Feb. 7, 2026
LOVE STORIES: Former ‘Bachelor’ Star Ben Higgins and Jessica Clarke Higgins
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RSS Feed Our Love Stories series continues on the countdown to Valentine’s Day with one of Amy & T.J.’s favorite couples, Ben Higgins and Jessica Clarke Higgins. The former Bachelor star and his wife sit down for an honest and grounded conversation about marriage, communication, and parenthood. Ben and Jess joke about who really said “I love you” first, reflect on how early couples counseling helped them navigate very different conflict styles, and share why their relationship has always felt safe - even through long distance, marriage adjustments, and the chaos of a new puppy. Now parents to a baby girl, Jess opens up about falling even more in love watching Ben step into fatherhood, while both agree that a baby doesn’t fix a relationship - it simply requires more teamwork and intention.
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00:00:04
Speaker 1: This is Amy and TJ Love Stories.
00:00:14
Speaker 2: Welcome everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. And it's our Love Stories edition, and we have some of our favorite lovebirds Ben Higgins and Jessica Clark Higgins, and they have such a beautiful love story that began, well, at least Ben's journey for love began on television in front of us.
00:00:34
Speaker 1: All well, we got to keep bringing that up. Yes it did.
00:00:37
Speaker 3: Though it doesn't matter.
00:00:40
Speaker 2: How it began. It ended with jess and that's and that's what matters. Thank you both for being with us.
00:00:46
Speaker 3: Oh, we're pumped to be here. We're always excited to talk to you.
00:00:49
Speaker 1: Well, guys, thank you again. We've asked all the couples the same questions for the most part, and it's been interesting to hear there and answers some of the differences, but there's a lot of commonality. So we'll start off the top five words are less. Then we'll put you on the spot. First five words or less to describe your relationship today.
00:01:09
Speaker 4: Okay, that's three already, Yeah, safe, comfortable, romantic, and answer your prayer.
00:01:28
Speaker 2: Oh oh that's so sweet.
00:01:31
Speaker 3: Yeah that's six, but I did. All right, there you go, you go be nice. Okay, Well I just.
00:01:39
Speaker 5: Did the same thing as fine, giggly, helpful, helpful, I say, baby, because you have a baby.
00:01:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, parenthood, Karen, Like I said, where you are today? So that makes it.
00:02:07
Speaker 2: A lot. Yes, and you're and by the way, your little girl is about to turn one.
00:02:12
Speaker 1: Yeah next week.
00:02:13
Speaker 2: Oh happy almost first birthday. We'll get into all of that because baby comes later. Who said I love you.
00:02:21
Speaker 3: First me, that's not true.
00:02:25
Speaker 6: It is true, And he somehow remembers it incorrectly, But I said it first.
00:02:29
Speaker 5: He might have been thinking it, but.
00:02:30
Speaker 1: I said it.
00:02:32
Speaker 3: It was very close.
00:02:33
Speaker 7: At the same time, we were driving to her parents' house in the car and she made a joke or did something, and I remember going, that's that's why I love you. And then I like backtracked real fast, you know, like that's what I love about you. And then it was like two days later she did directly tell me I love you. But I think we I I need to get credit for at least thinking it.
00:03:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, I did think it open.
00:03:06
Speaker 2: To the possibility.
00:03:09
Speaker 1: Okay, that's you all. That is the most interesting answer we've gotten to that question. Yes, it is what we've talked to in this series. That is the most interesting. Let's go with the timeline here. How long did you date before you got engaged? How long were you engaged before you got there.
00:03:27
Speaker 3: I don't know that stuff very well.
00:03:29
Speaker 6: We dated for about a year and a half before we got engaged, and then we were engaged for a year and a half.
00:03:37
Speaker 7: Yeah, I was on tour. I was hosting this like Bachelor Live musical and traveling across the country, and we were supposed to be in New York City. So I had this big, elaborate like engagement planned in New York City at Central Park. It was going to be like kind of home alone, like ask where, like we visited some of the spots that she loves from, like these Christmas movies. And the pandemic hit and shut down the tour a week before New York and so we audibled to her hometown of Franklin, Tennessee. Uh and then because of the pandemic, we had to have a really long engagement, which looking back, I'm so glad we did. I don't know if we would have if we didn't have like the reason to have a long engagement. But that was such a it was such a fun period to be engaged and to be talking about being engaged, and like once you get married, then the questions become like what are you gonna have kids? And what are you to have another kid? And you know all those things. Engagements funks is just like celebration.
00:04:40
Speaker 2: I love that. That That is amazing. Yes, everyone doesn't need to rush to the altar. You can enjoy the engagement. It's fun to say fiance, isn't it. We're enjoying fiance.
00:04:52
Speaker 3: Fun.
00:04:53
Speaker 2: Now that you're a married couple, you've been married. You got married in twenty twenty one, right, so you're have you you're about to celebrate five years together.
00:04:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, we'll like at four and a half. We got married November, so late one, okay.
00:05:06
Speaker 2: So at this year, this end of this year, you'll be at five years. Do you all have a daily disagreement? Do you have a constant thing that you fight about? How would you describe your arguments.
00:05:21
Speaker 3: If you have?
00:05:22
Speaker 7: We have daily disagreements for sure? You know, like, at first, I'll explain this, you can correct me. We went through couples counsels very early on in our marriage because Jessica I grew up in a household that just like didn't bicker, they didn't fight, and so it was like a very like peaceful that.
00:05:43
Speaker 1: You know.
00:05:43
Speaker 7: The siblings got along, they got along with the parents. They're just like all really good kids. And I grew up in a household I'm an only child where my parents and I were like constantly, you know, going back and forth.
00:05:57
Speaker 3: So when we got married, I think we boathch.
00:05:59
Speaker 7: Just had very different perspectives on how to do confrontation. So we started going to couples counseling that helped. And it's not as much of like the like breakdown, stop talking arguments now, it's more of the it's just like this like small like things in the household.
00:06:21
Speaker 6: I would say, yeah, I think like household like picking up not necessarily an argument, but that is something that we like clash on sometimes because I'm more like it can stay there for a couple of days and then we can come back and clean it up, and he's more like, it's gotta go that and then like tone of voice will be something where it's.
00:06:40
Speaker 3: Like did you mean it that way? That's a big one.
00:06:43
Speaker 6: Yeah, those are like our two that we have to like come back to sometimes.
00:06:49
Speaker 1: That's usually in question.
