Omar and I worked together at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), where I worked in the communications department and he worked in the project management unit. Omar claims we met as soon as he started at CIMMYT in 2016, but my first memory of offically meeting him was at a gender equality workshop in September 2017. But in October 2017, I started a new position at CIMMYT and my bio was emailed out to all staff - and Omar emailed me back! He said he hadn't realized we both had the same undergraduate major, and asked me out to lunch to talk more about our undergraduate degrees and plans for the future. However, I didn't realize it might have been a date - and I brought my roomate! Nevertheless Omar and I quickly became best friends over shared dreams of getting our masters degrees and working in sustainable development. We went on several group trips around Mexico together, started eating lunch together, and he would show up at my office every morning to say hello. Omar was always the highlight of my day - but I never dreamed that we would be more than friends. The first time he asked me out I panicked and said no, nervous about dating a coworker and losing a friend. But a week later when I heard at a party that Omar had accepted a job with the United Nations and was moving across the country, I went home in tears - and realized that somewhere along the way I had fallen in love with my best friend. The day Omar officially resigned from CIMMYT, August 14 2018, we went to a festival in the Pueblo Magico where he was born, in Huamantla, Tlaxcala. Sitting together on a curb, under fireworks and music from the town orchestra, Omar asked me out again - and this time, I said YES!

Omar and I were in a long distance relationship for the next 3 years, flying out to visit each other every other week, and traveling together across Mexico and the US whenever we could. When COVID came I had to move back to the US, but we talked for hours on video calls every day, and he provided so much emotional support even from thousands of miles away. I couldn't see him for over 5 months due to lockdown, but in August 2020 Omar flew to the US to help me move to Florida to start my masters degree in Sustainable Development Practice at the University of Florida. He stayed for 6 weeks, and we quickly realized we never wanted to be apart ever again. We got engaged on January 6th, 2021. On August 14, 2021, exactly three years after our first date, Omar moved to the United States to start his masters degree at the University of Florida! We are so excited to finally be together, and to be getting married in May 2022. We cannot wait to celebrate our special day with you!