One day in late April of 2024, I was doing my quick daily scroll on Hinge, when all of the sudden, a professional portrait of a girl appeared before me; beautiful smile, looking slightly away from the camera (mysterious), stunning eyes, and a watermark that read “Monica Reyes Photography” on it. Above the photo was the title, “Gio, 22”. Intrigued by the first impression, I scrolled through the rest of her profile: Likes wine, went to SMU, works in Accounting, and needs a wedding date for two upcoming weddings. Being a consistent winner of Jackbox Quiplash, witty pickup lines have always come easy. So, I put a heart on her first picture and sent with it the response, “Monica took a great photo”. A few days go by and I get a message telling me that Gio matched with me and responded back saying, “aww you’re so sweet :) what’s up?”. As stoked as I was, I waited about a day or two before replying, as I didn’t want to come off as desperate. I asked how I can interview to be her two time wedding date, and after a little back and forth banter, we aligned on a date at Barcelona Wine Bar that Saturday night, May 4th. I put on my nicest work polo and nice casual shorts, ready to devour some pasta and wine. Not long after parking in the nearby restaurant’s parking lot to avoid the valet charge (cost-effective) did I realize this place was no Olive Garden. There would be no pasta, and I would be the most underdressed person there. I walked in, and the host directed me to a booth that Gio was already sitting at (she was 5 minutes late, I was 10, a common theme in our relationship). Stadium pulse was high at this point. She was even more beautiful in person, sporting a gorgeous black dress. We hugged, sat down, and ordered a flight of wine and Tapas. An hour in and I was using two hands to hold the little wine glasses because I was still shaking so bad. About halfway into our date, I interrupted our conversation, because I just had to let her know how beautiful she looked. From there, it felt like there was no one else in the restaurant. We talked for hours, not just about jobs and family, but conversations only true soulmates have after searching for each other their whole lives. After leaving the restaurant, there was a moment in which I had my arm around her. If you knew me before May 4th, 2024, you would know a smooth move like that would never come from me. But, Gio made me feel like I was already hers, so that move felt so right. As cliché as it sounds, I knew I had already loved this girl. It only took four dates for me to tell her how I felt. From that moment, Ja-vanna (Jace + Giovanna) became inseparable. It wasn’t long after that I got to redeem the two time wedding date vouchers, which came with a trip to Denver in the process. Our story has involved exploring the world together, with visits to Colorado, Guatemala, Boston, Kansas, and New York. It’s been filled with music, still to this day trying to put each other onto new songs, a bond we realized we had as we were sitting in my car drinking Whataburger milkshakes on our second date. Our story has seen two major career moves and the grind of a graduate school journey. It’s been filled with jokes that are only funny to us, in which no one else is hilarious enough to appreciate. Finally, on November 23rd, 2025, exactly one year before our upcoming wedding, our story reached a pivotal point. That day, I proposed to Gio on top of a pink rock in Central Park (gender reveal just 2 minutes prior). Now, here we are today, celebrating our two year anniversary by scrolling through Tiktok in attempt to find the best wedding DJ in Guatemala. Even now, we are two peas in a pod, who cannot go more than 12 hours without seeing each other. So much so that we now work at neighboring companies. Best advice I can give that sums up our story: Marry your best friend (especially if they are as beautiful as Gio).