We met while attending UC Santa Cruz. We began our journey as gym buddies, then friends, then realized that we had an undeniable connection. The rest is history! We dated throughout the rest of our college, adopted two rescue kitties, moved from Northern California to Southern California, and got engaged in December of 2017!

Santa Cruz is a really special place to both of us because it is the city where we met and fell in love. For Danielle, Natural Bridges State Beach/ the entire Westside coastline are really close to her heart, so this was the perfect place for a proposal. We planned a trip to Santa Cruz to celebrate Danielle's birthday. Little did she know, that Javi had been planning to use this trip as a disguise for his proposal plans! He invited Danielle's best friend Sophie and her boyfriend Nevin to "celebrate her birthday". The day before the engagement, prior to Sophie and Nevin's arrival, we went to the beach to walk around and take in the views. We ended up there at sunset, and it was breathtaking. Javi suggested we go back the following day to take pictures. The next day came, we all got ready to go to dinner, and another surprise, Danielle's cousin showed up (planned by Javi)!! We all walked out to the beach, where we posed for pictures. Suddenly, it was just us standing on the cliffside, and Javi told Danielle that he needed to do something that he should have done a long time ago, and then suddenly, he was down on one knee. As soon as our moment was over, we got to hug and celebrate with our loved ones over the best Italian food in the world. It was the most perfect day!