Our Story as told by javier
Danielle and I met in 2007. To put things in perspective, her mom dropped her off for what was the first time I had a female friend over to hang out which at that age may be considered as more of a kids play date. This was a time before Instagram and Facebook, but in social media’s defense, Myspace was how I built the courage to introduce myself.
As we progressed through high school, we grew and enjoyed each other’s company through homecomings, proms, extracurriculars, and family road trips. As life took its course, we faced the first of many forks in the road standing at the doorstep of going off to college. While Danielle’s first choice was Washington, mine California, we both ended up choosing Mizzou. Somehow we both managed to end up in the same Dorm, on the same floor. Even with this convenience the first few months were some of the toughest, and only thanks to Danielle did we meet several of the guys and gals who will be standing by our sides on our wedding day. Fast-forward some more and we end up at another big step in our young lives which posed its inherent distance as Danielle went on to graduate school, and I looked for my first job.
She went an hour north to Kirksville, Missouri to become a Truman Bull Dog and I to Houston, Texas. The next chapter was not as easy, and quite frankly was a distant time in our story. Second semester of graduate school was brutal, and “making big money after undergrad” wasn’t as baller as I thought it would be. Our childhood homes slowly started to shift, family moved, and we found ourselves in uncharted territory. I will skip to the good part, but not before acknowledging how important this time was to the person’s we are able to be for each other today. Plug a cliché or a wise man’s words for the takeaway, but the friends we made during that time, standing with us on our big day are testament of the importance of that chapter in our story.
Fast-forward to a period of long distance Midwest lovers, and then to my favorite part of our story – California. We wanted to start our lives together in the same city, but what made sense? Danielle to Chicago? Us back to Dallas? Acceptance letters came back, and it was nothing but west coast in our future. Between Seattle, Portland, Bay Area, and Los Angeles, we had a tough decision to make for where we wanted to rendezvous.
While following up a long distance relationship with moving cross country sounds dicey, we hedged our bets and loaded a U-Haul trailer to the Golden State. We eventually settled in southern California, where we enjoyed family, a constant forecast of 70 degrees and sunny, and fresh produce year round. This time was important for us, as we created a new set of memories with each other in our adult lives. While you never make it to the beach as much as you’d like, we had certainly found our beach. Scroll down to the engagement story for the next part.
So where are we at now? While we definitely got downgraded on the weather, we are happily nestled in the Houston Heights. We came down here for my field of work, and Danielle has found herself happily working in a pediatric clinic working four 10-hour days and referring to Thursdays as Fridays. We are excited for all the things to come in our lives and blessed for all of the memories and people we have been gifted thus far. We can’t wait for our worlds to collide and to celebrate our wedding with you all.
The proposal as told by Danielle
MAY 17, 2019
I’ve always said I’d know when Javier was going to propose to me. I was SO wrong!
Javier was finishing finals and the school year was coming to an end for both of us, so we decided to take a trip to Northern Cali since we’d never been. Javier was planning the trip and I was just happy to be along for the ride. He had thrown out the idea of driving up the coast, although it was 30 minutes longer, the scenery would be beautiful. I was perfectly fine with that.
We made it to Big Sur and pulled off to catch the sunset. If you know Javier, you know he dabbles in photography. One of his favorite scenes to capture is nature, so when Javier started setting up his camera I thought it was totally normal. He wanted to take pictures of the coast and I’m thinking we were just going to get some cute couple pics for the gram, or so I thought…
The coast is extremely windy, so I was messing around pretending I was Beyoncé, while Javier was running around behind me, probably nervous, setting everything up. I remained completely oblivious. Once Javier finished setting up the camera, we stood together, facing the ocean with our backs towards the camera. Javier reached down and grabbed my hand then faced me. He then grabbed my other hand, and I’m thinking, “weird, this isn’t how we normally take pictures, but ok”. He started talking about our life together and the future and I suddenly realized what was happening! He got down on one knee and popped the question. Of course I said, ‘YES’! We captured a few pictures before heading towards Monterrey where we spent the night and celebrated with some tasty burgers from Sur Burger.
We decided to keep it to ourselves through the weekend, only sharing the news with Noah once we arrived in San Jose, who treated us to a celebratory dinner. Although it was SO hard to keep to myself, I’m glad we did. We got to enjoy our first days of engagement just between the 2 of us and not glued to our phones.
I look back and it will always be a special day. Javier chose me and I chose him. I wish I could rewind time and go back to this moment. Everything happened so quick and before we know it October will be here.
35°51’14.0 N 121°24’42.2 W