They met at a mutual friend's birthday in Coney Island. Evelyn and friends had already been at the beach all day when Jon Carlo showed up late after work. Then they all rode some rides and had a blast. (Fun fact: Evelyn has been going to Coney since she was born!) At the end of the day, Jon Carlo offered to give Evelyn a ride home -- clearly, there were already sparks flying. Little did he know how stubborn she truly was. She declined and said she wanted to take the train by herself to feel like a "local" again. She was excited to be spending the summer before college in NYC since she had been living in Oklahoma for three years. Jon Carlo and Evelyn ended up hanging out a couple more times that summer. They did some bowling/hookah in Queens, went to watch the movie 'Ted', and ate some pupusas. Evelyn's favorite memory was when Jon Carlo drove through Manhattan at night on her last night in NYC. It was the perfect way to say goodbye to her beloved city before Evelyn headed off to college in Texas, and the perfect way to begin their long-distance love story. The rest is history!

Evelyn and Jon Carlo were excited to be going on their first international trip together. It was long overdue as they had already been together for 9 years! It was also just two months after Evelyn had returned from her first deployment to the Middle East, so this was going to be the perfect getaway for the two. Evelyn, in normal Logistics Officer fashion, had prepared a jam-packed itinerary for the two. They went island hopping, went on a party boat and party bus (colombian chiva!), strolled the local park with monkeys, shopped local for paintings and home decor, tried all the bandeja paisas to find the best one, and so. much. more (as you can imagine). They also happened to be staying at the dreamiest Airbnb in the heart of the Walled City, "la ciudad amurallada." It was a 3-floor apartment with a rooftop that had 360 views of the beach, the town's bustling sights and sounds, and beautiful Santa Catalina de Alejandria cathedral. On the last full day before the trip ended, Evelyn woke up and randomly wanted to have a "photo sesh" so she could get cute Instagram photos. Jon Carlo brought up their lugagge to the rooftop so that he could use it to prop up a makeshift tripod on top using their selfie stick and ipad. He's normally not one to be into pictures like this, so she should've caught on that it was weird he was putting so much effort into getting these photos. But she thought he was just being extra nice because their magical trip was coming to an end. Evelyn asked Jon Carlo to take a picture of her posing with a peace sign with her back towards the camera. As soon as she turned around, he was standing on one knee and popped the question! A question 9 years in the making!