Our story is a bit of a real life rom-com and a reminder that timing is everything. Unbeknownst to us, the universe always kept us near each other, crossing paths many times, but waiting for the perfect moment to let us meet. When it finally decided we were both ready, it brought us together, reminding us that love has its own perfect timing. We both grew up in small towns in the Central Valley, but left our little hometowns to go off to college. Despite going to universities at opposite sides of the Central Valley - Jerry to Berkeley and Dulce to UCLA - we were both involved in similar orgs, visited each other's campuses multiple times, and attended the same events at the same time... but we never met. In 2014, we both studied abroad in Barcelona during the World Cup. Unknowingly, we were at the same bar, watching the same games, at the same time... but we never met. We even found a picture where Jerry's group is in the background of one of Dulce's pictures! That's how close we came to meeting! After undergrad, Jerry went back home to pursue environmental justice work in his home town, and Dulce left to Seattle for grad school. Our paths diverging more than ever before. As she wrapped up grad school, Dulce's intention was to go back to LA so she only applied to jobs out there but found ONE position in the Central Valley that caught her attention. Despite her plans to return to Los Angeles, she accepted the role and ended up in Bakersfield of all places. What could possibly compel her to take a job back in the Central Valley? Destiny. With Dulce moving to Bakersfield, the stars finally aligned for our "meet cute." Turns out we had mutual friends who made every effort to set us up because "we'd be great together," they hyped us up to one another, but never made it formally happen. It's the thought that counts though, right? However, one night we finally ran into each other by chance at a rooftop Selena cover band show at the Padre Hotel. There, years of close encounters culminated into one awkward introduction that led to a bold Instagram DM. The rest, as they say, is history.