00:06:51
Speaker 7: Yeah, like did you really mean to say that and like hurt me in that way? Or was that just like a passing comment. I need to like come back to that because I can't stop thinking about it. Like those things are oftentimes and I do feel like not to like do the generic excuse with a kid. And when we're both tired, the tone of voice and how we're speaking to each other is a lot more common than when we're both like rested and thinking clearly.
00:07:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a.
00:07:23
Speaker 6: Knap time and it's like, oh, I get to be alone for five minutes and he comes in and asks a question.
00:07:28
Speaker 3: I just can be a little snappy.
00:07:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm curious you mentioned we now is more the daily disagreement and everyone can relate to that. We now don't have like a knockdown drag app What did you learn in therapy that you were able to apply to your marriage that makes your relationship better now than it was when you first went to therapy?
00:07:50
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:07:51
Speaker 7: I think for me, it was giving Jessica the benefit of the doubt, knowing she's on my team.
00:07:57
Speaker 3: That was mine that she he.
00:08:00
Speaker 7: Has no intention to hurt me, even if the outcome does hurt me.
00:08:06
Speaker 3: She's not intending to do that and for.
00:08:09
Speaker 6: Me because I've never even had an argument with her friends, Like, he's the first person I've ever argued with, And so when we would argue at first, I thought he hated me, Like I was like, oh, he doesn't even like me. So our therapist talked a lot about how if we had never argued, that's more concerning than if we argue every single day. She's like, that's normal, but the key is that when you argue, you come back together really fast. So that's been really helpful of like if we do have a disagreement or there is a misunderstanding, to bring it up right away and to get to a point where we're back together again, like before the day is done.
00:08:44
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, I'm like the best and worst thing to happen to Jessica because I am the first person she's argued with. But I'm also the first person she's loved, so.
00:08:58
Speaker 1: We also it kind of goes in with this a certain degree. But we've asked every couple this. Everybody has bumps in the road, But was there something a point, a moment, a fight you could point to that you would say, this is as close as we got to almost calling it quits.
00:09:15
Speaker 7: I don't think so, because when we were dating it was pretty We were a long distance the whole time, and so when we were together it was kind of just always fun and there wasn't too many like life, big life choices we were.
00:09:29
Speaker 1: Trying to make.
00:09:31
Speaker 3: I don't remember like one.
00:09:37
Speaker 7: I mean, I think when we got our puppy, honestly, was like the moments where I was like I might lose her because I had to travel for work a lot. She was taking care of our puppy, waking up like three times a night.
00:09:47
Speaker 3: You know.
00:09:48
Speaker 7: Our dog was a maniac and I would come home and she was just like exhausted on the floor. It was a good training, I would say, PUPPI than a baby.
00:10:03
Speaker 3: Do you remember one that or like a moment where you're like, oh, no, I never really had that.
00:10:08
Speaker 6: It was like made a choice that he's my guy, and that's the way it's been. I think the first couple of arguments did scare me because I was like, I don't I just I'd never experienced it. But no, there's never really been a moment that I'm.
00:10:23
Speaker 7: Like, I think the bumps in the road have have never That's why I said, I would describe it as safe because the bumps in the road have always been never a doubt of Okay, we're going to figure this out.
00:10:36
Speaker 3: But sometimes it takes longer than others.
00:10:39
Speaker 7: But I've you know, there's just nobody else and for me, and so it's like I can't lose this girl, Like I don't know I would, I just I just can't.
00:10:52
Speaker 2: That's really sweet. Did you have a honeymoon period, and if so, how long did it last?
00:11:09
Speaker 3: We got a dog very quickly.
00:11:10
Speaker 1: The dogs life.
00:11:14
Speaker 6: About a month of just us two, and we really used that month to the best of our ability.
00:11:19
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:11:19
Speaker 7: We However, I think what we've done and which has been good, is we we've been a little bit of a lull, but we do a lot of date nights just the two of us. That always seems to get us back to like this honeymoon phase.
00:11:34
Speaker 1: Right.
00:11:34
Speaker 7: We both get clothes on that aren't like sweats and t shirts because you know, I sit at home and work all day and that's what I'm wearing. Uh, those are always really special nights. So I still feel like it comes and goes. I think the good part about long distance and how long we were engaged that like euphoric expectation that you think will last forever. Was like that, and what was keeping us going It was our connection with each other, our ability to communicate the love for each other. And so now that that has kind of lasted where I think that like honeymoon butterfly in the stomach phase, for us, it was like, okay, i'll see if in three days, then i'll see in two weeks. It had to kind of leave quickly or we would have never you know, made it work.
00:12:21
Speaker 1: And Jesse mentioned date nights there. We were going to ask about it. It sounds like you all certainly subscribe to the idea. But so let me ask, do you have set days you do it? How often do you like to do it? Are you just when it comes up it comes up that.
00:12:35
Speaker 6: Big size because it's been a really long time.
00:12:41
Speaker 7: I know, we did go We were in Orlando for a golf tournament this weekend and we went out. We found one night. We're in Denver and we don't really have any we don't have any family near us. And some of our neighbors are great and they'll love to take care of Winnie, but our average like neighbor neighbor age a lot higher than us, and so when we want to go for a date night, we could be out till, you know, ten o'clock, and that's not an option in this neighborhood with our neighbors.
00:13:08
Speaker 1: So, by the way, I have.
00:13:10
Speaker 2: A daughter who's nineteen, who lives really close to you, who is a babysitter.
00:13:14
Speaker 3: We made all of them.
00:13:15
Speaker 6: Yeah this, yes, Yeah, that would be great. I was just telling Ben last week, we've got to start interviewing for babysitters.
00:13:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's that's kind of number for you.
00:13:28
Speaker 1: And then I'll call later and give you the truth about it. She is, she is all right.
00:13:35
Speaker 2: So household chores, how do you all split this up? Because a lot of folks talk about that's where some of these fights bubble up. Sounds like that might be a little true for y'alls too. Who does the cooking, Who does the cleaning, who does the laundry, all of that? Ben does almost all of it.
00:13:53
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be on it.
00:13:54
Speaker 6: I got really lucky with him. He is an amazing cook.
00:13:58
Speaker 2: He is so clean.
00:14:01
Speaker 6: It comes with the only child. I'm a middle child. We just live on like different planets and we do our own separate laundry. I do Winni's laundry.
