Around 13 years old, Maria and Legera (Λυγερή) met during Goya at the beautiful Orlando Retreat. The connection was immediate- to Legera, it was an electric "boom" and to Maria, she felt a pull to always be around Legera but didn't know why. They knew they had to be friends, and have been in each others lives for over 20 years! As their friendship grew, they each realized that they had crushes on the other but, they kept it to themselves. It wasn't until their early 20's, that they revealed to each other the feelings they felt when they were younger. The friendship didn't change at all, and still remained close until..... One day in December 2022, Legera felt a bug to travel. She got the inspiration to go to California and sent an audition tape to sing the National Anthem for the Sacramento Kings game. Something special to note is, Maria would always make it to hear Legera sing live. So, Legera sent a message to Maria asking if she would be in California and if she would want to hear her sing. And Maria said “Heck YES!”. Legera was selected to sing at the game on January 11th, 2023 where she got to perform in front of 50 Cent, live TV, and with a crowd of over 18,000 people in the audience. The only person that made Legera nervous? Maria. She was only thinking of her while she performed. It seems that little crush, never truly disappeared from Legera’s side…. After a successful performance, Legera and Maria were off to explore the redwoods in Northern California. They found a cute 2 bedroom cottage in the middle of the forest and enjoyed a few beautiful days out there, hiking and taking in the wonder of nature. While hiking one day, they both decided to separate for a little and meet back up at the cabin. Not knowing it at the time, they each greatly missed the other while being separated on their hikes. They both made it to the cabin at the same time and when they saw each other, they both felt the immense feeling of “home” in the other person. It turns out, Maria's little crush didn't disappear from her side either and soon, officially became a couple. Flash forward a year and a half to November 2, 2024. They had just endured the worst hurricane disaster in Asheville in October and decided to escape to the Smokey Mountains for a relaxing fall getaway. Meanwhile behind the scenes, Maria was scheming something special that Legera had no clue about. All Maria said was there is a surprise adventure happening on the trip and to wear jeans and boots! After many failed guessing attempts, the day finally came for the big surprise reveal! Turns out, Maria set up a beautiful horseback riding tour on a mountain for them to take. While riding up, the tour guide decided to pause at the top so we could soak up the views and stretch our legs. Maria tried to distract Legera by having her look for an "owl" in the trees that wasn't there. The distraction bought Maria some time however, and she got down on one knee to propose! Truly a surprise within a surprise!