Gilberto met Valen at Texas A&M University-Commerce. After several run-ins on a small campus, the two became friends while pursuing their studies. By the time Valen was graduating, their friendship had blossomed into admiration and like for one another and they began dating. Gilberto and Valen began to learn about each other's family origins, explored new places and cuisines and learned how to survive life in the big city. Gilbert fell in love with Valen's estusiasmo por la vida, amor por la agricultura and an adventurous spirit that introduced him to a new world of camping he never knew. Valen fell in love with Gilbert's passion por la musica, familia, y sazon for cooking authentic Mexican cuisine. They realized they had more in common than they thought and what began as a friendship soon blossomed into love. Gilberto and Valen relocated to San Antonio where they built their first home, adopted the missing link - their dog, Lola Esperanza and are now making plans for a wedding.