00:14:11
Speaker 7: Yeah, she does the daughter's laundry. I mean, I work from home, and so where you see me sitting right now is where I'm sitting. In a majority of the day, Jessica does go down to her office. She owns a couple of skincare clinics in Denver, and so she's going down there. And so when I'm home and I'm on a call or I'm listening in on a meeting, It's not uncommon for me to pull out the vacuum. I am preferred to be very clean in our house, to keep everything picked up. And then when it comes to cooking, honestly, it's it's ninety nine percent of the time, something I want to do with the today. I want to pour a cocktail, I want to turn on the news, I want to see what's going on in the world, and I want to cook for the next hour. That's like my favorite time of the day. And so most days that's never like a chore more than it is just a release. But yeah, when it comes to like those like everyday tasks, I seem to be doing them more just because I think I'm home more.
00:15:10
Speaker 6: But he loves it, so I just I let him do what he loves so good at it.
00:15:17
Speaker 2: DJ is the chef and the family too, and he when you did with the scene you just described ing at cocktail, putting on the news, and making dinner. I just literally that's PJ.
00:15:26
Speaker 1: You guys are so allowing us to cook and clean. Appreciate appreciate that. The other thing about the household money, how do you all handle it? One account, joint, two separate and a lot of people have three mm.
00:15:42
Speaker 7: Yeah, we uh, we have one shared account that we both put money into every month, and then we both operate our own individual businesses and so we operate those you know how we need to how we want to separate accounts for that. But our our Joy account pays for everything that's like that's expensed wise in our life, mortgages to insurance to all that stuff, and then we do have a shared like retirement fund separate than that, so.
00:16:13
Speaker 3: We try to keep it. I think the way we've tried to.
00:16:15
Speaker 7: Do it is I never I just wouldn't want to in my life ever be like telling Jessica how to spend her money, and I don't think she wants to do that to me, And so it's nice to have these separate accounts that we can she can buy, you know, whatever she buys, and then we have this this shared account that's kind of hopefully building up for our future and for life and retirement.
00:16:42
Speaker 2: That's perfect. I think a lot of a lot of folks are on that path as well. All Right, how often, well, I know we talked a little bit about the vice, but I'm curious, how often would you say you have a disagreement with each other?
00:16:56
Speaker 3: Even small ones, even small ones?
00:16:59
Speaker 7: Yeah, maybe once a week, Yeah, once a week. I would say it'd probably be a pretty good guess. Once or twice a week.
00:17:06
Speaker 1: You remember the last significant one?
00:17:09
Speaker 7: A significant one? Once every two months? Yeah, once a quarter maybe, like one that like actually feels like, Hey, I'm emotionally tied to this argument.
00:17:21
Speaker 3: Most of the time, it's like, you know, I don't.
00:17:24
Speaker 7: I mean, honestly, it's hard for me to remember half of the things we've argued about in the last week, because I.
00:17:29
Speaker 3: Have no recollection or emotional tie to them.
00:17:32
Speaker 7: But some of the ones that I like would actually feel and think through, I'd say once a quarter would be our pace.
00:17:40
Speaker 1: Right now, we need to look into that because we're the same. We have a once every three months. I say it to it when a fight ends, I'll see you in three months.
00:17:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, in three months.
00:17:51
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:17:52
Speaker 7: I don't know what that's about, but it seems that be that that like if I look back on kind of like when I remember them, it would be.
00:18:01
Speaker 3: And maybe it's just like, hey, we haven't done this in a while.
00:18:03
Speaker 7: I gotta let's get some stuff out.
00:18:07
Speaker 2: The last one was our biggest, and I think we had gone five months without having a big one. But man, I'd rather go three months and have it not be so.
00:18:16
Speaker 1: Built up.
00:18:20
Speaker 2: Do you all have any rules, as in, we never go to bed angry? Like when it comes to how you all handle disagreements, and.
00:18:28
Speaker 1: Some people don't. They say they don't curse, they make sure they don't use profanity when we're threatened.
00:18:33
Speaker 2: To leave or in the relationship like I'm done, I want a D word anything like that.
00:18:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say one rule.
00:18:41
Speaker 7: I mean, we've gone to bed angry and sometimes I think you need to at least I need to you sleep it off. And sometimes I wake up in the morning I was like, and I'm like, why did I go to bed mad? Last night, and we never threatened to leave. I think that would be our one rule in our argument is like that is just not that. That is not the solution in our relationship. That's not an out. And so we're we're never going to threaten like, hey, I might go for a walk. I might you know, take a drive, but I'm not threatening, Like I don't want Jessica to think, hey, this, you know he's going to bounce.
00:19:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's terrible. How about what do you think about I think you said something. You mentioned this briekly, but I'm curious specifically what you think about couples? And there have been a few famous celebrity couples who have said, to anyone who will ask, we never fight. George Clooney and them all I believe in Travis and Taylor said they never fight. What do you think about couples who don't fight at all?
00:19:46
Speaker 6: I think that would have been my dream, I really, But going back to a couple's therapy, it was so that was so helpful and enlightening of like, you can't agree on everything, someone is holding something back is kind of where my head goes, is like because that person would be me, like if he never brought up an argument or disagreement, I would just hold it all in and then it would get built up and I would have this kind of resentment towards that person, or just I don't think I would feel completely hurt or satisfied. So I think it's it's important to voice where you disagree so that the person gets to know you better too.
00:20:29
Speaker 7: I also would say, like, I mean, it's different maybe with some of the ones that you mentioned, but you need a little practice so that when you have your first it doesn't feel like the end of the world, Like you kind of need to get some like callousness to like understand how the other one operates and typed in moments of like frustration. I also think a lot of our fights come from, like, honestly, like a deep desire to be known and loved by our partner, me for her and her for me, And sometimes we don't even understand ourselves, and so it's hard and you get frustrated at yourself and at your partner for not understanding and all these things. So for me, sometimes the fights feel like the biggest compliment because I'm, like Jessica's just trying to get to know me and I'm not doing a good job at allowing it.
00:21:19
Speaker 1: Wow, that sounded sweet. I just I wish he would stop trying to get to know me so well.
00:21:27
Speaker 2: I'm curious. I'm just so curious.
00:21:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're really curious. You asked curious.
00:21:43
Speaker 2: How important is friendship? Would you say you're each other's best friends or do you think it's important to have best friends outside of the relationship. Where do you stand on that part of being a couple.
