It all started at 1 IDEXX Drive. Ben joined the sales support team where Julia had already been working for a few years. Ben sat at the desk behind Julia. As analysts supporting the field sales team, we are constantly busy. Ben thought Julia didn’t like him right off the bat when it was really just that she was focused on her work.

It wasn’t until the pandemic when coworkers started getting together outside of work that they got to know each other a bit more and he realized Julia didn’t hate him.

Ben attended Julia’s housewarming party in August 2021 and he showed up with a nice bottle of Chardonnay. Julia’s friends interrogated him and asked Julia why they weren’t dating. After that night, they started texting back and forth daily.

Julia went to Nashville on a bachelorette party and she could only think about Ben. They got together when she got back, and Julia had to make the first move. Soon after, Julia had to pet and house sit for her good friends Lauren and Zach so Ben came over to keep her company. Luckily Harper and Ruger really liked him which is always a great sign to Julia. What’s funny is Julia took out her contacts one night, threw them away and when she went to put on her glasses, she realized she didn’t have them. If you know Julia, you know she is basically blind without contacts or glasses. She had to put all her trust in Ben to drive her to her house, which was luckily only a few minutes away. All was good.

The first official date was axe throwing…I know right? Ben trusted Julia enough to be around her while she threw axes across the room.

The relationship blossomed quickly and Julia realized her friends were right all along. And Maggie, Ben’s little dog, didn’t scare Julia away either!

After a few months and a few weekend trips away, Julia planned to bring Ben home to Baldwinsville, New York to meet her parents. Unfortunately, it ended up being under the most heartbreaking of circumstances. Ben didn’t hesitate at all to drop everything to drive Julia to New York. He was there through it all. After that, there was nothing they couldn’t get through together.

That June, Ben and Maggie moved in to Julia’s house which then became Julia and Ben’s house…even though Ben still says it’s really Julia’s house. Fred and Franklin were also very accepting of Ben and even Maggie!

Connecting through their love of travel, they planned a trip to Finland and Iceland. It was the first time to Europe for both of them. The true test of a relationship is being able to survive a whole week of travel outside the country!

Ben and Julia traveled to NY for Thanksgiving in a snowstorm that November and also for Christmas.

To celebrate Julia’s birthday, they decided to go on a getaway to Montreal. You probably know Julia LOVES celebrating her birthday. She waited for Ben’s gift all day. They went to a romantic Italian dinner then walked down the street to the Notre Dame Basilica. It was the evening and it was beautifully lit up. Ben walked Julia to a somewhat less crowded area and told her how important she is to him and when he knew she was “the one.” Then in a traditional fashion, he got down on one knee and proposed, asking Julia to marry him. Of course, she said “YES!” Plus, the ring is gorgeous. He really did a great job with that! Then they went to get gelato down the street and enjoyed the city for a few more days.

Then the wedding planning fun started. Originally, Julia wanted to get married in a castle…specifically Boldt Castle in 1,000 Islands, Alexandria Bay, NY. Even though it isn’t really that expensive, it would be tough to plan a wedding at a venue over 400 miles away from home. After looking at a few venues, they found Rustic Dreams and the owner, Shawnte gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

The weekend getaways and travel had to take a backseat to the wedding planning. Especially because they decided to adopt a puppy about a month after getting engaged! Like planning a wedding wasn’t enough work! They knew they eventually wanted to rescue another dog but thought it would be a few years later. Finn basically found them though. Ben saw his cute photo on their friend Melinda’s facebook and mentioned him to Julia. She quickly texted Melinda who was fostering him and they went to meet him a few days later. He immediately crawled into Julia’s lap. He rolled around and played with Ben. They were in love. They took him home the following Friday. It took Maggie quite a while to tolerate his high energy. And Finn still thinks Franklin is playing games with him when he constantly swats at him and runs away. Finn is quite a handful but he is spoiled and loved to death.

Julia and Ben’s most recent travel was a cruise with Virgin Voyages from Miami to Costa Maya and Bimini. They can’t wait to do more trips with this adults-only cruise line.