(photo credit on all images to the amazing justin + amelia lyon)

10 years ago, today (6.23), a girl, mindy and a boy, ben got hitched. we have the privilege of being a part of weddings and helping to celebrate other couples and their love and committment to each other. today….. we wanted to share and celebrate ours!

MINDY SAYS:

how do i love my ben?
let me tell you………..
he’s loyal and committed to not only myself, our kids, but most importantly God.
his energy surpasses me on most days and he is one of the hardest workers i’ve ever know (hence his nickname “taskmaster”).
have you seen his hotness?!!!! there are times when i get a little flutter just checking him out….. true story.
the way he is such a loving father to our kiddos….. nurturing, yet consistent. playful, yet authoritative.
he would help anyone on a moment’s notice…. joyfully.
his light-hearted attitude on life is contagious and he is CRAZY amounts of fun!!
integrity surrounds his heart and he lives to serve God….. and others, before himself.
every day, he makes me a better person and encourages me to stretch where i need stretching.
we share a bond deeper than just love, we are closer than best friends and we get to keep going on a journey that is amazing, challenging and joyful all wrapped into one.
thanks for loving me every day.

i’m yours.

BEN SAYS:

mindy is a good writer! haha…try and follow that! gulp.
so i’m going to go with random memories over the past 10 years.
the kind of memories that add up to the simply amazing marriage that we have today.

travel back with me 11 years to the first time we met…at a church super bowl party (neither of us watch football…ever!)
i can still remember the first time i saw her walking down the stairs (with her friend), wearing a baseball cap…
i remember her smile. and i remember her eyes.
and remember that she was kinda flirting with the guy i was with. so i was flirting with the girl she was with.
haha…quite the start.

fast forward 6 months to a friend’s wedding. i saw mindy again, but called her the wrong name. oops…
i’ve never been too slick

but we hung out all night and it was a done deal.
we went on our first date the next night…played tennis (wearing my favorite blue sweater vest!)
went out every night that week, had our first kiss on thursday night before i left for a week of vacation.
told her i loved her in a few weeks.
engaged in four months.
married almost exactly a year after the wedding where i called her the wrong name.

pregnant after just one year, right after we moved to florida and decided it probably wasn’t the best time to get pregnant.
pregnant again just two years later after starting our first business and deciding it probably wasn’t the best time to get pregnant.
and then pregnant again during the move back to michigan and building our new house.

timing has never been our strength

i think my favorite thing about mindy is that she makes everything fun.
i like to work. she loves to play. so together we have fun at work!
we never do things by the book…so we never know what’s going to happen next.
we rarely do things at the right time…which means everything happens on our time!

and you should see mindy with the kids…who wouldn’t want mindy as their mom??!!
our kids are almost as lucky as me.

and then there’s the whole hot thing… ummm…yup.
let’s just say that my first nickname for mindy (when we were dating) was “evil temptress!”
nuff said.