We're Getting Married!

2800 Opryland Drive Nashville, Tennessee, USA 37214

We met on match.com in early 2020 at the very beginning of COVID. After two weeks of texting, we finally met in person and since the first date, we have never been apart.

After our first date, we were very attracted to each other and we had a great connection, we both immediately knew we had something special. We both saw the physical attraction we had for each other but we loved what we saw in each other inside. We started dating often, and after the second date, we started going to church together. As we got to know each other we realized that we loved the same things, enjoyed the same activities, appreciated the same experiences, and just enjoyed being together. We have enjoyed every day we have had together over these past years. Every day brings its challenges and we are constantly working to be the best we can be for each other. Life is not perfect neither are we, but we strive to be better each day and to love each other unconditionally as we do life together. Life can be rough and tough at times, we both have had our share of difficulties. Everyone has regrets and experiences disappointments. We are no different. We are committed to focusing on the future, learning from our past, being better every day for each other and those in our lives, and making the most of our adventure together.

The engagement was at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Resort in Nashville, TN. Mike invited me for dinner and I was thinking I was walking to a restaurant for dinner and he said I have 10 pennies so you can do some wishes and I did my 10 wishes and when I turned around Mike was there on his knee with the engagement ring and he said; Iliana Ibeth Royero Perez I want to spend the rest of my life with you and my only regret is not meeting you a long time ago, would you marry me? and then I said "I do", "I do", "I do" and this day was one of the happiest days of my life. He recorded the entire surprise on his cell phone and I have shared it in the gallery. He hired a photographer who was hiding in the garden too. I didn't know it while he was proposing but about 200 people had stopped in the garden to watch the entire surprise.

We met in person in 2020 after texting for two weeks on match.com and since we met we have been loving and taking care of each other. We like to go on road trips explore new cities and places and just make adventures every day. We work together and we travel a lot across the USA in our business. We love to eat out but after Mike began to eat my cooking, now he prefers me to cook over any restaurant and I love to cook for him. In the summer of 2021, Iliana and Mike were looking at engagement rings and after looking all over the place Mike took Iliana to King Jewelers to look for rings after she saw many rings she finally found the one she loved. She almost passed out and started crying when she saw her ring for the first time and she had to sit in a chair and drink some water. Mike didn't buy the ring at that time and wasn't until months later that he secretly bought the ring and then gave it to Iliana on June 30th, 2022 at the wishing water fountain at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. We have so many amazing memories and history in this hotel and that was why we decided to get married at the Hotel.

The year we met, Iliana's mother was visiting and we traveled all over middle Tennessee with Alicia learning new cities, new places, and restaurants and this was at the start of COVID. We went everywhere from malls, restaurants, cities, and airports to empty locations and sometimes we had the whole place to us. In December 2021 we both went to eat dinner for Christmas Eve at a restaurant in Nashville and we got infected with the COVID virus but with mild symptoms and we overcame the virus after a week of supporting each other. In the summer of 2022, Iliana went to Colombia to celebrate her mother's 70th birthday and the day she came back to the USA was when Mike invited her for dinner at Gaylord Opryland Hotel and proposed to her. We started planning our wedding in 2023 with Debbie Ballard as our wedding planner and we are very thankful for her support on our big day. We have been to a lot of places together all over Tennessee, Washington, D.C., Orlando, Miami Beach, Alabama, Mississippi, New York, Seattle, Florida and many many more adventures. We have Las Vegas, lots of places in Texas, many more places in Florida, Israel, Colombia, and lots of places in South America on our list for 2024.

I love that Mike is a Godly man. I prayed so hard to God that he would send me a man who loved God and loved me. God sent me Mike and answered my prayer. I believe that only God could have put together a little girl from Colombia and a little boy from Tennessee. He is kind, thoughtful, intelligent, and always supportive. He makes me laugh every day and has a great sense of humor. I love that Mike served our country and became a Colonel in the US Army, I am SO Proud of him and all he accomplished serving the USA. Mike takes care of all of my large family in Colombia and shows such love and affection for my mother and my son, Santiago, which means so much to me. He is learning Spanish for me and my family. He makes everything wonderful for me without me even asking. He does the dishes and helps around the house. He is never shy about giving me kisses (besos) and being affectionate with me in public. He is romantic, passionate, and loving at all times. He always holds my hand, I always feel safe with him. He is a real man who never shies away from being a man and knows how to be gentle and tough at the same time. He tells me how much he appreciates me every day. He makes things that are important to me important to him. He is always willing to help me learn new things and is so patient with me. He wants to have a wedding in Colombia for my family in 2024. He is so patient with me and always helps me at work and in life. He is an amazing gentleman and treats me like a queen with respect and thoughtfulness. He is the most generous and unselfish person I have ever known, he gives to me and my family without a thought of the cost.