00:21:56
Speaker 6: He's definitely my best friend, like one hundred percent. When something happens, good, bad, funny, He's the first person I want to tell all the things too. But I do think it's important for me to have my girlfriends too, because there's some stuff that excites me so much that he just doesn't care about. Not because he doesn't like me, but because we have different interests.
00:22:15
Speaker 2: Like Bridgeran and things like that. I totally get that exactly.
00:22:18
Speaker 7: You got a person some deal for way too much money still, and I don't get it why.
00:22:24
Speaker 2: It's a deal, But my girlfriends loved it.
00:22:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I do.
00:22:32
Speaker 6: I think that you need to have and like, I'll watch football with him, but I'm not going to have the same reaction as his buddies like, You've got to have that outside.
00:22:40
Speaker 3: I think, Yeah, I.
00:22:42
Speaker 7: Still hold a lot of really close friendships. Jessica's definitely my best friend. We spend the most time together, she knows the most about me. But I yeah, I will always need some some of my dudes around, especially who have known me since middle school, because yeah, it's just different and they it kind of also is like an accountability check to make sure I'm, you know, doing things well. They'll hold me accountable if they feel like I'm slipping, and I think that's a big deal too.
00:23:12
Speaker 1: Last couple of things here, and you all are such a good example of what a lot of couples are trying to figure out. I mean, you all overcame distance, you overcame different industries, you overcame being in the public. You got a puppy, you had a baby. You are young and your marriage is young. So for those folks who want that, I mean, you all went through some stuff and you're still here and happy in making it. Tell them what is it you see oftentimes young couples making a mistake about that. If you had their ear, you say, hey, watch out for this when they're trying to get to where you guys are right now. People want that advice, and they certainly want to allow of their relationship to look like you alls seems to be looking right now.
00:23:54
Speaker 6: That's really kind of you to say. Obviously, we've put in a lot of work. And I think that's one of the things, is like, you have to prioritize your relationship. You can't just let it pass by. You have to work on it for it to be healthy and sustainable. But I also think one of the things that I hear the most from younger couples is keeping score. They got to do this, so I got to do that. He was golfing for six hours. Now I get six hours to do blah blah blah. And that's something that we make a conscious effort not to do. But we're so happy when the other person has something that they desire and we want them.
00:24:29
Speaker 1: To go and do that thing.
00:24:30
Speaker 6: But it doesn't mean that then I get to do something. It's just like a mutual happiness and excitement. And I think that's something that prevents that like resentment from building up.
00:24:40
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think keeping score seems to be more and more common, and for us, I think the back of that is we both have to be understanding of when we are stretching the limits of our time away. I think we both have to hold that and check and make sure that our partners, you know, are communicat to us, like, hey, you've been gone now for three straight days. It would be great if you were home this afternoon, and to hear that and be like, yes, you're right. I also think for young people, dating expectations are really high on what they're looking for in a partner, which at some level is good. But you're also dating another human who is not perfect, who is going to have mistakes, And so I think it's it's prioritizing what's really important to you, what's your value system for in your partner, and being able to either fall in love with or understand, you know, maybe where they're falling short, because you know, the perfect partner doesn't exist, but a love that can kind of bind that and solve that does. And so it's just knowing that, hey, there's faults in it, there's faults in our marriage, there's faults in each other, but we're committed to each other and to love each other even through those.
00:25:59
Speaker 1: Oh that's awesome.
00:26:00
Speaker 2: What would you say, I'm sure people ask it this, it's jumping off of your last question, but what is the key to your successful relationship? How if someone was asking what do you do that makes your relationship work? How would you answer that?
00:26:19
Speaker 7: I mean, I think it's I think really it comes from our shared faith. Like I think our foundation, our faith is is always a checkpoint for us. It's always something that when we come into arguments, it's the filter. When we're celebrating, it's the filter. When we're raising our child, it's the filter. When we're committing to each other. You know, it's the filter. It's just it really is the foundation. And I think we said it the other night, like it's just been so valuable in our lives to kind of even personally as we celebrate each other's successes, to hold each other and check based on our faith, tradition and value system. At least I know we have a common place were coming from.
00:27:02
Speaker 6: Yeah, I agree that, And staying curious about your partner and asking questions because it changes you grow with them. I met Ben when I was twenty three. I'm thirty now, that's a huge difference in who you are. So I think understanding how that person's mind is changing too, and wanting to stay curious about them and get to know who they are as you grow with them is really important.
00:27:22
Speaker 1: That's good.
00:27:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's huge.
00:27:24
Speaker 2: All right. I have one last question because for anyone who there are a lot of people who you guys just had a baby. I want to know how having your little girl has changed your relationship. And we joke because obviously that ship has sailed for us, but he just like, we should have a kid to get it right. He's like, laugh, you know, that'll fix everything. And I do all jokes aside. I think some people do believe that.
00:27:50
Speaker 1: Every fight, Ben, I say that let's let's go have a baby. Yeah, I like it.
00:27:55
Speaker 3: I like your minds that he.
00:27:58
Speaker 2: Knows it's a safe suggestion because out of the realm of possibilities. But how has having a little girl? Having a baby changed your relationship?
00:28:08
Speaker 6: Well, definitely won't fix a relationship, that's for sure. You got to put in a lot more work with your partner and be come at it as a team. It's made me watching Ben, especially with the little girl, I just have fallen even more deeply in love with him because he the way he cares for this girl and looks at her and it's just like the sweetest thing. I feel like your heart's grown like seven times. But it's changed our relationship and the quality time we get with one another is far different. We're both, like you said, coming out days, a little bit more exhausted. But I think overall it does make our relationship feel more safe because I feel where our priorities are.
00:28:51
Speaker 7: Yeah, and I think it has made it harder with the quality time and with the time that we we get to spend.
00:28:59
Speaker 3: But we go a lot of walks together.
00:29:01
Speaker 7: That's a big part of our relationship is walking, and that's where we get to catch up a lot of times because the baby strapped to one of our chests. And in closing, I think with when it comes to Jessica, there isn't really I've tried. There's not words to describe what it does for you when you see your partner sacrifice her body, her time, her energy for something else that you also love. It just it expands your appreciation and I think that's a part of love.
00:29:42
Speaker 2: That is beautiful. And you all are a gorgeous couple inside and out. Thank you so much for sharing your relationship with all of us. I know a lot of folks. This is tough, it's these are private things, but it's so helpful for all of us near more to actually understand these relationships we see right on social media or in the media and think, oh, they've got it all figured out. It's so nice to hear how you all get through tough times and we appreciate you being vulnerable and sharing your beautiful love story with us.
