The Couple ...

Anna LeFlore

Anna was born and raised in Galveston, TX, an island thirty minutes south of Houston. She is the youngest of three children born to Leroy and Mary LeFlore. She has a bachelor of arts, from St. Louis University, in Psychology, as well as a Certificate of Culinary Arts from Le Cordon Bleu. Currently, she's employed as a line cook at Asti, an italian restaurant in Austin, TX. Her interests, outside of making fantastic food, include sci-fi / fantasy books and movies, squealing at cute things (babies and small animals), and, in general, being super awesome. Her favorite thing about Ben is that he's always wrong.

Ben Paulsen

Ben was born and raised in Kirkwood, MO, a suburb of St. Louis. He is the second of four children born to Paul and Kathy Paulsen. He has a bachelor of science, from the University of Missouri, in Computer Science, and is currently employed as a software developer at MyEdu, a web company in Austin, TX. His interests, outside of being a huge computer geek, are watching excellent movies, playing terrible golf, and following his favorite sports teams (FYI: He now considers "Pujols" a 4 letter word). His favorite thing about Anna is that she's always right.

Anna & Ben (a.k.a. Benanna)

Anna and Ben, commonly referred to as "Benanna", met in 2006 in St. Louis, MO. Anna was a student at Saint Louis University. Ben was a programmer for Sporting News.

On their first date, they went to the Cheesecake Factory. Anna ordered a quesadilla of which she managed to put down all of one bite. Ben skipped dinner in favor of a slice of the Oreo mudslide cheesecake. They followed the meal with a movie they both deemed to be dreadful. The night culminated with them agreeing that it was all terribly awkward. Yet Anna gave Ben a second chance ... and a third chance ... and a fourth chance ... and basically enough chances for Ben to overcome his terrible shyness and win her heart, and her his.

Since those early days, Benanna have shared a number of experiences. Anna graduated from college in 2007, the same year Ben bought a condo in Clayton, MO. Anna adopted a prissy cat, aptly naming her Yoda. Ben adopted a hopelessly spazzy dog, dubbed Baxter after the movie Anchorman.

Benanna took their first roadtrip together to visit Paulsen relatives in Chicago, surviving concentrated amounts of time with family and each other with ease and glee. Aunt Mary took them adventuring in the city, where they ate deep dish pizza, saw Navy Pier, the Bean (Cloud Gate,) and much more. Things were on the right track.

Ben and Anna also took a couple of trips to the west coast- San Diego and Seattle- to visit LeFlore family members. Alice cultured Benanna with Ethiopian food, Balboa Park, and the Shakespearian play Twelth Night. Laurel and Aaron placed Benanna in an ocean Kayak, which capsized, spilling Benanna into 49 degree water full of killer whales. But this only made them stronger…

Eventually, Anna decided she wanted to move to Austin, TX. So Ben, Baxter, and Yoda also decided that they wanted to move to Austin, TX. Not without a pit stop in Galveston, however, just in time to get caught in the mess of Hurricane Ike. Between helping Leroy and Mary clean up the mess in Galveston, and finding jobs in Austin, Ben and Anna found time to grow fonder of each other and their furry friends.

Once settled in to their second apartment in Austin, Anna decided to enroll in culinary school, while Ben found a great job developing technology to help college students with their studies. Together they trained for and completed their first half marathon, the 3M, which was followed by the Galveston Half Marathon, and later, for Ben, the Saint Louis Half.

After surviving a third drought-ridden Texas summer, however, Benanna took a much needed cruise to Alaska. It was here, in the beautiful glacial waters of Canada, that Ben asked Anna to marry him. Anna screamed, “YES!” and they sealed the deal with the most romantic club sandwich the world has ever known.

And while Ben and Anna find any excuse to visit their hometowns of Kirkwood and Galveston, they’ve come to love their little furry family, and the life they’ve made under the Texas sun.