04/26/2021 Update: In light of the current COVID-19 gathering restrictions in Montgomery County, MD, we will need to reduce our guest list for our ceremony and intimate reception this year. We invite those who we are not able to host in person this year to join us virtually on June 26th. Our ceremony will be livestreamed on YouTube for anyone not able to make it in person: https://youtu.be/8JYLMsMhkyE (copy & paste link) We are planning to host a party celebrating our marriage in the summer of 2022. We hope that by then we will be able to have a restriction-free gathering where we can all dance the night away!

It was Lourdes' second day of grad school and Nate was in the midst of his candidacy exam week, when he came into Lourdes' office to ask an older grad student a question. That question turned into a conversation about both of them being from Maryland and Lourdes' obsession with Harry Potter. They ended up in the same grad class together, where they continued to get to know each other, and working down the hall from each other certainly helped as well. When Nate asked Lourdes out on a hike a month later, they talked for hours that felt like minutes and the rest, as they say, is history.

After spending four months long distance, Nate and Lourdes were so excited to see each other over Christmas holiday break. On his way back to Chicago, Nate stopped through State College and took Lourdes out to dinner where they were going to exchange Christmas gifts. Lourdes was so excited because she had spent weeks cross-stitching Nate a personalized gift based on their mutual love of Stardew Valley and was sure that her gift was going to blow his out of the water. When it came time to exchange gifts, Nate insisted on going first. Next thing, Nate was on his knee, ring box out, and all Lourdes could say was "Oh my gosh" over and over. She was so shocked she almost forgot to say yes! And needless to say, Nate definitely won "best Christmas gift"!