hi. we're getting married.

We met freshman year at UC Merced at our weekly engineering club meeting. I lived on campus and Sebastian lived off campus. Our relationship was symbiotic where I would ask for rides off campus to go to Target, and in return Sebastian would ask for free on campus meals! Friendly lunch dates slowly became more fun-flirty and soon enough we were dating! Sebastian made it official the last day of our freshman year at midnight on May 16th and the rest is history.

It was the weekend of our anniversary. Sebastian planned an amazing itinerary of events, which included: Monterrey Bay Aquarium, local wine tastings, Napa Valley (you can probably tell, I love wine tasting), etc., where I would jokingly say, ''This would be a great place for a proposal.'' Well, little did I know...  It was the day of our anniversary, the sky was blue, the weather was a cool 75 degrees, the birds were chirping, and he was acting very calm-cool-casual—nothing out of the ordinary. As I was getting ready for our late dinner plans, his mom invited us for an early dinner the same day. She asked if we could bring dessert, and little did I know I was choosing my own cake to celebrate after the proposal. Sebastian's dad made his famous spaghetti, and we all had a wonderful time talking about some funny stories about Sebastian and me. Again, I was completely unaware of what was going on. It was getting late, and I asked Sebastian if our late dinner plans were still happening, and he slightly nodded and said, "No." This is when I noticed his body language slightly change and began to get a bit nervous. Now, this is when I was starting to grow some suspicion. A few minutes pass, and Sebastian is gone. His mom asks if I would like to have dessert outside, and I casually say, "Sure!" As we begin our journey to the backyard, that's when I notice Sebastian's mom with her phone on record, and I have my 'A-ha' moment. We suddenly both get really nervous with excitement and decide to take a shot of tequila!  I step outside. It was the most beautiful display of candles and twinkle lights everywhere. I look up, and I see the love of my life standing there in the middle of his heart-shaped candles as he walks toward me and gently takes my hand and guides me to the middle of the heart. He begins to make this speech, and I completely tune out as I am so overjoyed with excitement. He bends down on his knee to ask, "Will you marry me?" As I have tears running down my face, I scream, "YES!".