It all started in 2010 with Starmites at Edwardsville High School. Ben and Erika were both freshman, coming from very different schooling experiences, but both had a love for the theater. Ben worked backstage, specifically building the sets and blowing stuff up, while Erika danced and sang onstage. The friendship grew thanks to taking the show to Theater Fest in January. In the spring, Erika was once again onstage dancing and singing in Hairspray and Ben continued his backstage shenanigans.

Right before starting sophomore year of high school, Ben and Erika went with a couple of friends on a "double-date" to Raging Rivers water park. One game of Truth or Dare later, they had their first kiss.

Ben and Erika's first date was at the Wildey Theater in Edwardsville to see Moulin Rouge.

After agreeing to a sweet Homecoming-proposal, Ben and Erika danced the night away, surrounded by friends.

Senior year was a whirlwind. Ben and Erika both completed their last 2 drama club shows (Shakespeare! and The Phantom of the Opera), fourth Theater Festival, final Homecoming dance and Prom, National Honor Society, graduation, and got accepted into Mizzou (Ben for mechanical engineering) and Illinois State University (Erika for music therapy).

About 3 weeks before their best friend Lauren's birthday, Erika invited Ben, completely out of the blue, to join her and her best friend Melissa in an attempt at surprising Lauren. Upon much contemplation (and beer), Ben agreed to drive from Mizzou to Edwardsville, and ride with Erika and Melissa out to Indianapolis. He painstakingly blew up many balloons in the backseat. After a successful surprise, Ben and Erika decided that was one of the most fun weekends they had had in a long time.

The second first date started at Global Brew (the old location). After reacquainting, the date turned into a double date at Stagger Inn Again with Lauren and Logan. Then the double date turned into a triple date at Recess Brewery (which is now Sneaky's Bar and Burger Joint: our favorite restaurant in Edwardsville and who will be catering the wedding) with Ben's sister Katie and brother-in-law Brett joining in on the fun.

After lots of catching up and a few dates, it was clear both Ben and Erika had feelings for each other and they decided that since neither of them wanted to be with anyone else, they would make it official.

After deciding to take the leap and live together, Ben and Erika decided to buy a fixer-upper house in Maryville. It ended up being a bigger project than they originally anticipated. After many months of "fixing" by Ben, the house was ready to be lived in.

Erika was accepted into the master's music therapy program at the University of Kansas, and so she moved to Lawrence to start a new adventure in a new state! 9 months later, Ben joined her and they have been living there ever since.

Ben sent Erika on a scavenger hunt that lasted 2 days, starting on their 5th anniversary, and ended on New Year's Eve. They had planned to go to Nicole and Isaiah's for a little party to celebrate the new year. Much to Nicole and Isaiah's surprise, 30 minutes before he popped the question, Ben asked one of them to record the proposal. The living room was torn apart (cleaning for the party) and everyone was in comfy clothes, but it was perfect. Erika said yes and they got to ring in the new year as an engaged couple!