Alana was finishing up her bachelor's degree at the University of Central Florida while Aaron was soon to complete medical school at Nova Southeastern University. Even though they were separated by three and a half hours, they found each other on a dating app called JSwipe. They casually talked through the app for about two weeks before Alana requested to FaceTime Aaron to make sure he actually existed! Lo and behold, Aaron was real and they finally met in person. Aaron had to make his move fast, as Alana had just two days in South Florida before going back to Orlando for school. He picked a Cuban restaurant as the first date location to appeal to Alana's Spanish side while celebrating his own Cuban heritage. Talking past the restaurant's closing time, after being asked politely to leave the premises, Aaron suggested they go back to his parent's house so they can talk more. Aaron quickly informed his parents to not come out of their room as he wanted some privacy, but as luck would have it, the moment Aaron and Alana walked into the house, Aaron's parents were walking to "grab some water" and happened to run into the pair. After the quick meet and greet, Aaron serenaded Alana by playing the piano. Before leaving, Aaron asked to see Alana the very next day for a second date. Alana drove home that night, excitedly sat next to her mother and expressed "I could marry this guy". The rest was history.

Aaron and Alana were taking a vacation to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. The day of the proposal was an exciting one with a dolphin encounter in the morning and a snuba trip in the afternoon. Little did Alana know how severely sea sick Aaron gets-- it was not a pretty sight to say the least. Luckily, they still made their dinner reservations and the fireworks display. Right after the fireworks concluded, Aaron led Alana to a secluded area overlooking the beach. Aaron bent down on one knee and proposed to Alana without a second thought, to which Alana said "yes" with tears in her eyes.

Although we loved our three years living together in New York, change is inevitable. For the next two years, Alana will be living in Jacksonville, Florida to pursue her master's degree as a Physician Assistant at Nova Southeastern University. Meanwhile, Aaron will be living in Houston, Texas to pursue his fellowship in pediatric pulmonology at Texas Children's Hospital. I'm positive in this case distance will make the heart grow fonder! #lovewilliskeepustogether