Marcos and I met while working together at Olive Garden, he hung out with one of our close friends and he instantly clicked with our friend group. He and I became really close, we would tell each other we loved each other when we left work, we talked to each other about pretty tough things going on in our lives, we quickly became best friends! Not long after that we both developed feelings for one another. We expressed our feelings for each other in December of 2018, and spent a few months getting to know each other deeper before diving into a relationship. We started spending a lot of time together and then on February 8th of 2019, we had our first date. Marcos took me to Custom House in Avila Beach, we were both so nervous we hardly ate. After dinner, Marcos took me down to the beach. He had planned ahead and asked our friends Ciara and Leah to bring us chocolate covered strawberries along with some blankets, and hide them in the trunk until we were done eating. While enjoying the sunset, it started to rain on us! We had to snuggle in together to stay warm and that is when he asked me to be his girlfriend. Such a romantic day that I will never forget and I have a newfound love for rain!
Marcos and I had known we were each others’ forever, he is my person, I am his, so inevitably we had a lot of conversations even from the beginning of our relationship about our future as a couple and what it looks like. We knew we wanted to get married, it was just a matter of when. Marcos and I were out shopping one day back in May of 2022, we decided to go into a jewelry store to try on rings and see which ones we both like. Marcos got a feel for what I like and we both had very similar taste, and not long after that... he bought the ring! I had no idea what it looked like, he chose the ring, but I was aware there was a ring. So exciting... except for the fact that I am really bad at being surprised and I am also a planner and I like to be involved in things... Marcos knows this so he knew the anticipation was killing me, which I personally think was his favorite part. Days turned into weeks that turned to months of him having the ring, taking me on special dates on the weekends, which I got ready for every date juuuust in case he decided to propose. All of the dates were him attempting to throw me off his tracks, which he did a marvelous job by the way. While this was going on, Marcos and my sister were planning the engagement, and while they were planning they were convincing me there were no plans in the making at all. Sara would always question "What is taking him so long?" or she would say, "He hasn't told me a single thing and I am pretty sure he would include me if he had plans.", so again I was clueless. Marcos had told our families and our closest friends the day he was planning on proposing. Here it is, the day we have all been patiently waiting for, some of us anyway... The week before our special day, Marcos asked me to go on our routine weekend date. On this date, he wanted to recreate one of our favorite dates where we went to the beach and painted the sunset and had a picnic. Marcos and Sara planned the whole night; photographer booked, food planned, they also planned for him to paint "Will you marry me?" on the canvas, but I foiled that plan. I told him we should try a trend where we keep passing the canvas back and forth and add on to what the other person already painted. Thinking on their feet, they went with it to not seem too suspicious. Inside they were panicking because this was the way they wanted it to go but they couldn't tell me no or it would spark red flags in my brain. So they scratched that plan and went with a new one by hiding the ring in the dessert. With chocolate covered strawberries being a staple piece in our relationship, it was the cherry on top to a perfect date, and an even better proposal! Marcos took me to this grassy area by the beach with a perfect view of the ocean and we set up our picnic. We have our chicken strips, our canvas and paints, some sparkling cider, and we are enjoying the moment. When we were all finished painting, he suggested we eat our dessert, so I opened the picnic basket and inside is the beautiful ring he got me and I look up and he is on his knee. It was such a surreal moment that was photographed by our dear friend. Of course I was sobbing tears of joy, which made him cry and we just relished in the moment. We got some photos by the ocean at sunset, ate our strawberries, and talked about everything leading up to this point. I was so filled with excitement, I didn't even have time to call anyone to tell them the news. In retrospect it was a good thing that I didn't, because he had a surprise engagement party planned for me with all our closest friends and family. I could not have asked for a better partner and a better day.