Like any good millennial couple, Erika and Randy met on a dating app in July of 2016. Randy had just moved to the DC area, was still sleeping on an air mattress, when Erika pounced! Their first date was for drinks at an Irish bar near Randy’s apartment in Pentagon City, and the next day Erika drove off to Illinois for an opera. They spent the next three weeks texting every day until their second date. Truly they haven’t stoped talking since that first message on the app. Their backgrounds couldn’t be more different, but there was something between them that couldn’t be ignored. When they found out Randy’s visa was requiring him to go back to the Dominican Republic, they dealt with it like adults...and didn’t acknowledge the problem for about six more months. They took that time to learn more and more about one other until Erika realized this was not a guy she could let out of her life just because of a few hundred miles. Since Christmas of 2017, they’ve been doing long distance, with Erika making trips to Randy about every three months. After dinner on one of these trips, Randy and Erika were talking about their future and Randy said “I think we should get married. Soon!” So January 7th, 2019 they did just that! Now that wasn’t the most romantic proposal, but Randy made up for it two days before their meeting with the judge in Santo Domingo. He took Erika to the botanical gardens, where he got down on one knee in the beautiful Japanese gardens to ask her if she would make him the happiest man alive. Monday morning they said “Si, acepto” and here we are! A year after we legally got married, we will celebrate and share our vows with the friends and family who have lifted us up in love and support through two years of distance. We can’t wait, and hope to see you there!