~To Our Forever~

Our story begins in the winter of 2018, sitting on an Alaskan Airline, waiting to fly to Costa Rica to attend our friends Zach and Paola’s wedding. At this time, we would be what you call acquaintances. We had met on a few occasions, but never really got the chance to get to know each other well. While texting Zach that I was on my way, he informed me that Sandy was on the same flight as me. Intrigued, I looked around from my seat in the plane to see if could spot her. I can still picture Sandy like it was yesterday. She was sitting a few rows behind me, wearing her Steelers cap, staring back at me with a look on her face like she’s thinking, “Oh crap he spotted me!” We both casually nodded hello to each other and went about our flight. As we landed and prepared to exit the plane, I remember feeling really nervous because I knew I wanted to talk to her, but about what exactly was the problem. Since I’m a quiet person by nature, conversation does not always come easy to me, but I knew I had to try. Fortunately, I would get my chance because we were about to walk into a customs line with a seemingly endless zig zag of lines. As I initially entered the line, I looked around for her but I could not see her. Unbeknownst to either of us, as fate would have it, Sandy waited the perfect amount of time for our paths to frequently cross in line. Every time I was zigging, she was zagging and we would meet right at the turn around of the line. This would give us a few minutes of conversation before we would drift off from each other to the next turn around. I noticed, after each passing, it became easier and easier to talk to Sandy. It felt so natural! I finally worked up the courage to ask for her number and on the final turn around, just before reaching the customs agent, I got it! What happened over the next year and a half, can only be described as the beginning of our lives.

The day would be August 10, 2018. We had just enjoyed a day out with my mom. As we made our way back to my house to drop off my mom, I recall Jared appearing a little nervous and quiet - not the usual self! I remember him asking if we could just stay home for a while with my mom and then we could go out. I hesitated because the plan was to go out and have some wine! But, he kept pushing to at least go down and see our dog so by now I thought it was odd and a few thoughts went through my head! ~6:40 P.M.~ Eventually, I knew the moment was here...it was now or never whether Sandy wanted to get out of the car or not. I opened her mom's door then opened her door. I told her mom to wait, and that is when I went down on one knee and presented Sandy with the box displaying the ring. Her mom was standing right behind me watching the whole moment and capturing Sandy's reaction. I just remember seeing Sandy smile so big and so excited. I asked. Hearing that magical word “YES” coming from her mouth forever changed and blessed my life. That moment was the start of our forever.

Once we were engaged, we could not wait to start planning for our wedding! Originally we were set to marry and celebrate in Santa Barbara, but due to the uncertainty of the present, we decided for a local intimate setting. At first, we were not sure when, where, and how this could be arranged, but with the help of our amazing wedding coordinator, we were set. The easiest decision was picking the new date. February is extremely special for us as it is the month in which we became officially a couple. Next, we looked at a few homes in Pasadena as our home church is in beautiful South Pasadena. Our vision was a backyard setting theme. All we knew was that we wanted a home with a pool - because of decor purposes - and a gorgeous kitchen - for our personal chef! The 3rd home we visited, was the ONE. We had not even booked the property yet, and we were already envisioning where cocktail hour, dance floor, and entrances would be at. Our wedding coordinator immediately took measurements to ensure that the space was adequate for our intimate celebration. Once we got the approval from her, we went through with booking. We truly can not wait for everyone to celebrate with us and see the beautiful transformation of this home designed specially for our special day. It has surpassed our expectations of what we envisioned for our reception and truly are overwhelmed with happiness of how beautiful it will be!