Marriage Benefits-We Don't Just Date For Fun [Show Opens] Myrtle Alegado: Do you remember when you began to seriously consider getting married? On today’s episode, we’ll talk to newlyweds who will share the progression in their relationship, from meeting, to courtship, and finally to marriage. Welcome to Happy Life, a podcast brought to you by INC Media Audio that aims to help newlyweds navigate through the first years of marriage. I’m your host, Myrtle Alegado, and I’ve been married to my husband, Paul, since 1999. Later, we'll hear some Bible-based advice through Brother Felmar Serreno, a minister of the gospel in the Church Of Christ. [Show Catchphrase] Inspiration to make your marriage thrive, you’re listening to Happy Life Myrtle: Today, I'd like to welcome our newlyweds from Yorba Linda, California to the podcast. Thanks so much for joining us on Happy Life, Aedelbert and Darlene! Darlene Alejandro: Thank you for having us, Myrtle. Aedelbert Alejandro: Hello! Thank you for having us. Myrtle: How are you both doing today? Darlene: We’re good. Aedelbert: Doing good. Myrtle: Well, as I understand it, you got married in January of this year, right? Aedelbert: Correct. Darlene: Yes. Myrtle: Oh, well,congratulations to you both! Now, how did you both meet? Aedelbert: So I moved to the Bay Area to finish college at San Francisco State University, and Darlene actually came up to me at one of our church events. It was a coastal cleanup. And, you know, I was hanging out with my guy friends, and Darlene came out of nowhere and just introduced herself to me. Darlene: Yeah. [laughs] Myrtle: Is that how you remember it, Darlene? Give us your take. Darlene: Yeah, he was new to Daly City local congregation. And it was about a month before I met him that he was already living in Daly City. And normally when someone new or a new member [of the Church Of Christ] comes into Daly City, I usually meet them just to welcome them. I didn't meet him yet, so when I saw him at the coastal cleanup, yeah, I just went up to him and I was like, “Hi, I'm Darlene. I haven't met you yet, but welcome to Daly City.” Myrtle: Aww. Well, that's cute, Darlene! Darlene: Yes, so I went up to him at the coastal cleanup. And then maybe a couple days after that, one of our mutual friends on Instagram posted a picture of their friend group, and that person tagged him. Since I met him, I figured, “Okay, I can follow him now.” And then fast forward a couple more days, he posted this story about working out and he asked, “Who wants to be my workout buddy?” Mind you, I did not work out at that time but something inside me was like, “I'm going to respond and I'm going to say I'm going to be his workout buddy.” And that's where we started talking or messaging with each other. Aedelbert: Yeah, so after Darlene replied to my story and she said, you know, “I'll be your workout buddy,” we actually planned to hang out one day. And you know, one thing led to another, we started texting more, and started hanging out more. That led to me falling for Darlene,