Our story

Like most things in my life, it all started with a horse.

I met Christina when she chose to put her daughter Kielyn in lessons with me. They became clients and friends of mine; I helped them buy their horse and gave Kielyn lessons. Eventually, for whatever unknown reason, Christy determined that I (Monica) would be a perfect match with her cousin, Ben. At first I was reluctant--after all, I am and have always been very independent and at the time was in NO way interested in dating anyone. But Christy persisted, exclaiming that we would be "so cute together"! I also persisted with my reluctance, and at one point almost ran her over trying to escape the click of her camera phone. Eventually, however, she persevered and her cousin, Ben, called me later that night.

To my surprise, we hit it off right away and talked for almost three hours. After we hung up, I had a fleeting glimpse of a future with him which I quickly pushed aside. After all, he lived far away and I didn't even know the guy! Yet, we began talking frequently, almost every night. We found much common ground and I definitely saw him as a friend with possibilities. Eventually we decided to meet, and I convinced Ben to bring me some hay to give us an excuse (see? again with the horses...). When we met, there was a definite spark, and our connection was obvious to both of us. I told him I'd try to see him when I helped my friend move to Pullman the next week--and try I did, as we hung out the whole weekend. In fact, Ben took me out to the Grant county fair where he officially asked me to be his girlfriend! We watched the rodeo, rode the rides, and then drove to his parents house and sat by Lower Goose Lake talking for hours. Ben later admitted that after our first conversation that fateful evening, he had the same conversation with himself--"I think this is the one...no, that's silly". On our second official date, he told me that he was in love with me. Which my immediate reaction to was "What? no you're not. You don't even know what that means. What's 'love' to you?" Ben quickly retreacted his statement...now he boasts that he knew.

Despite the hardship of distance, our unlikely romance has blossomed into something solid and beautiful--true love. We've been together for over a year, and will marry one month shy of our two year anniversary. And all the distance will have been worth it.

All thanks to a horse.