00:30:19
Speaker 7: Well, hey, thanks for having us. We love talking about it. It's actually really fun for us to just take out to talk about our love.
00:30:26
Speaker 1: It's nice. Oh well, you know what, maybe we'll follow up with you guys down the road. Polenty of relationship topics out there, so really goods. All right, all right, love that.
00:30:34
Speaker 3: Thanks all,
Speaker 1: This is Amy and TJ Love Stories.
00:00:14
Speaker 2: Welcome everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. And it's our Love Stories edition, and we have some of our favorite lovebirds Ben Higgins and Jessica Clark Higgins, and they have such a beautiful love story that began, well, at least Ben's journey for love began on television in front of us.
00:00:34
Speaker 1: All well, we got to keep bringing that up. Yes it did.
00:00:37
Speaker 3: Though it doesn't matter.
00:00:40
Speaker 2: How it began. It ended with jess and that's and that's what matters. Thank you both for being with us.
00:00:46
Speaker 3: Oh, we're pumped to be here. We're always excited to talk to you.
00:00:49
Speaker 1: Well, guys, thank you again. We've asked all the couples the same questions for the most part, and it's been interesting to hear there and answers some of the differences, but there's a lot of commonality. So we'll start off the top five words are less. Then we'll put you on the spot. First five words or less to describe your relationship today.
00:01:09
Speaker 4: Okay, that's three already, Yeah, safe, comfortable, romantic, and answer your prayer.
00:01:28
Speaker 2: Oh oh that's so sweet.
00:01:31
Speaker 3: Yeah that's six, but I did. All right, there you go, you go be nice. Okay, Well I just.
00:01:39
Speaker 5: Did the same thing as fine, giggly, helpful, helpful, I say, baby, because you have a baby.
00:01:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, parenthood, Karen, Like I said, where you are today? So that makes it.
00:02:07
Speaker 2: A lot. Yes, and you're and by the way, your little girl is about to turn one.
00:02:12
Speaker 1: Yeah next week.
00:02:13
Speaker 2: Oh happy almost first birthday. We'll get into all of that because baby comes later. Who said I love you.
00:02:21
Speaker 3: First me, that's not true.
00:02:25
Speaker 6: It is true, And he somehow remembers it incorrectly, But I said it first.
00:02:29
Speaker 5: He might have been thinking it, but.
00:02:30
Speaker 1: I said it.
00:02:32
Speaker 3: It was very close.
00:02:33
Speaker 7: At the same time, we were driving to her parents' house in the car and she made a joke or did something, and I remember going, that's that's why I love you. And then I like backtracked real fast, you know, like that's what I love about you. And then it was like two days later she did directly tell me I love you. But I think we I I need to get credit for at least thinking it.
00:03:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, I did think it open.
00:03:06
Speaker 2: To the possibility.
00:03:09
Speaker 1: Okay, that's you all. That is the most interesting answer we've gotten to that question. Yes, it is what we've talked to in this series. That is the most interesting. Let's go with the timeline here. How long did you date before you got engaged? How long were you engaged before you got there.
00:03:27
Speaker 3: I don't know that stuff very well.
00:03:29
Speaker 6: We dated for about a year and a half before we got engaged, and then we were engaged for a year and a half.
00:03:37
Speaker 7: Yeah, I was on tour. I was hosting this like Bachelor Live musical and traveling across the country, and we were supposed to be in New York City. So I had this big, elaborate like engagement planned in New York City at Central Park. It was going to be like kind of home alone, like ask where, like we visited some of the spots that she loves from, like these Christmas movies. And the pandemic hit and shut down the tour a week before New York and so we audibled to her hometown of Franklin, Tennessee. Uh and then because of the pandemic, we had to have a really long engagement, which looking back, I'm so glad we did. I don't know if we would have if we didn't have like the reason to have a long engagement. But that was such a it was such a fun period to be engaged and to be talking about being engaged, and like once you get married, then the questions become like what are you gonna have kids? And what are you to have another kid? And you know all those things. Engagements funks is just like celebration.
00:04:40
Speaker 2: I love that. That That is amazing. Yes, everyone doesn't need to rush to the altar. You can enjoy the engagement. It's fun to say fiance, isn't it. We're enjoying fiance.
00:04:52
Speaker 3: Fun.
00:04:53
Speaker 2: Now that you're a married couple, you've been married. You got married in twenty twenty one, right, so you're have you you're about to celebrate five years together.
00:04:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, we'll like at four and a half. We got married November, so late one, okay.
00:05:06
Speaker 2: So at this year, this end of this year, you'll be at five years. Do you all have a daily disagreement? Do you have a constant thing that you fight about? How would you describe your arguments.
00:05:21
Speaker 3: If you have?
00:05:22
Speaker 7: We have daily disagreements for sure? You know, like, at first, I'll explain this, you can correct me. We went through couples counsels very early on in our marriage because Jessica I grew up in a household that just like didn't bicker, they didn't fight, and so it was like a very like peaceful that.
00:05:43
Speaker 1: You know.
00:05:43
Speaker 7: The siblings got along, they got along with the parents. They're just like all really good kids. And I grew up in a household I'm an only child where my parents and I were like constantly, you know, going back and forth.
00:05:57
Speaker 3: So when we got married, I think we boathch.
00:05:59
Speaker 7: Just had very different perspectives on how to do confrontation. So we started going to couples counseling that helped. And it's not as much of like the like breakdown, stop talking arguments now, it's more of the it's just like this like small like things in the household.
00:06:21
Speaker 6: I would say, yeah, I think like household like picking up not necessarily an argument, but that is something that we like clash on sometimes because I'm more like it can stay there for a couple of days and then we can come back and clean it up, and he's more like, it's gotta go that and then like tone of voice will be something where it's.
00:06:40
Speaker 3: Like did you mean it that way? That's a big one.
00:06:43
Speaker 6: Yeah, those are like our two that we have to like come back to sometimes.
00:06:49
Speaker 1: That's usually in question.
00:06:51
Speaker 7: Yeah, like did you really mean to say that and like hurt me in that way? Or was that just like a passing comment. I need to like come back to that because I can't stop thinking about it. Like those things are oftentimes and I do feel like not to like do the generic excuse with a kid. And when we're both tired, the tone of voice and how we're speaking to each other is a lot more common than when we're both like rested and thinking clearly.
00:07:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a.
