We both liked each others' faces on a dating app and agreed to meet up for tea in the late afternoon. Tea turned into a beach sunset, which then turned into dinner at a Thai restaurant. Since the first time wasn't terrible, we continued dating. After some time, we realized that we lived less than a mile away from one another and that our best friends lived in units in the same building.

In the spring of last year, Tarek was accepted to medical school in Las Cruces, New Mexico. On May 4th, we drove out from San Diego for the first time to look for a place to live there. We split the trip up into two days, spending the night in Tucson. The morning we left Tucson, I told Tarek that I wanted to stop at the "Welcome to New Mexico" sign once we got there so we could take a picture in front of it. When we approached the sign, he sped right past it, much to my dismay (he claimed he *forgot*). Turning around would mean too many miles in the opposite direction, so I agreed to keep pressing forward. As we approached the "Welcome to Las Cruces" sign, he slowed down and pulled over. At this point, I was frustrated with him and didn't want to get out of the car. He convinced me to get out, we took a polaroid photo, and the next thing I knew he was down on his knee asking me if I would do him the honor of being his wife.

Last July, we packed up our belongings and said goodbye (for now) to our life in north county San Diego, excited to embark upon a new adventure together. It didn't take us long to settle in and to find our groove in New Mexico. We are fortunate to have the Organ Mountains in our backyard and are enjoying the peace and quiet the desert has to offer. In our free time, our favorite thing to do together is hike with our dog, Franklin.