We met in 2019. We were both District KADIWA Officers. During our first officers meeting, when everybody was introducing themselves to everyone, learning about Reina's love of travel stuck in my mind. During our years in DKAD, we didn't really work together much. Frustrating! Thank goodness @no_ig_reina existed in Instagram! The avid traveler would post about her adventures and I would engage. When I traveled, she would like and comment on my posts sometimes, slowly becoming one of @jmarian88's consistent followers. Kilig! This is how we interacted for about five years evolving slightly to include funny reels which let me discover an exciting aspect of the woman I've been intrigued with. 2024. Reina didn't continue with DKAD. I was bummed, not as enthused. The five years we were together in DKAD didn't amount to much with getting to know her. I was admiring her from a distance yet didn't really get much opportunity to personally interact with her. For the longest time, I would pray for a sign. I remember praying in the choir loft, "Yellow. When I look out to the congregation, may the sister in yellow be someone I can be with." I would look out and the sister in a yellow dress would be an ading, a tita or a lola! Then I changed my prayers for me to find someone kind, caring, someone who would love my parents, someone who would love me for me, and that I could be the best person for them." Then there came the first Prayer Tour. It was a unique opportunity because we were encouraged to ask anything and everything we need and desire to God. There had been testimonies about the effectiveness of the Prayer Tour and I was convinced. It was during this Prayer Tour when I first prayed about Reina. Down on my knees, one of the things I prayed for, "If it's not against Your will, give me the courage and the opportunity to get to know sister Reina from North Hollywood. May she be the woman for me, the one whom I can spend the rest of my life with." We would continue to go on liking each others' posts on Instagram and chitchatting here and there. Butterflies kept fluttering within me, my love and admiration toward Reina kept growing. June 2024. My aunt from Arizona visited LA for her birthday. She wanted to introduce me to someone in Arizona. She advocated for this girl and I had nothing to lose. She gave me her info and she left it up to me to start the conversation with Ms. Arizona. The following day, I had a confident mindset. "What do I have to lose? Worse she can say is, no." I shot my shot with Ms. Arizona, but it didn't feel like it was what I 100% wanted to do. With this unexpected surge of courage, I also decided shoot my shot with the one woman I've been crushing on and wanting to get to know for the longest time. In the middle of work, I texted: I have been thinking about you a lot and I have been interested in you for a while. I know we haven't spent a lot of time together and we barely know each other, but something about you left an impression on me that never really went away. I've always wanted to approach you and tell you this pero natotorpe ako, honestly. I've been praying to spend more time with you and get to know you more as we work together in DKAD. But since you left this year, I was bummed. I haven't been as enthusiastic with DKAD... Perhaps, this surge of courage I'm having right now is an answered prayer, but I realize that if I wanted to get to know you more than just "Sister Reina form North Hollywood,: I have to make a move and take a shot. So, if I may be so bold, would you be interested in getting to know me as well? No hard feeling if it's a blatant 'no' LOL. I'm just not a fan of 'what ifs. 2 hours later she replied: Oh, I'm so flattered... I would really like to get to know you as well! I responded with a GIF of Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite gesturing "YES!" And the rest, as they say, is blessings upon blessings upon blessings.