00:07:23
Speaker 6: Knap time and it's like, oh, I get to be alone for five minutes and he comes in and asks a question.
00:07:28
Speaker 3: I just can be a little snappy.
00:07:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm curious you mentioned we now is more the daily disagreement and everyone can relate to that. We now don't have like a knockdown drag app What did you learn in therapy that you were able to apply to your marriage that makes your relationship better now than it was when you first went to therapy?
00:07:50
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:07:51
Speaker 7: I think for me, it was giving Jessica the benefit of the doubt, knowing she's on my team.
00:07:57
Speaker 3: That was mine that she he.
00:08:00
Speaker 7: Has no intention to hurt me, even if the outcome does hurt me.
00:08:06
Speaker 3: She's not intending to do that and for.
00:08:09
Speaker 6: Me because I've never even had an argument with her friends, Like, he's the first person I've ever argued with, And so when we would argue at first, I thought he hated me, Like I was like, oh, he doesn't even like me. So our therapist talked a lot about how if we had never argued, that's more concerning than if we argue every single day. She's like, that's normal, but the key is that when you argue, you come back together really fast. So that's been really helpful of like if we do have a disagreement or there is a misunderstanding, to bring it up right away and to get to a point where we're back together again, like before the day is done.
00:08:44
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, I'm like the best and worst thing to happen to Jessica because I am the first person she's argued with. But I'm also the first person she's loved, so.
00:08:58
Speaker 1: We also it kind of goes in with this a certain degree. But we've asked every couple this. Everybody has bumps in the road, But was there something a point, a moment, a fight you could point to that you would say, this is as close as we got to almost calling it quits.
00:09:15
Speaker 7: I don't think so, because when we were dating it was pretty We were a long distance the whole time, and so when we were together it was kind of just always fun and there wasn't too many like life, big life choices we were.
00:09:29
Speaker 1: Trying to make.
00:09:31
Speaker 3: I don't remember like one.
00:09:37
Speaker 7: I mean, I think when we got our puppy, honestly, was like the moments where I was like I might lose her because I had to travel for work a lot. She was taking care of our puppy, waking up like three times a night.
00:09:47
Speaker 3: You know.
00:09:48
Speaker 7: Our dog was a maniac and I would come home and she was just like exhausted on the floor. It was a good training, I would say, PUPPI than a baby.
00:10:03
Speaker 3: Do you remember one that or like a moment where you're like, oh, no, I never really had that.
00:10:08
Speaker 6: It was like made a choice that he's my guy, and that's the way it's been. I think the first couple of arguments did scare me because I was like, I don't I just I'd never experienced it. But no, there's never really been a moment that I'm.
00:10:23
Speaker 7: Like, I think the bumps in the road have have never That's why I said, I would describe it as safe because the bumps in the road have always been never a doubt of Okay, we're going to figure this out.
00:10:36
Speaker 3: But sometimes it takes longer than others.
00:10:39
Speaker 7: But I've you know, there's just nobody else and for me, and so it's like I can't lose this girl, Like I don't know I would, I just I just can't.
00:10:52
Speaker 2: That's really sweet. Did you have a honeymoon period, and if so, how long did it last?
00:11:09
Speaker 3: We got a dog very quickly.
00:11:10
Speaker 1: The dogs life.
00:11:14
Speaker 6: About a month of just us two, and we really used that month to the best of our ability.
00:11:19
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:11:19
Speaker 7: We However, I think what we've done and which has been good, is we we've been a little bit of a lull, but we do a lot of date nights just the two of us. That always seems to get us back to like this honeymoon phase.
00:11:34
Speaker 1: Right.
00:11:34
Speaker 7: We both get clothes on that aren't like sweats and t shirts because you know, I sit at home and work all day and that's what I'm wearing. Uh, those are always really special nights. So I still feel like it comes and goes. I think the good part about long distance and how long we were engaged that like euphoric expectation that you think will last forever. Was like that, and what was keeping us going It was our connection with each other, our ability to communicate the love for each other. And so now that that has kind of lasted where I think that like honeymoon butterfly in the stomach phase, for us, it was like, okay, i'll see if in three days, then i'll see in two weeks. It had to kind of leave quickly or we would have never you know, made it work.
00:12:21
Speaker 1: And Jesse mentioned date nights there. We were going to ask about it. It sounds like you all certainly subscribe to the idea. But so let me ask, do you have set days you do it? How often do you like to do it? Are you just when it comes up it comes up that.
00:12:35
Speaker 6: Big size because it's been a really long time.
00:12:41
Speaker 7: I know, we did go We were in Orlando for a golf tournament this weekend and we went out. We found one night. We're in Denver and we don't really have any we don't have any family near us. And some of our neighbors are great and they'll love to take care of Winnie, but our average like neighbor neighbor age a lot higher than us, and so when we want to go for a date night, we could be out till, you know, ten o'clock, and that's not an option in this neighborhood with our neighbors.
00:13:08
Speaker 1: So, by the way, I have.
00:13:10
Speaker 2: A daughter who's nineteen, who lives really close to you, who is a babysitter.
00:13:14
Speaker 3: We made all of them.
00:13:15
Speaker 6: Yeah this, yes, Yeah, that would be great. I was just telling Ben last week, we've got to start interviewing for babysitters.
00:13:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's that's kind of number for you.
00:13:28
Speaker 1: And then I'll call later and give you the truth about it. She is, she is all right.
00:13:35
Speaker 2: So household chores, how do you all split this up? Because a lot of folks talk about that's where some of these fights bubble up. Sounds like that might be a little true for y'alls too. Who does the cooking, Who does the cleaning, who does the laundry, all of that? Ben does almost all of it.
00:13:53
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be on it.
00:13:54
Speaker 6: I got really lucky with him. He is an amazing cook.
00:13:58
Speaker 2: He is so clean.
00:14:01
Speaker 6: It comes with the only child. I'm a middle child. We just live on like different planets and we do our own separate laundry. I do Winni's laundry.
00:14:11
Speaker 7: Yeah, she does the daughter's laundry. I mean, I work from home, and so where you see me sitting right now is where I'm sitting. In a majority of the day, Jessica does go down to her office. She owns a couple of skincare clinics in Denver, and so she's going down there. And so when I'm home and I'm on a call or I'm listening in on a meeting, It's not uncommon for me to pull out the vacuum. I am preferred to be very clean in our house, to keep everything picked up. And then when it comes to cooking, honestly, it's it's ninety nine percent of the time, something I want to do with the today. I want to pour a cocktail, I want to turn on the news, I want to see what's going on in the world, and I want to cook for the next hour. That's like my favorite time of the day. And so most days that's never like a chore more than it is just a release. But yeah, when it comes to like those like everyday tasks, I seem to be doing them more just because I think I'm home more.
