The history of us, part III, dating

Ben and I saw each other almost every day after our first date.These are some of my favorite memories from when we dated.
 We went on short hike for one of our dates. It was so much fun hiking with Ben. When we got to the top, Ben asked another hiker to take our photo, who agreed and kept saying, "Kiss her, kiss her!" But being our second or third date, Ben decided against it, although he highly considered it ;).

On our next date, we went to his sister's winter solstice party in the canyon. It was chilly and Ben had just finished playing the guitar. As we sat around a picnic table with a few other people, I leaned into Ben and he seemed to sigh. It was after that night that I think Ben really knew I liked him.
I still remember the pizza place Ben took me to in Salt Lake City. He had ordered "lemonade," saying it was the best drink he'd ever had. So of course, I had to try it. I took a big swig and then...all of my taste buds contracted. Yes, it was BITTER lemonade. Oh my unprepared mouth stung with sourness. We laughed and laughed about that.
After a few dates, Ben invited me to his parents house for a Sunday night full of games. It was there that I said some silly things that have forever stuck including, crazy cold milk (CCM). The next few months of family activities would produce more dumb things I would say. One of my favorite stories was after we saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. We sat around the kitchen table talking and Ben's dad offered me some cookies. I took a package with two cookies and throughout the conversation forgot about eating them. I looked down and was shocked. "I just ate both those cookies!" I said surprised at myself. "No, I ate one of those cookies," Ben said, confused. "Oh you ate one of those cookies!" I shouted, comforted by the revolution. And laughter erupted.
In August, Ben took me to an Iron and Wine concert. It was so crowded and people were smoking pot...we had so much fun! As soon as the music started playing, we walked closer to the stage. Ben placed his arms around me and I relaxed, happy and comfortable.We kept waiting and waiting for Iron and Wine to come out; I'd never seen him before, but Ben said he had. That's why it was so funny when about 10 minutes before the convert ended, Ben had a revolution. "Oh...I think that's him. That's Iron and Wine!" We laughed and laughed, but that wasn't the best part of the evening. Ben drove me to my parents house after the concert that warm August evening. When we got there, we lingered for a few minutes just below the steps to the door, talking, holding hands. And then it happened. He lent down and kissed me, placing his hand softly under my jaw. It was the best kiss any one has ever had, sweet and passionate. It was perfect and I'll always remember it.
In October, I invited Ben to come celebrate Halloween with me and my family. Now, Ben wasn't a huge fan of Halloween before he met me, but dressed ready for the corn field and pumpkin patch his outlook seemed to change. We had so much fun on a hayride and picked out super cute pumpkins that we would later carve together.
ADD HAYRIDE PHOTOS
After the pumpkin patch, we all went to get pizza. I accidentally let it slip that Ben didn't know what the Halloween colors were. When my family found out they asked him, "What do you think they are?" He sweetly replied, "Purple and green?" And we all laughed. "No, Ben! Black and orange are Halloween colors!!" "But they are spooky too!" he said. It was so cute seeing Ben talk with my family. After this date, I feel in love with Ben.
We continued dating, seeing movies, visiting our families, going to church together, and getting closer to one another, which is why the end of November was so hard for us. We decided we would spend Thanksgiving apart with our families. Bad decision. It was the worst day ever! All we wanted to do was be with one another. We decided from that point on we would never spend another holiday apart.