I think Iliana is the most generous, creative, thoughtful, caring, kind, compassionate, and passionate woman I have ever known. She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside which is saying a lot! She loves God deeply and works hard every day to serve him better. She thinks of others before herself. She has been the same person every day I have known her, she wakes up happy and stays happy until she goes to sleep. She is always thinking and caring for me before herself. She works hard in everything she does from her amazing cooking to learning new things at work to new activities she is the hardest working woman I have ever met. She is sensitive to the little things. She encourages me all the time and stays positive even in difficult times. She treasures working together as a team. She is romantic, passionate, and loving at all times. She is proud of me for my military service and accomplishments in business and life. She allows me to treat her special. She thinks of others without a thought about what it costs. She loves her family and works hard to take care of them. I am so proud of Iliana for all she has accomplished. She came to America and became a naturalized US Citizen in 2015 and she loves her new country so much. She spends time with me as if I am the most important man in the world.

To me, it is a sweet word to express love for my man. Mike is “My Man” and he is my “Papi”. Growing up in South America I heard the women in my family calling their man “Papi” and I loved that, to me, it is a term of deep love, affection, and appreciation. When most Americans hear me call him "Papi" they do not understand but in my Hispanic culture, it is a term of deep affection and respect.

The first Christmas we were together Mike bought Iliana a large stuffed bear. When she opened the package and saw this big cuddly bear she began to cry. Mike was startled and asked what was wrong and she said "I never had a stuffed bear or anything like this as a little girl. Then Mike said, "You do now, and you are my Little Bear." Well, it stuck and now Mike is her Teddy Bear and Iliana is his Little Bear. Mike has gotten her over 20 bears now for her collection. We know it is sappy but we don't care we like it.

Iliana grew up in Colombia, South America. After graduation from school, she began her career working for Drummond Mining Company a US mining firm for 15 years. She immigrated to the US in 2010 and became a naturalized US Citizen in 2015, it was one of the proudest days of her life. She is a mother of an amazing son, Santiago who she loves dearly. She loves her native country of Colombia and loves the United States of America with all her heart and calls America her forever home. Iliana embraced the American dream and has built cars for General Motors, sold cars for Toyota (as the only Hispanic female saleswoman in Tennessee), and worked as a customer service representative for Home Deport in the Pro-Contractor department. Her experience and skills are now used in her role as a Contract Manager and Senior Account Executive for a US company supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, and many other federal agencies. Iliana is loved by everyone she meets, she doesn't know any strangers just friends she has not yet met. She is a friend everyone always desires to have, loving, kind, and thoughtful. She loves cooking, traveling, dancing, music, and experiencing new adventures. She works hard to learn and grow as a Christian, employee, citizen, mother, and friend. She loves her job, making new friends at their church, meeting new people at work, and traveling all over the United States serving the military and America's Veterans. She loves God and cherishes her relationship with her savior deeply. She is grateful to be a US citizen and cherishes the freedoms and opportunities America has provided. She cherishes her large family, her son Santiago her mom, and of course her man.

Michael grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. His goal was always to join the military. He did that immediately after graduation when at the age of 17 he enlisted in the US Army. After four years as an enlisted Soldier, he graduated from Officer Candidate School and became a 2nd Lieutenant. Over the next 24 years, he served as an Infantry/Armor officer and deployed to Operation Desert Storm, Operation Restore Hope, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He had many rewarding assignments throughout the Army including many years at the Pentagon, the ARNG Readiness Center, and the Defense Department lead on a White House Joint Task Force. He earned the Defense Superior Service Medal from the Secretary of Defense, the Bronze Star, the expert Infantry badge, and numerous other military badges, medals, and awards. Over his 28 years, he had hundreds of meaningful experiences and treasures them all. Some of his most cherished military service memories were serving with Major General Young in developing employment opportunities for military members leaving service and members of the National Guard and Reserve. Then serving first for Lieutenant General Roger Schultz and later for Lieutenant General Clyde Vaughn and his best man Colonel Keith Peinhardt and Groomsman Colonel Michael Johnson over 16 years in all levels of military recruiting and retention, from an enlisted Soldier answering the recruiting phone line, to being a Recruiting Induction Officer, to the head of marketing/advertising to finally reaching the level of Division Chief, where he was able to reach out to millions of America's youth to provide opportunities to serve their country. After serving for nearly 28 years he retired off active duty as a Colonel. He misses being in the military every single day. He says he had more incredible experiences than he ever dreamed and the amazing leaders and Soldiers he served with are more amazing than most Americans will ever realize. Mike now owns and runs successful businesses supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, and many other federal agencies and private sector companies. He loves his job, making new friends at their church, meeting new people at work, traveling all over the United States serving the military and America's Veterans. He loves God and cherishes his relationship with his savior. He is deeply proud of his daughter serving in the US Army and his son serving in the US Space Force. He is forever indebted to his mother who always sacrificed so that he could have so much. Her unconditional love inspires him to be a better man. His main priority in his life is now loving and caring for Iliana whom he credits for helping him be a better Christian, man, friend, citizen, and person every day.