00:15:10
Speaker 6: But he loves it, so I just I let him do what he loves so good at it.
00:15:17
Speaker 2: DJ is the chef and the family too, and he when you did with the scene you just described ing at cocktail, putting on the news, and making dinner. I just literally that's PJ.
00:15:26
Speaker 1: You guys are so allowing us to cook and clean. Appreciate appreciate that. The other thing about the household money, how do you all handle it? One account, joint, two separate and a lot of people have three mm.
00:15:42
Speaker 7: Yeah, we uh, we have one shared account that we both put money into every month, and then we both operate our own individual businesses and so we operate those you know how we need to how we want to separate accounts for that. But our our Joy account pays for everything that's like that's expensed wise in our life, mortgages to insurance to all that stuff, and then we do have a shared like retirement fund separate than that, so.
00:16:13
Speaker 3: We try to keep it. I think the way we've tried to.
00:16:15
Speaker 7: Do it is I never I just wouldn't want to in my life ever be like telling Jessica how to spend her money, and I don't think she wants to do that to me, And so it's nice to have these separate accounts that we can she can buy, you know, whatever she buys, and then we have this this shared account that's kind of hopefully building up for our future and for life and retirement.
00:16:42
Speaker 2: That's perfect. I think a lot of a lot of folks are on that path as well. All Right, how often, well, I know we talked a little bit about the vice, but I'm curious, how often would you say you have a disagreement with each other?
00:16:56
Speaker 3: Even small ones, even small ones?
00:16:59
Speaker 7: Yeah, maybe once a week, Yeah, once a week. I would say it'd probably be a pretty good guess. Once or twice a week.
00:17:06
Speaker 1: You remember the last significant one?
00:17:09
Speaker 7: A significant one? Once every two months? Yeah, once a quarter maybe, like one that like actually feels like, Hey, I'm emotionally tied to this argument.
00:17:21
Speaker 3: Most of the time, it's like, you know, I don't.
00:17:24
Speaker 7: I mean, honestly, it's hard for me to remember half of the things we've argued about in the last week, because I.
00:17:29
Speaker 3: Have no recollection or emotional tie to them.
00:17:32
Speaker 7: But some of the ones that I like would actually feel and think through, I'd say once a quarter would be our pace.
00:17:40
Speaker 1: Right now, we need to look into that because we're the same. We have a once every three months. I say it to it when a fight ends, I'll see you in three months.
00:17:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, in three months.
00:17:51
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:17:52
Speaker 7: I don't know what that's about, but it seems that be that that like if I look back on kind of like when I remember them, it would be.
00:18:01
Speaker 3: And maybe it's just like, hey, we haven't done this in a while.
00:18:03
Speaker 7: I gotta let's get some stuff out.
00:18:07
Speaker 2: The last one was our biggest, and I think we had gone five months without having a big one. But man, I'd rather go three months and have it not be so.
00:18:16
Speaker 1: Built up.
00:18:20
Speaker 2: Do you all have any rules, as in, we never go to bed angry? Like when it comes to how you all handle disagreements, and.
00:18:28
Speaker 1: Some people don't. They say they don't curse, they make sure they don't use profanity when we're threatened.
00:18:33
Speaker 2: To leave or in the relationship like I'm done, I want a D word anything like that.
00:18:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say one rule.
00:18:41
Speaker 7: I mean, we've gone to bed angry and sometimes I think you need to at least I need to you sleep it off. And sometimes I wake up in the morning I was like, and I'm like, why did I go to bed mad? Last night, and we never threatened to leave. I think that would be our one rule in our argument is like that is just not that. That is not the solution in our relationship. That's not an out. And so we're we're never going to threaten like, hey, I might go for a walk. I might you know, take a drive, but I'm not threatening, Like I don't want Jessica to think, hey, this, you know he's going to bounce.
00:19:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's terrible. How about what do you think about I think you said something. You mentioned this briekly, but I'm curious specifically what you think about couples? And there have been a few famous celebrity couples who have said, to anyone who will ask, we never fight. George Clooney and them all I believe in Travis and Taylor said they never fight. What do you think about couples who don't fight at all?
00:19:46
Speaker 6: I think that would have been my dream, I really, But going back to a couple's therapy, it was so that was so helpful and enlightening of like, you can't agree on everything, someone is holding something back is kind of where my head goes, is like because that person would be me, like if he never brought up an argument or disagreement, I would just hold it all in and then it would get built up and I would have this kind of resentment towards that person, or just I don't think I would feel completely hurt or satisfied. So I think it's it's important to voice where you disagree so that the person gets to know you better too.
00:20:29
Speaker 7: I also would say, like, I mean, it's different maybe with some of the ones that you mentioned, but you need a little practice so that when you have your first it doesn't feel like the end of the world, Like you kind of need to get some like callousness to like understand how the other one operates and typed in moments of like frustration. I also think a lot of our fights come from, like, honestly, like a deep desire to be known and loved by our partner, me for her and her for me, And sometimes we don't even understand ourselves, and so it's hard and you get frustrated at yourself and at your partner for not understanding and all these things. So for me, sometimes the fights feel like the biggest compliment because I'm, like Jessica's just trying to get to know me and I'm not doing a good job at allowing it.
00:21:19
Speaker 1: Wow, that sounded sweet. I just I wish he would stop trying to get to know me so well.
00:21:27
Speaker 2: I'm curious. I'm just so curious.
00:21:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're really curious. You asked curious.
00:21:43
Speaker 2: How important is friendship? Would you say you're each other's best friends or do you think it's important to have best friends outside of the relationship. Where do you stand on that part of being a couple.
00:21:56
Speaker 6: He's definitely my best friend, like one hundred percent. When something happens, good, bad, funny, He's the first person I want to tell all the things too. But I do think it's important for me to have my girlfriends too, because there's some stuff that excites me so much that he just doesn't care about. Not because he doesn't like me, but because we have different interests.
00:22:15
Speaker 2: Like Bridgeran and things like that. I totally get that exactly.
00:22:18
Speaker 7: You got a person some deal for way too much money still, and I don't get it why.
00:22:24
Speaker 2: It's a deal, But my girlfriends loved it.
