On one of the first days of the summer Interphase EDGE program at MIT before our freshman year, Mario and I went to an Indian restaurant with friends. I noticed that he didn't order anything and I went over to ask why he didn't eat. Mario told me that he had been vegetarian for four years and he had never eaten Indian food. We struck up a conversation then spent the rest of the program working on chemistry, physics, calculus, and writing projects together. Later in the program, I convinced Mario to try my favorite Indian dish, paneer. Maybe it was love or maybe it was the paneer, but we have been together ever since.

I knew that Isa had never been to the Grand Canyon and I wanted to show her the amazing landscapes and propose to her there. One day we were talking and Isa mentioned to me that she would love to be proposed to at the Grand Canyon. I had the idea before she had told me that but I guess it worked out! I had hired a photographer to capture the special moment. I woke Isa up at 2:30 in the morning for us to drive out to the Grand Canyon before sunrise. I asked her just as the sun came up and are now looking forward to getting married!

At the beginning of 2021, Mario and I began to talk about getting married. One day in April I just casually mentioned, almost as a joke, let's get married in my backyard in Texas and my Grandpa can marry us. During the stress of the pandemic and losing people around us to COVID-19 we felt that life was too short. We wanted to celebrate our wedding with the people we loved. We decided to have two weddings! One for Isabella's family in Texas and one in Baja California for Mario's family. We came together and planned a beautiful wedding in South Padre Island, Texas (photos coming soon). Now we can't wait to see you for our second wedding in Valle de Guadalupe!