Welcome, from Sophia & Gannon!

The couple met in line for food on campus at their alma mater in November of 2021, the University of Houston, during their second year of college. He turned around, saw her reading the campus newspaper (The Cougar), and asked, “Do people even read those?” She was slightly offended, having run her high school’s student newspaper, and felt the need to set him straight. What followed was a surprisingly thoughtful conversation about the value of print media, and somewhere in the exchange, a quiet connection began to form. Before they parted ways, she noticed he had not asked for her number. So she wrote it down, folded it into a paper butterfly, and tucked it into the newspaper she had been reading. This lead newspapers, Chic-Fil-A's, and butterflies to be a lovely reminder of their love for eachother.

Their first official date was over sushi in November of 2021. They were both awkward and nervous, doing their best to play it cool. Halfway through, he found out she had never seen the Star Wars movies. Immediately, they left and started watching The Phantom Menace that same night. From there, they spent more time together. They visited the capybaras at the zoo, wrote essays at the library, hung out at the campus dining hall, and slowly made their way through the rest of the Star Wars prequels. When he finally asked what they were, she told him they should finish the trilogy first. She then told him that on their next date, in December of 2021, she was going to ask him 40 questions to see if they were truly compatible. When she mentioned this to her friends, they teased and told her 40 was too many. So she cut the list down to 20 and typed them into her phone. He showed up with 40 of his own, handwritten. He always put effort into everything, and that is how she fell in love with him. This led the star wars movies, sushi, and winter time to be a symbol of their love for each other.

In August 2023, The night before she left for Mexico to begin her Fulbright grant, she told him she going to stay in the United States, with him, instead of going away for nine months. He encouraged her to go because he knew how hard she had worked for the opportunity and how much it meant to her. She's thankful for this support and encouragement to this day. They spent the months apart navigating long distance, sharing late-night calls, quiet mornings, and plans for the future. With every conversation, they fell more in love. He visited her during spring break, at a time when her father was also in the country. It was then that he asked her father for her hand in marriage. She returned to visit him for his graduation in May 2024. There, he proposed in the exact spot where they first met. In the same place where he had once turned around and seen her for the first time, they began the next chapter of their lives together.