The $5 digital rose Benjamin Myers bought in June 2021 will forever be the best investment of his life. You see, Karis hated the dating app Hinge. After five days of boring conversations with people she had no desire to meet-let alone date, she was done and decided meeting someone would have to happen “the old-fashioned way.” A finger away from the delete button and she saw, to her annoyance, a digital rose hit her inbox. Rather than sending a free “hey cutie ;),” a guy had spent $5 to send her a rose and grab her attention. Knowing she at least owed this chum a chance since he had already spent money on her, Karis said her first words to Benjamin Myers. One day of messaging via Hinge became two days of texting resulted in an urgency to meet in person. The hour before Karis left to meet rose boy for the first time, she texted her mom “I think I’m excited about this one.” Karis and Ben met at the Boulder farmers market on June 30, 2021. 5 hours, 4 Crumbl cookies, 3 scoops of Gelato Boy, 2 Trident Americanos, and 1 first kiss later Karis and Ben each knew their lives were split into before and after. This all sounds very dramatic, romantic, and maybe too good to be true, but it IS true. But ALSO true is that the next six weeks, the first six weeks these two knew each other, were far from happily ever after. Ben was convinced Karis was a “unicorn” and told Karis she was his “dream girl.” Even today Ben says, “he never had a doubt.” Karis suspected Ben was a sweet-talker and distrusted how quickly he fell for her. Though Karis was head over Birkenstocks for Ben, she cautioned herself not to let a crush distract her from her goals. This “crush” proved stubbornly impossible to shake though, and over the next six weeks, Karis broke things off with Ben…three times. The breakups were comically cyclical. They would spend an amazing fourteen days exploring each other’s hearts, going on hiking adventures, eating mountain summit s’mores, picking sunflowers, and making bets in competitive chess matches, and then realizing their love was too good to be true, and would ultimately end in heartbreak, Karis would spiral. Each “break-up” Karis honestly told Ben he deserved someone’s 100% and she didn’t have that capacity right now. Three times Karis tried to run, and three times Ben responded with only more love and resilience and assurance that they were meant to be together. To this day, Karis doesn’t know why Ben never gave up on her, but she will forever be grateful. After the last “fake broke up” in the words of Maid of Honor Tansey, Karis finally relinquished control and admitted she didn’t want to do life without Ben by her side. They never looked back. 11 months later, Ben and Karis flew to TX to celebrate Karis’ childhood friend's marriage. The day before Ben had received THE ring. Opening the box in his office, Ben says it took all his self-control to wait an extra week so he could ask Karis’ parents in person for permission to marry their daughter. The first morning, while Karis was still asleep, Ben asked permission. John immediately said, “of course.” Though slightly annoyed because she thought they should at least make Ben sweat a little, Valerie too agreed. They had never seen Karis happier and couldn’t wait to officially welcome Ben to the family. A week later, in Boulder, Ben got down on one knee and asked the question he and Karis always knew would be asked. After the third fake break-up, Karis had already mentally said “yes” to forever, so it took her a good 60 seconds after Ben popped the question before she remembered to verbally say yes. After a few bottles of champagne and one too many shots at Press Play, the night ended with an Uber ride home in which tipsy Ben explained to Karis “I got a Tesla for you because I care about the environment.” Thank you for how you have touched the lives of Karis and Ben! If you can, we would love to officially celebrate with you on May 27, 2023! Let the countdown begin!