We’re getting married!

I first met Emily at the beginning of 2020, in a film photography class while attending junior college. When I first saw her, I remember thinking, “wow, she’s really beautiful.” As many of you know, I am not much of a talker, so I was quite slow to making any type of move whatsoever. Emily sent me a message about a post I had made about my cat, Mozi. After that message, we began to talk a lot over text. Thank you Mozi, you really got the ball rolling! We talked a lot about cats at first, my cat Mozi, and her cat Mochi. Eventually, we began to talk quite a bit at school; I remember out first conversation was about piercings and tattoos. I think we really began to bond once we started talking about our crazy families. It was the last week of February and I finally decided I was going to ask her if she wanted to hangout outside of school. Luckily, she said yes, and we planned to go out for sushi in Sacramento. It was a very fun day: good food, good company, and we walked around the city talking and getting sweet treats. Afterwards, we went back to her house and watched movies, talked, and laughed until three in the morning. After ignoring various calls from my family (sorry everyone), I figured I should probably get home. Not long after, I asked her out on a date, and once again, I luckily got another yes. We went to San Francisco and explored the city. We took strange Ubers, walked in the rain (sorry, I should have checked the weather), went to the Dutch windmill and tulip garden, and ate at a creepy Italian restaurant…quite the date don’t you think? After leaving, we sat in the car in front of my house. We sat there, talked for another few hours, and I just had this feeling. The feeling you feel when you feel it, y’know? I asked Emily if she would like to officially date, and I, somehow, got yet another lucky: Yes. Wow, how’d I manage to muster that up? I floated all the way back to my bed. I lay there thinking many thoughts, but most importantly, how excited I was to continue getting to know this amazing girl and all the adventures we would go on. I let out a few (dreamy) sighs, maybe kicked my feet a little, and went to sleep. I woke up on March 14, 2020 to the announcement of the Covid-19 lockdown. School stopped, work shut down, everything was closed, but look how far we’ve made it.

When Tonallo and I first met, I was just finishing my last year of junior college and working two jobs. Because I didn't have enough on my plate, I decided to enroll in a film photography class in a very spur-of-the-moment decision. The class had less than ten students who had previously taken classes together, but I remember feeling very welcomed and accepted by the group. Pretty quickly, I approached Tonallo to ask him his name, talk about piercings, and break the ice, and I remember instantly feeling a connection with him. I saw a photo of his kitten, Mozi, one day and we quickly began talking every day. (Cats are always the way to my heart). We were both a little shy at first but quickly become inseparable. We went to Sacramento for sushi and boba, and then went out again to San Francisco together, to visit the Dutch Windmill and explore the city. I didn't have any idea we would get engaged at the same spot five years later. I fell for Tonallo very quickly. He made me laugh and made me feel safe during a very tumultuous time. COVID started three months after we met, and we had only been “officially” dating for less than a day when lockdown started. We quarantined together and spent our time doing photography experiments, talking about our childhoods and lives, and going on short day trips to the mountains and beach. His companionship got me through a time when everything felt uncertain, and he has been a source of light and happiness in my life ever since. Today, we have two cats together and have both graduated college, and I look forward to continuing to create a life we love together.