Our story starts like any good rom-com does. Boy likes girl. Girl doesn't quite like boy. Girl and boy quickly become best friends. Girl gives boy a chance. Girl and boy fall in love. Only, this rom-com has never been seen before in theaters. Strap in: This is a good one. (At least, we think so.)

Cut to summer of 2017: Josh arrived at the US embassy in Santiago, Chile, at his final post in the Marine Security Guard Program.

As fate would have it, Alex arrived in Chile one month later to teach English at Villa Maria Academy and to work with a Chilean theatre company.

Their paths would've simply never crossed had it not been for Lauren Antosz, who, a class ahead of Alex at Notre Dame, was in Chile at the very same time working on a Fulbright. One day, Alex received a Facebook message request from Lauren. It looked something along the lines of... "Hey, I'm in Santiago and went to Notre Dame too. Let's be friends?" And so they were.

In their first coffee meetup, Lauren told Alex about the Marines she knew from the embassy. "They have an awesome house with a TV room and a pool!" Alex shook her head stubbornly. "I have no interest in meeting a bunch of Marines." But, Lauren persisted. (And good thing she did.)

One afternoon, Lauren showed up at the home where Alex was staying and told her, "We're going to the Marines' house, and I'm not taking no for an answer." "Fine, but I'm only staying for an hour," Alex retorted. And so they went.

Spoiler alert: Alex did, in fact, only stay for an hour. But in that hour, she met who she didn't realize at the time, would be her future husband.

Enter: Josh Deane. He was dressed head to toe in gray: a t-shirt and oversized sweatpants—just waking up after his eight-hour night shift at the embassy. Alex and Josh began talking, and they realized they had grown up 20 minutes away from each other: both natives of the Chicago suburbs. What were the odds?!

As time went on, Alex and Josh continued to spend more time together with their group of friends from the embassy. It was evident to those around them that they should be a couple, but when Josh would ask Alex to dinner, she'd say, "Sure! Who else is coming?" Ouch. Brutal.

Josh soon invited Alex to the Marine Corps Ball as his date, and she accepted. As they twirled around to, "I Want To Dance With Somebody," Alex thought to herself, "We have so much fun together. Maybe I should give him a chance."

And now, seven years later, we are so glad she did.

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