We got married!

In 2012, the Heintz family traveled to Spain, where Melissa had previously studied abroad as a college student. While on this trip, Melissa created a travel vlog, uploaded it to YouTube and forgot about it for four years. Meanwhile, in 2016, Juan Carlos had just returned to Spain after studying English in Boston, Massachusetts. He was looking for videos of Americans speaking English in Spain and unexpectedly came across Melissa's travel vlog. He loved the video and reached out online to thank her. Fascinated by each others' native language and culture, they quickly connected, exchanging more than 100 emails over the course of 10 months. When Melissa traveled to Spain in late 2016 to walk the Camino de Santiago, she asked Juan Carlos to meet in Madrid. He was about to embark on a two-year journey to practice optometry in Kenya, but he pushed back his departure date for the chance to meet her. They enjoyed each other's company in Madrid, but parted ways while Juan Carlos went to Kenya and Melissa went back to the United States. In 2018, Melissa asked Juan Carlos if he was interested in climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. She flew to Africa where they reconnected. Their relationship continued to grow while going on a safari in Masai Mara, Kenya, climbing (and both successfully summiting!) Mt. Kilimanjaro, and relaxing on the beach in Zanzibar. By the end of the trip, they knew they wanted to be together. Over discussions in Rome, Italy, they decided that Juan Carlos would relocate to Washington, D.C. so that they could continue growing their relationship.

After Juan Carlos finished his Fall 2019 semester at Catholic University, right before Christmas, we decided to spend a long weekend in New York City. Walking through Central Park on a very cold December morning, Juan Carlos stopped at a bench and asked Melissa if she would marry him. She said yes :) That evening, we popped a bottle of champagne and celebrated our engagement at the restaurant One if by Land, Two if by Sea, voted one of the most romantic restaurants in the world. The restaurant operates inside a historic, land-marked carriage house built in 1767 that once belonged to Vice President Aaron Burr. More people are said to have announced their engagement here than any other restaurant in Manhattan.

01.05.2016 - Virtual meeting 10.06.2016 - In-person meeting in Madrid, Spain 08.16.2018 - Melissa travels to Africa 09.14.2018 - Officially started dating 08.09.2019 - Juan Carlos moves to Washington, D.C. 12.21.2019 - Engaged 03.10.2020 - Married

Copy and paste this link in your browser: https://youtu.be/zEMLj5He868