We met in 4th grade when I moved to South Elementary. We were in each others class in both 4th and 5th grade. Most of my memories from those years, include Ben. By the end of high school, we were best friends. You could always find us in the corner at parties laughing and just watching everyone else since we're so awkward. When I left for Iowa State and Ben left to go racing, we stayed connected by hour long phone calls and Facetimes, multiple times a day. We would make plans to see each other over breaks, but never when my family wasn't around. In 2019, Ben's grandpa passed away. He's was Ben's role model and very best friend. He came home for a week to be with his family. We ended up spending the entire week together. After his grandpa's funeral, everyone was planning on going to Firebar to celebrate Jake's birthday. Ben left his family to come sit with me while I got ready so that I wouldn't have to show up alone. I thought it was the sweetest thing ever. The night was full of Vegas Bombs (thanks Mr. Kruse) and lots of liquid courage. When we got home that night, I confronted Ben and asked him why we've never tried dating. From there, the rest is history! Ben finished his last season of racing and I traveled to lots of new race tracks before he moved in and we started our suburban life!

I was in Florida visiting my parents for my spring break. Ben stayed home to work and take care of Tucker. On Saturday, April 3rd, I was getting ready to fly home. My plan for the day was to get breakfast with an old neighbor, go to the pool for my last few hours of sun, shower and pack up before heading to the airport. I ended up getting horrible sunburn on the legs the day before. My mom so kindly spread white zinc ALL over them the night before to help it heal. In the morning, she woke me up and asked if I wanted to shower. I told her no. She asked again, telling me that it might make my sunburn feel better. Again, I said no. She came back a few minutes later and commented on my hair saying it looked "whispy". At this point, I was mad and told her "I am NOT showering. Miss Bev has known me my entire life and she won't care what my hair looks like." Well... moms always know best. We were about to leave and running a little late. My mom told me that she lost her apple watch and she hadn't seen it since leaving the pool the day before. She asked if we could stop and look on the way to breakfast. My dad, not liking to be late, parked at the very end of the parking lot. I started running towards the pool so that he wouldn't get mad. My mom told me to slow down but again, I told her no. When we got closer to the gate, I saw a worker in a blue polo! He waved and I turned to my mom and told her that we could ask him if he's seen the watch. As we walked up to the gate to scan the key, I took a closer look then, looked at my mom and said "Is that Ben?" I felt dumb even asking because why would Ben be in Florida on the day that I'm leaving? She smiled and said "Yep!" before she turned to run away. I was in complete shock as I walked over to him and saw photographers jump out from behind lawn chairs. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! April 3rd is Ben's grandpa's birthday which is why the date is so special.