Lindsey: Benjamin and I are both extremely competitive people, so it is no surprise that we met and began bantering immediately on the volleyball court. I had played sand volleyball maybe once before, and showed up with some church friends to try something new. Benjamin on the other hand played sand volleyball all throughout college and of course excels at it. Somehow we ended up on the same team that fateful summer day. I was standing in front next to the net when all of a sudden I hear from behind me, “hey, whats your name?”. I turn around and say “Lindsey” not really paying too much attention to who asked. Then I hear, “you need to take two steps to the right”. I turn back around thinking, “who is this guy? And why is he bossing me around?” I did not move an inch. Benjamin claims that we lost the next point because I didnt move over, but I have no memory of that.Ben: Lindsey was actually in the back left position. I was in the middle back and the ball was served about two steps to her left just before and she was struggling to receive the ball. I am a competitive person and a natural coach so I decided to tell her “Hey you should move two steps to the left” she said I couldn’t tell her what to do and then the ball was served exactly where I told her to move and the ball hit the sand and I could see the face of *I don’t want to hear it*, but of course I let her know. We continued playing volleyball with me spiking it left and right and then Lindsey started to warm up to me telling her what… to… never mind. Lindsey: After that, we did not speak again until we ended up at the food trucks on the Arsenal with some of the volleyball/church people. We ended up chatting the whole time, and stayed talking long after the other people left. He was trying to convince me to come on a group trip that was being planned, but I wasn’t budging on that. Although, I did think to myself “he’s cute, maybe I should consider going”. While I was driving back to work, I called my mom and told her I met a “cutie patootie” boy. Over the next couple weeks, we continued to see each other at the sand volleyball courts, where I would ask him to help me get better between games. This was of course my way of showing him I was interested, and because I genuinely wanted to stop sucking at volleyball.Ben: While we were talking at the food trucks, I noticed that she is super nice, intelligent, and just awesome. We talked about a lot of things that we both enjoyed. I found out she likes ice hockey and that she roots for the Colorado Avalanche. I also found out that her favorite movie series is The Lord of the Rings. Most girls do not understand Lord of the Rings and do not like it. She also likes Star Wars and Batman. She also mentioned that she plays Star Wars Battlefront, a video game that she really enjoys and has played with her brothers. I really started taking an interest in Lindsey because she is smart, kind, beautiful, and we enjoy a lot of the same things in life. Because I noticed how much in common we have and that we can talk about anything, I tried to convince her to come on a group trip so I would be able to hang out with her there. Over the next couple of weeks, Lindsey showed up to play sand volleyball more and more, so we got to talk a lot more. I would help her out with learning how to play volleyball. I could tell she was thinking about how to get better also and wasn’t just winging it. I could tell she has an athletic knack for volleyball/sports and it made me really happy to be able to help her learn how to play while she actually listened to me telling her what to do. Lindsey says she sucks at volleyball, but she had barely played at all before coming to play with me and everyone. She was just a beginner…Lindsey: One night after volleyball, the group went to Baumhowers and luckily I was seated directly across from Benjamin. The whole dinner I noticed how polite and caring he was. We talked the whole time, and forgot we were there with a bunch of other people. After about a week of hanging out in smaller and smaller groups, Benjamin asked me if I wanted to go play a round of golf. Unfortunately, the Saturday we planned for it was pouring rain, so we went to a driving range and dinner instead. After, Benjamin asked me to be his girlfriend. Unfortunately for him, I said no. I needed more time to talk about things and to make sure we were compatible. The next weekend, we drove down to Auburn for a football game, and within 5 minutes on the drive he said “alright, so what do you want to talk about? I am an open book”. I made him take several personality tests, and we discussed all of the big topics on the 4 hour drive. The next day, my mom texted me “So… do you have a boyfriend?” I laughed out loud, and Benjamin asked me what she said. After I read the text aloud he said, “well do you?” I said, “yeahhhhh I think I do have a boyfriend” and the rest is history! I am so grateful for how the Lord has blessed our relationship and how he brought us together at the perfect time. Benjamin is everything I prayed for and more. Thank you Jesus!Ben: After playing sand volleyball, the group would sometimes go to get food afterwards, this time we played for a long time and decided to go to Baumhowers after with 4 other people outside of us. I purposefully sat close to Lindsey (across the table). Lindsey and I started talking with the group, then we kept talking about that topic to each other while the others continued on with a different topic. Lindsey and I began our own conversation and talked as if our friends weren’t there. As I was talking to Lindsey I noticed that she was glowing, it could’ve been the lighting, but I took it as a sign that she was a girl I should start a relationship with. I asked Lindsey out to play golf, one of our common interests, and she said she would go! It rained the entire day so we couldn’t play a round of golf, but luckily Lindsey knew a covered driving range. Our first date went really well and I knew I wanted her to be my girlfriend. I decided to ask her to be my girlfriend and she said no, and after what felt like 5 minutes (It was probably just 2 seconds) she said “I’m not saying I don’t want to be your girlfriend, but I just don’t want to rush into anything”. She wanted to see where my head was at with some important topics. We had planned to go to an Auburn game together along with another couple the following weekend. On the drive there, I was like “Well there’s not going to be a better time to have these conversations than right now. We talked and talked about the topics that we needed to talk about and Lindsey got my personality type from a few quizzes and I thought that we could start being bf and gf right then, but I didn’t want to push it and hear another “no”. As we were walking to the Auburn football game, Lindsey’s mom texted her asking if she has a boyfriend. I asked her what she was doing on her phone and she read me the text. Since I really wanted to know what she thought, I asked her “Well, do you?” And I am so glad she said “yes, I think I do.” I’m so grateful for Lindsey coming into my life, she makes me better everyday! I’m so happy to have her as my forever best friend!