Alex and I met at a church activity. It was during a beach volleyball game that I first noticed him. I was very impressed by his great skills! It was my first time going to this ward's activity, I didn't really know anyone. My friend, Bridget, spoke to him earlier that evening and eventually introduced us. I remember just enjoying our conversations and never wanting the night to end. I was sad when I realized it was getting late and had to say goodbye. To my luck, I saw him at various other church activities and we became great friends. He asked me on a date a week after I met him and we have been best friends ever since! I am beyond blessed to have met such a wonderful man. I cannot wait to marry my best friend!

I was getting ready to receive the next serve during our church sand volleyball event when a girl came over and told me a little birdie wanted to know if I was single. I had just moved to the Lancaster area from Rexburg, Idaho a week and a half earlier and this was my first real church event where I would meet others from the church. Flattered by the comment I told her I was single. I followed her to some picnic tables overlooking the sand volleyball court and was introduced to a girl named Ingrid Rodriguez. My very first thought when meeting her was, "this girl has got some eyebrows." I talked with Ingrid and the other girl for a good amount of time. I could tell Ingrid was a little nervous and I thought that was cute. At the end of the event we exchanged numbers and that was about it. The next Sunday at church I was sitting in the pews waiting for church to start when I looked across the room and saw a stunning Latina girl. I looked a little closer, careful to not let her catch me staring, and noticed her eyebrows, It was Ingrid! The nervous girl I had met a few days before had transformed into a beautiful woman. Now I was the nervous one. I went over and introduced my self again and asked if she would sit with me. To my relief she accepted. I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with her. A few weeks later I gained the guts to ask her on a date. Every thing seemed so natural with her. Soon we became inseparable. If you saw Ingrid you were sure to find me close by trying my best to show off and impress her. A couple months later as I walked her to her car to say goodnight, I asked her to be my girlfriend.

A couple of days before the proposal, Alex trained my dog, Milo, to shred paper documents he needed to throw away. After he left, Milo got hold of my scriptures that had my name inscribed on them and tore them apart. Knowing that we would be in Utah in a couple of days, I had planned to get new scriptures there. On July 27th, We went to the Salt Lake Temple before heading to a cabin for a family vacation. After we left the temple, we went to the Deseret bookstore to buy new scriptures with my name inscribed on them. I told the guy to write my name as "Ingrid V Rodriguez." He said it would take an hour. Alex and I walked around the temple and visited the visitor center while we waited for my scriptures to be ready. We met his parents on the temple grounds and she handed him a Teavana bag. I didn't think much of it. He then pulled out another bag and handed it to me. When I opened the bag, I saw my new scriptures but the name inscribed on it was "Ingrid V. Zaleski." I was so surprised...I didn't know how to react because I wasn't sure if it was a mistake. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes!!!

"Well he is a pro-paper shredder and now I need new scriptures". That is how it started. I had been searching in secret for a ring so I could propose to Ingrid but I was not able to find one that said, "Ingrid, I love you", and I was beginning to get nervous because the end of her summer break was quickly approaching and she would be moving back to Pomona. That is when her dog helped me out. One afternoon I was paying some bills at Ingrid's house. Upon finishing my payments I needed some way to shred my billing information. We couldn't find a shredder, but she did have an 11 month old puppy which made quick work of my billing papers. Soon shreds of paper were scattered all over the living room floor. Happy with his work he went back to lying around and we went on with our day. Later that evening Ingrid and I read from Ingrid's nice scriptures with her name inscribed on the front cover. When she walked me to my car we left them on the couch and Milo, her puppy, decided he wanted another crack at shredding, and boy did he do a fine job. We found he particularly liked the book of Ezekiel. Luckily my family was planning a family trip to Utah that next weekend and Ingrid was coming so she was excited to get new scriptures there. When I reflected on this event I realized that when she gets new scriptures she would get her name inscribed on them which would say "Rodriguez". But hopefully in a few weeks I would be proposing and then we would need her scriptures to "Zaleski" so I made a plan. While Ingrid and I we picking out a new set of scriptures, my parents were talking with the store clerk and explaining that when she gives him her name to inscribe to change her last name to "Zaleski". As she bought the scriptures he told her it would take an hour. So we went and walked around temple square. Then my parents showed up, Ingrid's new scriptures in hand, and when she saw the name inscribed she was a little confused but I quickly fixed that by taking a knee and proposing.