We're getting married!

OUR FAMILIES J: My parents are Susan and Bob. I have an older sister, Nikki, and brother-in-law, Antonio. They just had my first nephew, Luca! I also have a younger brother, Robert, and sister-in-law, Karina. Finally, I have a younger sister, Michelle. Phil and I have 3 kids: Booger the cat, Foxy the Chihuahua mix, and Maple the Heeler mix. P: My parents are Diana and Javier. I have two brothers, Oliver and Zach. Oliver is married to Kara and they have an amazing little boy, River. GROWING UP J: I was born in Midland, MI, spent time in Greensboro, NC, and grew up in Indianapolis, IN. P: I was born in Austin, TX but grew up in Harlingen, TX. COLLEGE J: I have a BS and MS from Purdue University (Boiler Up!). P: I graduated with a BA from UTPA. CAREER J: I am an Animal Behavior Specialist and Education Coordinator for a dog breeder. P: I am a Sr. Design Manager at 2U, an education technology company. HOW WE MET J: When I was teaching, one of my coworkers, Malacara, asked if I wanted to go to a soccer event at a bar on Friday night. I said, “no thank you, I sleep on Fridays…unless you have a cute soccer friend for me to meet.” He thought for a second and said, “actually, I do.” That Friday, Phil and I met. We talked, laughed, and exchanged phone numbers. My friend, Stephanie (co-maid of honor), joined us, and later told me she approved. I suppose it was worth giving up my early bedtime. P: It's basically all Daniel's fault. He texted me out of the blue and asked if I would be open to meeting a friend of his at an upcoming soccer event we were hosting together. I said sure. I met her at the local bar where we were having the event and we hit it off. She was cool, confident, laughed a lot and had a passion for soccer. I’ll never forget the green shirt she was wearing that night. She looked great. NICKNAMES J: I started calling Phil “boo” as a joke one night after I had listened to Alicia Keys and Usher’s “My Boo” on the way to his place. He said we should stop saying it before it sticks. That was 6 years ago. P: Boo. A word of caution: don’t start calling your partner something ironically because you’ll wake up one day and it will be real. THE PROPOSAL J: We went to the Smoky Mountains for our 5-year anniversary. I was pretty sure he was going to do it on the trip. That first day, my heart stopped every time Phil said, “Let’s take a picture”. After several moments of “OMG it’s happening…ok no wait…he actually just wanted to take a picture,” I had to stop thinking about it. Once we reached the end of our hike, I caught a glimpse of someone in the trees taking pictures. I told Phil, “Dude someone’s taking pictures of us.” He said, “Don’t worry about it-just keep walking”. A bit farther down, I saw a blanket, a bottle of champagne, and a box of chocolates, and said, “Oh look! Someone’s having a picnic! That’s so cute!”. Phil said it was for me, pulled the ring out, and got down on one knee. He said many wonderful words and I was ecstatically and uncontrollably giggling, but managed to get a “yes!” in there. P: For me, the proposal was really the culmination of months of planning, excitement, and nerves. I made sure to speak to her parents to get their blessing. I talked with Olivia, one of JoAnna’s maids of honor, to make sure I had everything in mind that JoAnna would want. She gave me the excellent recommendation to hire a photographer to capture the event. On the first day, I had coordinated with the photographer to meet us at Andrew’s Bald, which was this clearing in the mountains with an excellent view. During the month leading up to the trip, I had been so nervous, but when we arrived at the clearing, I was the most at ease I had been in months. So I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She said yes. We popped some bubbly and enjoyed the moment.