It happens... BUT it is good to get outside opinions and input when warranted... sometimes people can see things objectively that you can't see. Oh, and don't get me wrong... this isn't personally just directed to you... Ben's a really cool young man... I've known him and his family for over 10 years now... it's just that if I put more stock in what others had told me about my ex when we were dating things would have been a lot different for me.

The following was originally comment 5:

Oh, by the way.. there IS a difference between objective/constructive criticism and tearing down. If people are really trying to tear you down, that's bad... if people see something that you don't see and are trying to save you from heartache in the future, then they are showing love for you and want what's best... take each thing as it comes. If you two have true love for each other, then that will prove all your critics wrong. If the two of you are happy and can see eventually marrying and spending forever with each other, then you are on the right track...

This is being added at 10:40 am...

"You don't seem to be" is based on other people's perceptions... opposites attract and if you enjoy each other and tolerate each other's interests, or better yet see them as ways to enhance each other's lives, then that's cool... I'll tell you, though, Ben was first up in front to see Lindsay get baptized... I was standing next to him and he was beaming. Man, everything was Lindsay this and Lindsay that... Lindsay Lindsay Lindsay!

Also, I wasn't getting at anything other than handling my marriage a lot different if I put more stock in other people's input when dating... not that I wouldn't have married her, but dealt with things before marriage a lot differently...