One night at Mivajo's (for those that don't know my parent's restaurant) my cousin, Caiti, came up to me asking if I would be interested in going on a date with Greg. I said, "Sure why not, but he has to actually ask me". That night Greg got my number from Caiti and asked me out to the Iron Pigs game that weekend. I still have the tan and green sundress I wore on that first date. We went to the game and didn't leave the AC because it was so hot. I ordered a 1 lb burger and finished it with a scoop of cookie dough ice cream. I just had to have the souvenir baseball hat bowl. I was mortified when Greg couldn't finish his ice cream, so I finished it for him. At some point in our conversation, I mentioned my love for mini golf, so we left the game early. Greg took no mercy on me, but I got the last laugh because as he was warning me to be careful of the water he fell in the pond! I remember laughing my ass off and it really helped to break the awkwardness of two teenagers on their first date. We ended the night with watching a movie back at Greg's house. I always wondered what he thought of me that night when I requested out of all his DVDs that we watch Hostel...

Greg and I made it official on December 28, 2011, but we would go through many of life's events over the next couple of years all while being long distance. Greg graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2014. I graduated from Franklin & Marshall in 2016. Greg moved to Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, TX for Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT), while I worked on my MBA in Philly. The plan was that Greg would graduate from UPT and when I was done with graduate school, we would move together to wherever he was stationed next. Timing would be perfect, but life rarely goes exactly as planned. At Greg's drop night, we found out he was going to be a FAIP (First Assignment Instructor Pilot). Instead of moving out of Del Rio, Greg would be instructing on the T-6 for 4 more years. That night was pretty rough since we needed to figure out a whole new plan considering Del Rio didn't have many job opportunities. And so began my job search in Texas. 13 interviews later, I was lined up to move to Houston, TX as a sales rep for Cigna. Greg and I were finally in the same state! In October 2017, I rescued our two cats, Kiki & Aella, from Hurricane Harvey. For those three years Greg and I made the trip between Houston and Del Rio (5.5 hours one way) almost every weekend. The most dedication I ever showed Greg was driving to Del Rio on a Friday after work for his fini flight (last flight) at Laughlin only to drive all the way back to Houston that same night so that I could make my 5 AM flight home for Christmas. Many people talk about how hard long distance is and I couldn't agree more. It only works with endless communication and grace for each other. We learned so much together and grew both as individuals and as a couple. I knew after nine years of craziness we could handle anything life threw at us!

Greg was so excited to find out he would be flying the F-16 and then went through about a year of training in TX and NM before we found out our next home would be Shaw AFB in Sumter, SC. We closed on our first home in January and Greg moved to SC in April. Luckily, he only had to spend 2 weeks in a hotel before our home was finished and ready for move-in. I was able to transfer within Cigna for another sales position covering all of NC and SC. Kiki, Aella and I road tripped from Houston to Sumter and spent our first night with Greg as a family in May! Of course, it took me months to buy all our furniture and admittedly our house is still not totally put together, but it is so incredible to finally be living together. Nothing beats after a long day falling asleep next to your best friend.

In July we were flying home for Greg's cousin's wedding and his Dad planned a nice dinner for Greg's birthday. The day before we flew home Greg said I should maybe ask Lissi (my cousin) to get her nails done with me when I got home. That morning he kept asking me what I was wearing, and he was worried about only having jeans for dinner because he forgot to bring home dress pants. I remember texting my friend Jen and saying I have a feeling Greg might propose tonight. She was like "No way! He would have asked me about it first and I feel it will be closer to the holidays since that's your anniversary". I thought that made sense and I knew Jen was away for her friend's bridal shower that day. While Lissi and I were getting our nails done, she also mentioned going to her in-laws for dinner that night. When we got to the Hotel Bethlehem that evening dinner was wonderful. I was enjoying my dessert when everyone started rushing me. At one point Greg's Dad said that if I wanted to get pictures of all of us, we needed to to go outside now before the sun set and we lost "natural light". I was like why the heck would he mention that? I said I wanted to use the restroom first (which is upstairs in the hotel). Everyone wouldn't let me and said we needed to get pictures now. Greg led me out to the lobby and said, "You are going to have more people in your pictures than you thought" and pointed to the mezzanine where all my family and friends stood. When I turned around, he was on one knee and we were both shaking, him from nerves and me from the double espresso I just had. Then he said, "Vanessa Duarte, I know you have been waiting for 9 years, but will you marry me?" I said "YES!!!!!" and he followed my one request to have a photographer there. We spent the rest of the night enjoying desserts and cocktails with our loved ones and of course taking lots of pictures. Our parents surprised us with a suite at the hotel and it was a night we will never forget!