How We Met
Jeff and I met in 2006 during undergraduate studies at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, and we both have slightly different but connected stories on how we met.
I was playing sand volleyball (a typical San Marcos activity) with friends (and my current boyfriend) at my apartment. My friend, Will, invited some others to join us, and Jeff was one such friend. Jeff and I met and exchanged names, and while I thought he was attractive and fun, I was dating someone at the time, so we simply became friends. But as any story goes, there are always two sides.
While Jeff agrees with the above on how we officially met one another, he tells our story a different way, and it always starts out with how lucky he is, and believe me, he’s the luckiest person I’ve ever met (drawings, bingo, you name it!). When Jeff first came to the school, he said that he selected three of the most beautiful girls on campus, two of which were in his classes, but one he randomly saw walking down the stairs by the history building. This girl was me, and while I didn’t see him, and he didn’t know my name, he always said he just knew when saw me. As time went by, Jeff actually took the other two girls on dates, but they didn’t seem to work out, and he didn’t see me again.
One day, Jeff was invited by a friend, Will, to play volleyball with him and some others. Jeff knew Will from high school but had not spoken to him for quite some time when he received the invitation, but he decided to catch up with him and maybe even meet some new people. As Jeff walked up to the volleyball court he was surprised not only to find everyone waiting for him to be the final person to complete the teams but also shocked to see me, the girl he saw outside the history building. He asked Will if I was single, and he found out that not only was I dating someone, but that my boyfriend was there playing volleyball with us. Jeff said that this didn’t deter him, but I’m sure it made it harder, and from there, we simply became friends.
My boyfriend and I dated on and off and eventually our relationship ended, while Jeff and I became friends, and then better friends, but it wasn’t until Halloween of 2007 that I invited him to Austin (me a lion and him a doctor) that we finally had our first kiss. It was midnight in the middle of downtown Austin, and he looked me in the eyes, picked me up and kissed me in front of everyone.
From there, two friends embarked on a series of adventures that turned into the love of lifetime, and today he is not just a friend. He is my best friend. And I get to spend the rest of my life with him.
how they asked
Jeff has always had a case of wanderlust, and him and I have been blessed enough to travel to some of the most beautiful places in this world together. In spite of us being really busy this year and especially these past few months, he pretty much insisted that we go somewhere abroad and that we do it soon. I wasn’t sure from a timing perspective with everything we had going on, but he convinced me that it would be good to get away, and when everything was cleared through my job, we set our sights on Spain. There were affordable flights into Madrid and out of Barcelona, but we also wanted to choose an in-between city where we could relax, since we knew there would be a lot to see in both Madrid and Barcelona. We added the island of Majorca to our itinerary, and Jeff planned this leg of the trip addition to Madrid, while I planned Barcelona (when we travel, we usually divvy up the cities from a planning perspective).
Madrid included sight-seeing at the royal palace, heading to Toledo for a day trip, taking quite a few trips to the Mercado de San Miguel to try the local cuisine, and much more since we typically go-go-go on our trips. From there we were off to Majorca where we stayed at a beachside resort outside of Palma. We thoroughly enjoyed relaxing, soaking up the sun and taking in the gorgeous views of the Mediterranean. On the last day in Majorca, I took the opportunity to get that mani/pedi I completely did not have time for before embarking on our Spanish adventure. For this day Jeff had planned a coastal road trip around the island that I was so looking forward to, because some of mine and Jeff’s best travel memories include our travels between destinations. (Jeff and I once flew over 15 hours to Melbourne to drive 4 plus hours along the Great Ocean Road to visit the 12 Apostles and then return back to Melbourne the same day.)
We drove out of Palma and headed to Andratx where we stopped and had lunch at a small cafe in the town square. From there we took the road that winds through the Tramuntana mountains and provides amazing coastal views of the big blue Mediterranean. We stopped several times for scenic photo opportunities and continued on to Estellencs and Banyalbufar, the latter featuring terraced hillsides. Our next stop was the Mirador de Ses Ànimes, a 16th century watchtower with panoramic views of the coast, and then we headed on to our second to last stop, the town of Valledemossa, where we had drinks at a local cafe and window-shopped the boutiques (although I did buy a small glass giraffe for €1). And last but not least, we headed to our final destination, which was quite a surprise.
The Archduke Ludwig Salvador’s former home, Son Marroig, was breathtaking to say the least, between the gardens, the house (turned museum) and the marble temple overlooking the water. Very few people were there so the experience was quite intimate.
We walked through the house, and on the second floor we walked out onto a balcony that overlooked the marble temple and the gorgeous coastline. We stood out on the balcony together, took in the view and we drank champagne while time stood still.
He was standing behind me when he told me, “I love you,” and I turned around to see him get down on one knee and ask me to marry him.
And of course, I said yes!