00:22:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I do.
00:22:32
Speaker 6: I think that you need to have and like, I'll watch football with him, but I'm not going to have the same reaction as his buddies like, You've got to have that outside.
00:22:40
Speaker 3: I think, Yeah, I.
00:22:42
Speaker 7: Still hold a lot of really close friendships. Jessica's definitely my best friend. We spend the most time together, she knows the most about me. But I yeah, I will always need some some of my dudes around, especially who have known me since middle school, because yeah, it's just different and they it kind of also is like an accountability check to make sure I'm, you know, doing things well. They'll hold me accountable if they feel like I'm slipping, and I think that's a big deal too.
00:23:12
Speaker 1: Last couple of things here, and you all are such a good example of what a lot of couples are trying to figure out. I mean, you all overcame distance, you overcame different industries, you overcame being in the public. You got a puppy, you had a baby. You are young and your marriage is young. So for those folks who want that, I mean, you all went through some stuff and you're still here and happy in making it. Tell them what is it you see oftentimes young couples making a mistake about that. If you had their ear, you say, hey, watch out for this when they're trying to get to where you guys are right now. People want that advice, and they certainly want to allow of their relationship to look like you alls seems to be looking right now.
00:23:54
Speaker 6: That's really kind of you to say. Obviously, we've put in a lot of work. And I think that's one of the things, is like, you have to prioritize your relationship. You can't just let it pass by. You have to work on it for it to be healthy and sustainable. But I also think one of the things that I hear the most from younger couples is keeping score. They got to do this, so I got to do that. He was golfing for six hours. Now I get six hours to do blah blah blah. And that's something that we make a conscious effort not to do. But we're so happy when the other person has something that they desire and we want them.
00:24:29
Speaker 1: To go and do that thing.
00:24:30
Speaker 6: But it doesn't mean that then I get to do something. It's just like a mutual happiness and excitement. And I think that's something that prevents that like resentment from building up.
00:24:40
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think keeping score seems to be more and more common, and for us, I think the back of that is we both have to be understanding of when we are stretching the limits of our time away. I think we both have to hold that and check and make sure that our partners, you know, are communicat to us, like, hey, you've been gone now for three straight days. It would be great if you were home this afternoon, and to hear that and be like, yes, you're right. I also think for young people, dating expectations are really high on what they're looking for in a partner, which at some level is good. But you're also dating another human who is not perfect, who is going to have mistakes, And so I think it's it's prioritizing what's really important to you, what's your value system for in your partner, and being able to either fall in love with or understand, you know, maybe where they're falling short, because you know, the perfect partner doesn't exist, but a love that can kind of bind that and solve that does. And so it's just knowing that, hey, there's faults in it, there's faults in our marriage, there's faults in each other, but we're committed to each other and to love each other even through those.
00:25:59
Speaker 1: Oh that's awesome.
00:26:00
Speaker 2: What would you say, I'm sure people ask it this, it's jumping off of your last question, but what is the key to your successful relationship? How if someone was asking what do you do that makes your relationship work? How would you answer that?
00:26:19
Speaker 7: I mean, I think it's I think really it comes from our shared faith. Like I think our foundation, our faith is is always a checkpoint for us. It's always something that when we come into arguments, it's the filter. When we're celebrating, it's the filter. When we're raising our child, it's the filter. When we're committing to each other. You know, it's the filter. It's just it really is the foundation. And I think we said it the other night, like it's just been so valuable in our lives to kind of even personally as we celebrate each other's successes, to hold each other and check based on our faith, tradition and value system. At least I know we have a common place were coming from.
00:27:02
Speaker 6: Yeah, I agree that, And staying curious about your partner and asking questions because it changes you grow with them. I met Ben when I was twenty three. I'm thirty now, that's a huge difference in who you are. So I think understanding how that person's mind is changing too, and wanting to stay curious about them and get to know who they are as you grow with them is really important.
00:27:22
Speaker 1: That's good.
00:27:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's huge.
00:27:24
Speaker 2: All right. I have one last question because for anyone who there are a lot of people who you guys just had a baby. I want to know how having your little girl has changed your relationship. And we joke because obviously that ship has sailed for us, but he just like, we should have a kid to get it right. He's like, laugh, you know, that'll fix everything. And I do all jokes aside. I think some people do believe that.
00:27:50
Speaker 1: Every fight, Ben, I say that let's let's go have a baby. Yeah, I like it.
00:27:55
Speaker 3: I like your minds that he.
00:27:58
Speaker 2: Knows it's a safe suggestion because out of the realm of possibilities. But how has having a little girl? Having a baby changed your relationship?
00:28:08
Speaker 6: Well, definitely won't fix a relationship, that's for sure. You got to put in a lot more work with your partner and be come at it as a team. It's made me watching Ben, especially with the little girl, I just have fallen even more deeply in love with him because he the way he cares for this girl and looks at her and it's just like the sweetest thing. I feel like your heart's grown like seven times. But it's changed our relationship and the quality time we get with one another is far different. We're both, like you said, coming out days, a little bit more exhausted. But I think overall it does make our relationship feel more safe because I feel where our priorities are.
00:28:51
Speaker 7: Yeah, and I think it has made it harder with the quality time and with the time that we we get to spend.
00:28:59
Speaker 3: But we go a lot of walks together.
00:29:01
Speaker 7: That's a big part of our relationship is walking, and that's where we get to catch up a lot of times because the baby strapped to one of our chests. And in closing, I think with when it comes to Jessica, there isn't really I've tried. There's not words to describe what it does for you when you see your partner sacrifice her body, her time, her energy for something else that you also love. It just it expands your appreciation and I think that's a part of love.
00:29:42
Speaker 2: That is beautiful. And you all are a gorgeous couple inside and out. Thank you so much for sharing your relationship with all of us. I know a lot of folks. This is tough, it's these are private things, but it's so helpful for all of us near more to actually understand these relationships we see right on social media or in the media and think, oh, they've got it all figured out. It's so nice to hear how you all get through tough times and we appreciate you being vulnerable and sharing your beautiful love story with us.
00:30:19
Speaker 7: Well, hey, thanks for having us. We love talking about it. It's actually really fun for us to just take out to talk about our love.
00:30:26
Speaker 1: It's nice. Oh well, you know what, maybe we'll follow up with you guys down the road. Polenty of relationship topics out there, so really goods. All right, all right, love that.
00:30:34
Speaker 3: Thanks all,