy, well, I'm goofy and I rub off on Charly. We are always laughing and always having fun. I think this picture represents that.

In this picture we were just at the mall trying on random hats and glasses. Charly loves taking pictures and it was a good excuse for me to put my arm around her so we took lots of pictures.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (My Favorite Picture of Ben and Me)

Ben and I decided we wanted to do a short and sweet post this week, since nothing particularly exciting or funny happened to us since we last posted (unless you count Benjamin pretending to be a dinosaur as he ate his broccoli at the restaurant on date night ...). 

This is my favorite picture of Benjamin and I.

I know, I know, it has someone else in it. But here's the thing. This is one of the first pictures Ben and I took together, back before we were even dating for the first time. Also, the guy on the left is my very best friend Jeremy, who is currently on a mission. 

After Jeremy left on his mission and while I was long-distance-dating Ben, I would look at this picture and it would break my heart, I missed them both so much.

But looking at this picture, that's when I knew where I always wanted to stay.

Right there, between Jeremy and Benjamin. Forever.