We're Excited to Dance with you!

Carly moved to Arizona Memorial Day weekend to start a new job post-grad school. That same weekend, Ben & Carly met through some friends at a game night and then the following day at a pool party. At the pool party, both were wearing neon swimsuits. Carly noticed and said "We're matching!" Ben did not pick up on Carly's humor and thought she was a little strange, but was friends with her roommates and had a slight interest in getting to know her because she was cute. Carly thought Ben was super cute, but was single as a pringle and was focused mainly on making friends. That next weekend, a friend had a carne asada pool party and that was the first time that they had a real conversation. That is when the sparks started. It was crazy how much they could connect over one simple conversation. As Carly complained about going to Applebee's to watch the Suns' playoff game that week, Ben offered his house to watch the games (not thinking Carly would take the offer). Well being new to Arizona, Carly was anxious to make friends and showed up. They kept hanging out and Carly wasn't sure if Ben was interested or just super nice. Ben had recently ended a relationship and wasn't sure if he was ready for something serious because "Carly is marriage material" and he couldn't start something just for fun if he wasn't going to be serious about it. They started dating shortly after that and kept it tight-lipped for a short while. They broke up for maybe 24 hours when things started to get more serious and then have been dating ever since. They have traveled to California quite a few times and taken a lot of trips with friends to Vegas, Texas, Alaska, Mexico, and other local trips. From country dancing to plays to sporting events to food, they have fun doing everything together.

When Christmas was approaching, they went to California to see Carly's family. They headed up to Mammoth for a few days and it was beautiful, but you don't get all dolled up to hit the slopes. Ben's emotions boiled up as he panicked about getting down the mountain on his first day ever of skiing. He had already asked Carly's Dad for permission while they filled the car up with gas, but no one else knew about his plans (outside of his best friend and his mom). The weather was terrible most of the time and Carly was sick. Ben kept trying to think of ideas of ways to get Carly to get ready and go out to do something, but luck was not on his side. Christmas Eve (which Ben was hoping to avoid for an engagement) came and it was the first (and perhaps the only) beautiful Caifornia sunny day during their trip. They got ready to go check out some gardens which turned out to be closed. Carly then decided to drive towards the coast because it's a fun drive. Not knowing what to do, she drove to her favorite beach, Point Dume, and got out to walk around. Ben immediately panned the small amounts of people to find someone who could take their picture (knowing that Carly & he would want pictures of the engagement). Carly wanted to just keep walking and get away from people to just enjoy the sunshine. They came up to some benches and talked for a little bit when a couple speaking an unknown language started to set up a tripod. Ben immediately knew that was the guy! He hadn't planned it, but that guy at least would get a semi-decent picture. He asked the guy to snap a shot of us and while the guy was moving around getting the best angles, Ben knelt down on one knee and was so nervous he choked out the words "Carly, will you marry me?" Carly at first looked at Ben so confused. This nice gentleman is taking our picture and you're trying to pull a prank! Then she saw the ring and immediately got emotional and took a second or two to realize, she needed to say "yes!"