Dear Family and Friends, Last year was a year full of lessons, and some disappointments. The year finished off with an accomplishment that we were not expecting. Although we were looking and making offers, after several declinations, we became homeowners! This all happened during a stressful season of us planning, then postponing our wedding. With much support and love form our family and friends, it made a disappointing time durable for us. Now that things have semi-settled down, we feel brave enough to plan a wedding! We hope to see you there! With love, Valerie & Alejandro

Alejandro initiated the first message, after he came across my profile on a Christian meeting app called Upward. I had only been a member for two days when I noticed the brief message he sent. After I read his profile, my deciding factor to respond back was the photo of a beautiful black Rottweiler, which I learned was named Rocky. I love dogs, and Rocky was a beautiful big dog. The correspondence between Alejandro and I led to talking on the phone a few times before arranging our first meeting at Ojas Tea House in Long Beach. The first meeting was interesting for the both of us. My first impression was that Alejandro was nice, but he was quite nervous. Alejandro, on the other hand, told me he thought I was quite confident in myself. My response to the dreaded question, “Why are you single?” may have slightly impacted his first impression of me. And of course my reply included, “I know I'm a catch..." I will never live that moment down! Looking back now, it’s something we can laugh about. At this point we were both unsure of each other, yet still intrigued with one another. At the close of the meeting, I showed Alejandro my new amplified version Bible and we read a scripture from Psalms before we parted ways. Shortly after our initial meeting, Alejandro asked me out for a quick bite to eat. He picked me up from my house and drove me to In & Out. This visit was short, but long enough to eat our meal and for Alejandro to get me back home. I remember wishing that we had longer time to chat. Alejandro remembers that after we hugged and said our goodbyes, I went in for one more longer hug. It was pretty soon after we met, that we both felt as though we had known each other for much longer than we actually did. We constantly look back and try to justify our feelings after knowing each other for a short amount of time, while being mindful of not rushing into anything.