In 2014, Rodrigo and Gaby moved to Gainesville, Florida for their first year of undergraduate school. Gaby was cooking dinner on her first night in the dorms, when she realized her kitchen spatula was missing. She asked around and found that her roommate had lent it to one of their neighbors earlier that day. On a hunt for her spatula, Gaby knocked on her neighbor’s door and Rodrigo answered. Although he did not have her spatula, they got to talking and quickly became friends. That semester, Rodrigo and Gaby were in the same Calculus I course. They studied together the whole semester and took many engineering courses together over the next 4 years. During this time, they formed and inseparable friendship built on all-nighters, pizza, and coffee. In 2018, Gaby and Rodrigo decided that their friendship just wasn’t cutting it and decided to give love a chance. Turns out the saying is true – Life is better with your best friend!

In 2022, Rodrigo and Gaby took a cruise vacation around the Greek Islands. On the day of the proposal, Gaby had woken up extra cranky. She wasn’t feeling well, had a headache, and was barely up to getting dressed for the day. Rodrigo stayed persistent knowing very well that it would be a special day for them both. Debarking in Mykonos, they took a beautiful walk through the city arriving at a cliff overlooking the ocean on one side and the city on the other. While posing for a picture, Rodrigo got down on one knee and popped the question – to which of course Gaby quickly responded, “Are you serious?!” After the shock of surprise passed, she said YES! A few more celebratory nights in Greece passed and Rodrigo and Gaby were at the airport heading back home when they received an unfortunate email. Gaby could not travel due to having tested positive for COVID-19. Embracing the circumstances, the happy couple continued their celebration with a 10-day quarantine/engagement honeymoon. Nothing better to challenge a fresh engagement that being locked in a hotel room for 10 days with a view of Ancient Athens and a lot of Greek take-out!