Do you believe in love at first sight? The first time Georgia and Elano met was on a cruise ship leaving Bilbao, Spain in May of 2015. She had just finished her time living in Madrid as an au pair and her mom, Kelly, flew over to take a cruise with her to visit other countries. Elano was working on this ship... and happened to be working at some tables very close to theirs. Immediately he noticed Georgia and started taking every chance possible to talk to her and her mom. After lots of talking (and they didn't really even have a common language at that time!), feelings, and realizing that she was going back to the United States and he still permanently residing in Brazil, they went their separate ways. But stayed in touch...

Fast forward to the Spring of 2019. Although many years, milestones, seasons, and life changes passed in both of their lives, Georgia and Elano both were wishing each other well from a distance. Elano had since then moved to Portugal and Georgia was preparing to travel back to Spain to study Spanish that summer as she finished up her undergraduate degree. Most of you know that Spain has a special place in Georgia's heart, but she also found herself reminiscing on the last time she was there and her short but special conversations with Elano. She couldn't help but wonder "what if" and on a whim, in May of 2019, reached out to him to see how he was and let him know she'd be finding herself back in Europe for the summer. Instagram messaging turned to texting which soon turned to calling and Facetime. Through hours of conversation both when Georgia was in Washington and even when she was already in Spain, Elano let Georgia know that if she wanted the opportunity to "see Lisbon", he could be a tour guide (which he was wonderful!) and that she had a place to stay. Although the trip was verbally intended as sightseeing and exploring, in a short few days, they both knew they were falling in love - as crazy as it seemed. Georgia went back to Spain, back to the U.S. to move to Arizona, started a new job, and they both continued trying to deny what they felt and wanted. After several difficult weeks of not knowing what a long-distance relationship would look like, they both decided they didn't want to not try. And the long-distance began! Soon Georgia would be going back to Portugal to be with Elano (and go to Italy, too!). The rest is history...

No one could have predicted the devastating pandemic that would shut down the world. Elano had planned to visit Georgia in Phoenix in May to see her home and her family, but both of their countries closed their borders until the foreseeable future. As if a long-distance relationship wasn't hard enough, this definitely tested them but grew their relationship in so many ways (thank The Lord for technology and FaceTime!!!). Towards the end of summer, they decided they didn't want to wait anymore to reunite, even if it was inconvenient. Thankfully, Mexico would let both of them into the country without any issues. In September of 2020, Georgia and Elano both flew to Cancun to meet each other after 8 months. It's funny how being in a foreign country can feel like home if it's with the person you love. Although every moment together was incredible, nothing could top the day Elano told Georgia to get ready to "go take pictures on the beach" one morning. He told her that he had arranged for a photographer to take some professional pictures together which was going great... And then he handed her a letter. Telling her to read the whole thing and then turn to him when she was finished, he kissed her on the head and watched as she held back tears reading his beautiful, heartfelt words to her. Moments later, as she turned towards him, Elano got down on one knee in the sand and asked Georgia to marry him. She said "absolutely". As someone as indecisive as Georgia, it was by far the easiest yes of her life!