Wedding Is Coming

As you may already know, this isn't your ordinary couple. Other than the fact that we're both stunningly gorgeous, there's always more than meets the eye. We each come from completely different backgrounds. Belal is of Palestinian Heritage and Melo of Panamanian and so as you can imagine, we were raised with very different traditions, customs, languages, and trains of thought, but that didn't stop us from ultimately being together. We initially met in high school where we had classes with each other every year. We both had a crush on each other, but it wasn't our time to be together yet. We each took different paths after graduation and grew as individuals before God decided to bring us back together again 7 years later in none other than Tallahassee, FL at your local hookah bar. From that moment on, the feelings picked up right where they left off and we started on a road neither of us thought we'd go down. But here we are. Like every relationship, our road had bumps along it too. It wasn't always peaches and roses. Our backgrounds at times seemed to clash and the deeper we talked, the more we were forced to dig within ourselves and face our true self. After real hardship, struggle, misunderstanding, and doubt, we overcame every obstacle, every tough conversation, and every realization stronger than before. Through honesty, love, and true commitment we stand here today before you all to profess our love and vow to fight for each other until the end. I love you 3000 <3

There really isn't much to do in middle of nowhere West Texas, so when we first moved in together we took a number of trips, one of the very first being a trip to the McDonald's Observatory to gaze at the wide-open night sky which was so clear, you can see the Milky Way and satellites with the naked eye. The following day we went to Big Bend National Park where we saw dinosaur fossils and hiked incredible desert mountains and got right up to the Rio Grande river that separates the US from Mexico. It was a special and serene trip that opened up the world to us. Many trips outside of Midland, TX followed and with each trip we both grew closer and closer together. Prior to Melo taking off for Flight Attendant Training, we decided to take one more trip. The final trip needed to be special and so we recreated the same initial trip to Big Bend, the trip that really kickstarted all of our adventures. We took the same hike as before except this time we'd end the hike engaged! The surprises still weren't finished, however, because when we got home the house was already decorated with beautiful roses, an "I love you, Melo!" banner, and pictures of trips we took throughout the year leading up to this very special moment (shout out to Ross and Taylor for the help here). It was truly a day to remember.