The Moment You've All Been Waiting For

Andres and I met over nine years ago in the sticky, humid summer heat trapped together in a greenhouse. That's a little dramatic, but it's true! At the time, we were 19 and 16 and both working at the San Antonio Zoo in the Butterfly Exhibit. Were there butterflies around us all day long? Yes. Did this make the scene romantic at all? Nope! Actually, both of us were in relationships and I wasn't into 16 year olds, so we remained coworkers that got along well and eventually drifted apart when he left the zoo and San Antonio to attend Texas A&M University in College Station, while I stayed behind and continued studying at UTSA. Andres and I reconnected in May of 2019, now 19 and 21 respectively. I threw a "end of the semester" summer reunion party for my fellow zoo coworkers, and Andres snagged an invite by being close friends with the people I was friends with. Sparks were flying that summer as we became friends again and then suddenly something more. I was endeared by his charm and humor, and he was taken with my adventurous spirit and romantic outlook on life. It was so easy to be together. But before we knew it the summer was over and he needed to go back to school. So what then? Do we just brush the past eight weeks off as a summer fling, or should we try to make this into something more serious? I was about to finish school, and he had four more semesters to go, on track to graduate a whole year early. Was it really the right time for a relationship? I spent the entire summer convincing myself the answer was no, that I could go back to living my single life as I finished school and started on my career, and he could go on to date A&M girls his age. But alas, it couldn't be done. We were so head over heels for each other already, and how hard could "long distance" be? Turns out, pretty hard. Especially when you have to do it three times and live through a pandemic (together, yet still apart). The early years, in hindsight, might have been the most challenging as we grew together and melded a relationship out of trust, compassion, and late night phone calls. And now? After six years, two cats, and a proposal that had the potential to go much worse than it did (if you know, you know), you've come across our wedding website! How cool is that? #VivaLaVillas