how we met
Although Stephanie and Luis attended Lawton Chiles Middle School together in Miami, FL, they did not officially meet until 9th grade at American Senior High School in Mr. Clarke’s overcrowded American history class. Since American High is a very big school, their “friendship” was very minimal. Stephanie was involved in many extra-curricular activities and academics. Luis was solely focused on his baseball career. After high school, both moved away from home. Stephanie went to school at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL and Luis went to play baseball in Jackson, Mississippi and then Owensboro, Kentucky.
As fate would have it, the summer brought both home to Miami, FL where they did not reconnect just yet. In December of 2012, Steph and Loui causally ran into each other at a mutual friend’s house party. They hadn’t seen each other since high school but had remained “in touch” via social media. There are three sides to every story: her side, his side, and the truth. We’ll let you speak to the happy couple for all the juicy details from this night. (Side note: Steph would not stop talking to Loui about her family’s summer vacation in Kauai.)
how they asked
Let’s fast forward because now Steph and Loui have been together for over four years. It did not take long for them to hit it off. They have not only pushed each other to accomplish and reach new goals but they’ve molded each other into better versions of one another. They’ve traveled to many parts of the U.S. (including Kauai in the Summer of 2016!), Canada and around the Caribbean together, and were getting ready to set sail Greece for the summer. But before that Steph had planned a quick mini-getaway to Cancun, Mexico to celebrate the completion of her Master’s in Education and Loui’s new job in education… Little did she know, they would return home as an engaged couple.
Anyone and everyone that knows Steph, knows she LOVES the beach and anything that has to do with the ocean. Anyone and everyone that knows Loui, knows he LOVES fishing and anything that has to do with the ocean. So naturally, this proposal was bound to take place in such a setting. The day of, the couple had spent the wet/rainy day at the all-inclusive pool enjoying the unlimited drinks. Due to the weather, Steph hadn’t thought twice about venturing off to the beach (lucky for Loui as it was in his plans for later that night). When the time came, the couple set out for a causal walk on the beach, nothing out of the ordinary about it, they started walking in one direction and then decided to change directions for a pier they saw in sight.
After lollygagging on the pier, gawking at the water and rocks beneath, Loui began to sincerely detail how proud he was of Steph for all her academic accomplishments and how much he loved her. He dug in his pocket, got on one knee, and opened a velvet black box with the most beautiful ring inside of it and asked, “Will you marry me, Stephanie April Padron?”
Before he could even get the entire sentence out, Steph was nervously giggling and “omg-ing,” but somehow managed to get a “YES, OMG, of course!” out.