I met Juan in Medellin, Colombia at a Convention. On the first day of the convention there was a welcome dinner for all the people that had traveled. It's funny because I remember being so bored that night at a table right before dinner. I met his parents before meeting him and they spoke very highly of their four sons. He showed up late that night, but I didn't even see or notice him. As soon as he went to his parents, his parents introduced him to my parents and me. I immediately thought he was very attractive, and I will never forget the smell of his cologne that night, it smelled so good! I didn't give him much attention because I figured he was in a relationship. Prior to meeting him, his parents had told us that two of his four sons, the older ones, were married. I assumed he was one of them since he looked older than the rest and was the most attractive to me out of all the brothers. Later that night, when I found out he wasn't the one married, I honestly got a little exited but at the same time tried to keep in mind that nothing could possibly happen between us since we lived in different countries. During the event, he would try to talk to me and get me involved but I figured he was just being nice. After a few conversations and interactions, he asked for my number, and we've talked every day since.

Proposing to Zury was rare and special. I wanted to do it in Chicago in a place with a nice view of the city. I was very nervous because I wanted everything to be perfect. I ended up picking a lake front view of the city. I decided to ask her out on a normal date and told her that I wanted to celebrate our anniversary day, the 26th. Krystle & Grace offered to drive us because they made up a story of going to do a shoot in the city, it was the perfect excuse for them to be there and the rest of our families were planning on surprising us there after I proposed. As we arrived at the lake front, I could feel the nerves and anxiety take over me. The “Marry Me” sign could be seen from far so I knew that as soon as she saw it, she would realize it was for her. As we were getting closer and closer, we walked near it and my nerves took over and I just walked past the sign. I didn’t know what to say so I suggested that we start taking pictures, I could tell she was looking at the sign, so I made a joke about it and played it off saying how extra that was. I realized I was just stalling and that I just had to do it, so I suggested as a joke for Christian (her cousin) that we take pictures with the sign just for fun. At this point, I’m sure she knew because she just went with it. As we got next to the middle of the sign, I got down on one knee and everything I planned to tell her as I proposed, was just gone. I completely forgot everything! I could only tell her with a trembling voice "my love, would you like to marry me?" smiling she says yes. At that moment I felt super happy because although things did not turn out as I had imagined, the moment was still beautiful and something I will forever cherish. That was one of the happiest days of my life because it was the start of our life together as the Zapata Hidalgo family.