We're getting married!

Lupe and I were in a graphic design class together in high school. Not only was this the start of my love for my future career, it began a friendship with my future husband. Towards the middle of our first semester, we were working on a project on the computers. I finished that project early, so the teacher had started me on the next project. This assignment was to paint a pizza box. Since I was the first one to start, I unfortunately had to be the guinea pig on how to paint on a pizza box. Initially, I had the box laid flat, unfolded. I sketched my idea first, then painted. Somehow it didn’t occur to me that I had painted on the left edge of the box where it folds. Once I folded the box, part of the tomato I painted was on the edge so it looked almost square. Once more students finished the computer assignment, they began working on their pizza boxes, thus having to come to the sink next to my desk to wash their paint brushes. One of these students was Lupe. He passed my desk on the way to the sink to wash his brushes as I noticed him looking at my pizza box, and his first words to me were “I like your pizza box.” Romantic, right? I thanked him as I thought he really did like it only to find out later that he thought the tomato looked weird because it was square. From there it snowballed into casually talking in class, to becoming Facebook friends, to texting every day, to hanging out in theater after school, and to begin dating right at the end of the school year. 11 years later, I still look at him like it's the first day I met him. And yes, we still have our pizza boxes from that project, and we love to eat pizza. - Rachel

Our friends and I planned a birthday trip to go to Rachel’s favorite place on Earth, Disneyland. It was going to be a three day vacation to celebrate her and our first Disney trip together with our friends. We bought tickets months ahead and even special event tickets for Disney’s Halloween event. Little did she know that I bought her birthday present months ahead as well, her engagement ring. I planned to propose on her birthday which was the last day we had at Disney. I had to find the perfect moment to ask the question. Half way through the day, I decided it was time. We all initially split up to go off and explore on our own before meeting for dinner. One friend and groomsmen, Gabe, met back up with us to play the role of the distraction. I told Rachel I needed to go back to our locker to change into pants since I was wearing shorts. This confused her since it was hot outside, so she questioned why I’d want to switch into pants. Frantic, I told her I just needed to change into pants and left her with Gabe to ride Winnie the Pooh. Obviously I wanted to propose in pants instead of shorts. Once they were done, I suggested we take pictures in front of the Haunted Mansion queue. She said during the whole trip how she wanted to take pictures in that spot, so that’s all she thought was going to happen. I asked the cast member for permission to go into the landscaping in the front and she allowed us to go ahead. I handed Gabe my phone to record (take pictures as far as Rachel knew) and I set up my camera on the floor. Distracted by taking pictures, Rachel had no idea our other friend, Jessica, was hiding in bushes recording too. I stopped us for a moment to tell her I had her birthday gift. Nervous of me, I asked her to guess what it was. She tells me she doesn’t know, so I lead with telling her about my love for her and wanting to start our lives together. I ask the age old question “Will you marry me?” and I am bombarded with her tearful yes as the crowds around us cheer. We celebrate the moment with a ride on the Haunted Mansion and enjoy the rest of our night in the magic kingdom. -Lupe