Love Story

In order to fully understand how Ben and I function as a couple, (and since our 2 year wedding anniversary is next Monday) I thought I would

give a little background on us and how we met. It's fun to relive this story.

Ben was born in Jackson, Mississippi, on July 10, 1985.

His parents divorced around the time he was four and he moved to Vest

avia with his Mom when he was five. Both of his parents remarried, so he lived in two great homes in two different states his whole life. He was the cutest kid ever and apparently never changed in looks (dead ringer for his dad). From his Dad (Pau

l) and Stepmom (Robbie), he has a half-brother, Will. His stepdad Gene had two sons from a previous marriage, Denton and Patrick. He graduated from Vestavia Hills High School (he would say "GO REBELS!") in 2004, and after a brief stint in several local junior colleges, he and his mother decided it would be best for him to enter the gainfully employed workforce, where he has been ever since. He is a total guy's guy: loves basketball, football, and most importantly - Nascar. He has had the same group of friends since middle school and they now all hang out over here at our house when they are all in town. He's a killer griller and an upstanding man. He's one of those guys that everybody loves and you've never heard anyone say a bad word about. LOVE HIM.

I was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on October 27, 1986, to a teacher

mom and a pastor dad. When I was two, Dad took a job in Dothan, Alabama, as a youth minister. I have an older brother, Wes, who is affectionately known as "Brosef." I grew up in and around Dothan as Dad took several different positions as pastors in several churches until he passed away in January, 1999, of cancer. After that, Wes graduated high school and Mom and I moved into a house in Dothan. I graduated from Houston Academy in 2004, and went to college at Troy University. After my freshman year, I was diagnosed with a thyroid disease, so I came back to Dothan to let Mom take care of me. I am a loud mouthed, fun loving person who unfortunately knows the taste of my foot fartoo well. I love to scrapbook, watch tv, and travel. Oh, and ALABAMA FOOTBALL!

Now, to where we get together...Remember when I said I went to Troy? Well, I pledged Phi Mu and met this really cool girl named Claire. We lived in the Phi Mu house toget

her at Troy and she adorned her walls in her room with pictures of her friends from Vestavia Hills High School. Some of those pictures included a really cute guy with shaggy hair and a crooked smile. I said, "Who is THAT?" She said, "Oh, that's Ben! He was my boyfriend in 5th grade! He's one of my best friends!" I said, "He is HOT!" From that point on, he was known as "Hot Benny."

Then, there was this one random weekend that I was in Dothan and Claire was in Birmingham and she invited me to come spend the night with her. My mom felt it was too late

for me to drive to Birmingham, and we got in a HUGE fight about it, so I lied and told her I was driving to Troy. I drove straight through Troy and right on to Birmingham. (She was totally right. I was a complete idiot.) I met Claire and her friends at Birmingham-Southern College.

And Hot Benny.

We were super flirty that night, and even had our first kiss, but he failed to get my number that night (he had no game). I met him again a few weeks later during Spring Break when hanging out again with Claire's friends (yes, this is the same group of friends I mentioned that is Ben's friends from middle school that all hang out at our house...). We talked for

a few weeks after Spring Break, but lost touch because I was kind of dating someone else at the time. I know. Totally skanktacular.

This is where it gets really corny.

About a year and a half later, I was playing on my myspace and I had a friend request from a Ben Parrish. I was like, OMG, that's Claire's friend! Hot Benny! I read on his profile that he was living in Tuscaloosa. I had plans to move to Tuscaloosa that summer, so I messaged him. He told me that he'd "lost" my number, so I gave it to him. He called me that night and we talked until SIX IN THE MORNING, just catching up. We talked non-stop for the next two weeks, and eventually we made plans for him to visit me in Dothan.

Ben came to visit after Christmas 2006. He drove up in his loud, cherry red Mustang GT, hopped out, and gave me a sweet kiss. We went to dinner and came back to Mom's house to watch a movie, where we fell asleep on the couch. The next night, we decided to drive down to the beach. While we were sitting on the beach, he looked at me and said, "I don't know why, but this just feels right. Will you be my girlfriend?" Talk about SOLD!

Mom told me that weekend that I would marry him. I told her she was crazy. The next weekend he surprised me and came back for another visit. He told me before he left that weekend he was going to marry me. I believed him. A year later, we were engaged.

Love is funny, huh? Can't imagine life without his sweet face!

Random Trivia Fact: When they filmed the movie Titanic, they made a life size ship, but only made one side. For shots of the other side, they filmed everything backwards and reversed the film.