We're So Excited To Share Our Love With You!

I met the love of my life before we both even knew it. Our story, my version at least, starts back in 9th grade English. The first time I saw her she walked to the other side of the classroom and probably did not even know I existed. It was only later that year that I talked to her briefly at a Halloween party. The next year we had geometry together and look who pops back in and sits right in front of me. She came in wearing shoes that I can only describe as bowling shoes, listening to an iPod full blast. Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I love to talk – and I talk a lot. So it wasn’t before long that I said hello, and sooner or later, she asked if I wanted to listen to music with her while we did our work. That is when I became aware that she had the most eclectic taste in music I had ever seen thus far. Over the course of that semester, I continued to ask for her “help” with triangles, squares, and maybe even a rhombus or two. Jokes aside, Adri is a LOT smarter than I am and I tell her that to this very day. In that sophomore geometry class, I did not know who or what I had in front of me, it never occurred to me that I would spend the rest of my life with her. All I knew was that she was beautiful, she liked me enough to listen to my stories, and she actually laughed. Unfortunately, I never asked her on a date and so that went. Until, a year later, I find out that she just got out of a relationship with her ex. How unfortunate. Interestingly enough, our first date was at a Burger King, and it was because of the new thicker cut fries that they were giving out for free. Adri is a sucker for a good promotion, and now that I think of it she asked me out on that date. I never thought I would owe the BK King any more than 10 bucks, but I owe him a lifelong story.

We end up finishing school early together, going to the community college while everyone was still in High School. Losers. I had always wanted to go to UT Austin for college, it was just a thing I had in my mind. Unfortunately, the board or the dean or whoever makes this call decided so gratuitously to change the automatic admission from top 10% down to top 8%—and in those two percent lies me. Adri on the other hand graduated #6 in the class, and when I asked her about it she said, “I didn’t even know I was that close, or I would have tried.” Her vision was to go to UT San Antonio where her sister was studying. That quickly became my vision as well. Only with a slight twist, I was going to go for two years then they graciously would pass me along to UT Austin as a transfer. Fast forward two years, all that yearning to go to Austin had vanished. I figured out that whatever I thought I was looking for over there I had right in front of me with this girl. That was probably one of the best decisions I have made in my life. Plus, I figured out that UTSA is 100% better, especially in the School of Business and Information Technology – just ask the longhorns how the global cyber security challenge went. I won’t take up too much more of your time, but please give me credit this was eight years in the making. We end up moving in together, graduating together, buying our first home together, and every other first you can possibly think of. I know no other person in this world that I would rather go through this journey/life with. Cheers to all the firsts we’ve had together, cheers to all of the love, joy, sadness, happiness, good times and bad. Because in the end, I would not trade our journey together for anything in the world. I love you and this is our story.

While he’ll claim it was the semester before, the first time John and I met was one fateful morning in our 9th grade Geometry class, where he quickly went from being "the cute guy that sits behind me in class" to my friend. It started out with him asking for my help on school assignments, and in class I'd turn myself around and we'd work together on his desk while we'd talk, laugh, and listen to my iPod together. He would tease me about my particularly unique taste in music or clothes, and I would tease him about him needing my help for nearly every assignment. The truth is—even if we didn’t admit it at the time, we both liked talking and spending time with each other, and that's when I realized how funny, smart, and caring he is (you can see where this is going). Throughout high school we had a lot of the same friends and classes so our friendship grew over time, and it continues to grow today.

Junior year our friendship grew more into flirtation, and we began to spend less and less time apart. At the time the last thing I wanted was a relationship, but John was so charming and patient. I couldn’t explain it, but he always knew how to make me laugh or put a smile on my face even when I didn’t want to. I soon realized this man was worth holding onto, and I am so genuinely glad I did. At age 17, we had our first kiss in a car wash and it was absolutely perfect. Three months later he asked me to be his girlfriend, and we have honestly been inseparable ever since. We both graduated early and became business majors at UTSA together (John studied Finance and I, Economics). We scheduled all our classes with each other, coordinated our study schedules, and even graduated top 1.5% of our class together, because I honestly believe we work better as a team and bring out the best in each other. Since then, we have moved in together, traveled, laughed, cried, and grown together—both as individuals and as a couple. Since then, we continue to share many “firsts” together, like recently purchasing our first home where we can’t wait to continue creating beautiful memories together. Everyday I feel so grateful I get to share my life with my best friend, and we can’t wait to share a glimpse of our love with you all!