Our engagement was a fairy tale. The lagoon was calm, the deck was quiet, the overhanging tree filled with etchings of previous lovers hung above, and a single out-of-place golden-yellow sundrop flower sat alone waiting to be discovered. In a moment of excitement, I jumped up, but we’ll get back to that.

Our love story began in the most unexpected of places: Yogurtland. One fateful day, after a full day of Salsa lessons, we met up with a mutual friend to discuss some plans, and there he was in a black tee and pink shorts. I wonder how I never noticed him before, but one trip to Yogurtland turned into many. We had our first date at the LA County Fair, and in the blink of an eye, we ended up graduating together at the height of the Pandemic. With his degree in Computer Science and my Master's Program in Speech-Language Pathology at San Jose State, it was a no-brainer to start anew. Being my first time living outside Southern California, I was happy knowing the love of my life was coming with me.

After some time to get our bearings in the Bay Area, we invited some friends over to have a little fun since it’d been a while since we last hung out. Arely and I planned a whole trip with getting our nails done, a spa day, and even what we were going to do the whole weekend. Little did I know everything was going according to plan, as Uli was only supposed to plan the last day of the trip, but everything had already been put in place.

On the final day, we had a trip to the San Francisco Botanical Garden, and this is where the magic began. A year-long planning process had finally come to fruition. Surrounded by friends and family, we arrived at that fated sun-drop flower where he fell on one knee and asked me to be his wife. After the wedding, we plan to move back to Southern California, eventually starting a family, settling down, and buying a house.

Our love story began in the most unexpected of places: Yogurtland. One fateful day, after a full day of Salsa lessons, we met up with a mutual friend to discuss some plans, and there he was in a black tee and pink shorts. I wonder how I never noticed him before, but one trip to Yogurtland turned into many. We had our first date at the LA County Fair, and in the blink of an eye, we ended up graduating together at the height of the Pandemic. With his degree in Computer Science and my Master's Program in Speech-Language Pathology at San Jose State, it was a no-brainer to start anew. Being my first time living outside Southern California, I was happy knowing the love of my life was coming with me.

After some time to get our bearings in the Bay Area, we invited some friends over to have a little fun since it’d been a while since we last hung out. Arely and I planned a whole trip with getting our nails done, a spa day, and even what we were going to do the whole weekend. Little did I know everything was going according to plan, as Uli was only supposed to plan the last day of the trip, but everything had already been put in place.

On the final day, we had a trip to the San Francisco Botanical Garden, and this is where the magic began. A year-long planning process had finally come to fruition. Surrounded by friends and family, we arrived at that fated sun-drop flower where he fell on one knee and asked me to be his wife. After the wedding, we plan to move back to Southern California, eventually starting a family, settling down, and buying a house.