Our story starts out with me, being your typical independent female; who happens to be a total mess, and somehow managed to ride her tires until there was absolutely no tread left. I was to the point where I was putting air in my tires at least twice a day, and me being the procrastinator I am, was going to hold-off as long as I could, but for some reason on this particular day I ended up sick and decided it would be best for me to go home early from work. I suppose fate decided that I absolutely couldn't wait any longer to have new tires put on; so that's how I ended up at White's. Funny thing is - Alberto did in fact happen to work at White's Tire at the main store on top of the hill. But on this particular day, I went to the Express store at the bottom of the hill ... we really shouldn't have run into each other at all, seeing as we had gone our entire lives without crossing paths, only separated by a fifteen minutes distance, and especially since he was scheduled off from work that day ... but it just so happened his brother-in-law needed an inspection for his truck. So, there I was; in all my post-vomit glory - I'm absolutely positive I was glowing.. happened to see him and thought, "Maybe I should have talked to him that one time on Facebook" as he ever-so lovingly ignored me from across the room while I was told that I needed to pay two hundred and fifty dollars for a replacement tire. (Later, reassuring me that he just "didn't want to seem creepy", so he "played hard to get.") Alas, as most millennials do - because of lack of courage or fear of vulnerability, I'm not really sure which; we both a day or so later created and logged into an online dating application - which is where fate for the second time gave us the opportunity to connect. We messaged back and forth non-stop for three days straight and as you know; the rest is history ... or destiny, whichever you'd prefer.

Since we officially started dating February 1st, 2019, Alberto's family started planning a cruise vacation to Cozumel, Belize, Honduras, and Costa Maya. Me, never having been out of the states .. and planning for Alberto and I to still be together in December said yes to booking the trip. I never felt any reservation or nervousness about it. Ever-since we met, I believe God has given us a great peace about being with each other, seeing as we both had been through some pretty difficult relationship experiences previously. In December, we made our way onto the Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship with his family and extended family visiting from Mexico. It was our first formal night on the ship, and I honestly had no idea. I had mentioned to Alberto previously that if he did decide to propose how did he know I wasn't going to look like a slob for pictures lol. So he, as the gentleman he is, thought of everything and made sure I looked a little better than normal for the occasion. He took me to the front of the ship to "take pictures" and as we were posing; he kneeled down and asked me to be his wife as the sun settled over the seemingly infinite ocean. Me being the emotional person I am, immediately started crying and said, "Yes." He also knew that it was really important for my mom to be there too, so he set it up so she'd be there through face-time to be part of the special moment. I couldn't have asked for a more thoughtful proposal or a more selfless partner to spend my life with. God, after many years of heart-ache and in his perfect timing exceeded my expectations.