We had both been single for less than a year and had begun casually collecting "bad date" stories when the wife of Jacob's co-worker suggested he try a dating app called Hinge. It was there that we first started talking, before finally agreeing to meet for a quick beer on a cold winter night in El Cajon. A quick beer turned into a few hours of easy conversation and neither of us had to employ our seasoned exit strategies. When my best friend asked how the date went later that night, I told her Jacob seemed nice, but I wasn't sure about him... Jacob disappointed his friend and co-worker the following day when instead of sharing another bad date story, he said he "had a feeling" about me. On one of our first real dates, Jacob had planned to start the evening with a drink and a romantic sunset view from a rooftop bar in downtown San Diego. Unfortunately, the bar was outside and the temperature had dropped into the thirties - the Uber to dinner couldn't come quick enough! We took things slow at first, but started to see each other more often over the next couple of months. Eventually, Jacob asked me to help him move into a new apartment and, just after he'd begun settling in, the COVID pandemic hit. One of the last dates we went on was a double-date to an escape room, just days before the lockdown started. A silver lining of those times was that it really brought us closer - we spent most weekends visiting each other, ordering food, watching movies, and most of all having long conversations and getting to know one another. We even spent the following New Year's in quarantine together at a hotel, after contracting COVID. It was also during this time that we truly fell in love - I still remember the first time Jacob told me he loved me... Waking me in the middle of the night to finally say, "I love you!" Our story may not sound like it has the makings of a classic romance tale but, for us, it is the greatest story to have written together.

On Mother's Day of 2022, I proposed to Veronica in front of my parents and her entire family during a celebration at her grandmother's house. Just days before, Veronica's brother, Danny, had escorted me to their father's workplace where I nervously asked for his blessing to marry Veronica - the traditional way. Danny even helped plan the proposal in a big way, coordinating with the mariachi band to find just the right moment to break the music and highlight the proposal with a live harp playing in the background. I had begun taking Spanish lessons earlier in the year, but kept practicing the simple phrase in my head as Veronica's uncles calmed my nerves with shots of tequila... When the time came, down on one knee, all anxiety faded as I repeated the practiced phrase, "¿Te casaras conmigo?" (Will you marry me?) and I heard her reply, "Yes" behind tears of joy. We're so excited to begin this next chapter of our lives in celebration alongside you, our friends and family.