It is often said that there are two sides to every story and somewhere in between lies the truth. This is not the case with our story as it has been written by me, Alice. Therefore I can assure you that my side is the absolute truth. But, because this is the celebration of our wedding, I will include Jessica's (less accurate) point of view when applicable or when forced/ threatened by her to do so.

I would say our love story is not dissimilar to the average Disney or Hallmark movie… you know The  Princess and the Frog or Aladdin while Jess would argue that our love story is more like the Netflix series I Am a Stalker or a crazy episode of Dateline. In fact, Jess would have you believe that it is the story of a shy girl minding her own business (Jess) who meets and is then stalked for two years by a girl from the bar (me). Jess will tell you that I creepily visited her regularly at the restaurant where she worked and even took my friend and our Maid of Honor, Summer Holguin over to see the girl I was endlessly talking about. Jess better also tell you that I was an extremely good tipper and always requested to sit in her section. I helped Jess get a job where I worked so we could get to know each other, constantly hit on her, lied about pre-planned trips to the Bay Area in order to have an excuse to spend time with her, interrupted her dates…

Ok, so when she puts it that way it does sound pretty Dateline-ish. But it's a matter of perspective.

I assure you, that this is the truth. Our story is simply the story of a lovely lady (me) who fell in love with a cold-hearted woman (Jess) who, although also in-love, had a hard exterior that wouldn’t allow her to give away her heart. Sadly, Jess turned down true love for years; then, upon succumbing to the magical love power of the lovely lady Alice, the evil Jess came to her senses, her hard exterior melted away and she got married to Alice (that’s where you the reader comes in ‘cause you are coming to our wedding) and lived happily ever after. See? Disney movie. But I'll let you decide. Here is our story:

Jessica and I were first briefly introduced by our Bridesman, Bradley Kendall. Bradley and I had been hanging out at my apartment in Long Beach, California and decided to walk a few blocks down the street to a local spot called Sweetwater Saloon to play some pool. Jessica was sitting in her usual location, speaking to the bartender and sipping a drink. When I saw her I thought she was gorgeous and we both instantly fell in love.

Jess: I didn't fall in love.

Bradley warned me to be leery of Jess' sweet demeanor as she would break my heart. (Which she managed to do for the next two years).

Jessica would have you believe that the first time we met she was hanging out with her college friend and our Bridesmaid, Kellie Hall, at Sweetwater Saloon celebrating Kellie's graduation. This was actually our second meeting.

Jessica introduced me to Kellie and I proceeded to invite Kellie and Jessica back to my apartment to hang out after having talked to them at the bar for a while. Kellie knew I was interested in Jess and coaxed her into coming back to my place with her. Jess will tell you she didn’t want to go because she didn't know me well, “stranger danger". The truth is she was probably so attracted to me that she didn't trust herself around me in my home. Jessica  reluctantly came over, but refused to sit down the entire time because she knew she would be unable to keep her hands off of me...

Ok, Jess just said that our parents will be reading this, so I have to take back the two lines above, even if they are completely accurate, so pretend you didn't read that.

Anyway, back to our story. Kellie tried to set us up that evening to no avail. Jess wasn't having it. Her feelings for me were too strong that she didn't know what to do with them.
Jess said, “no”… it was “stranger danger".

 In Jess' view , she began seeing me more frequently at Sweetwater shortly after our second meeting. The truth is I would walk by Sweetwater each evening just to see if Jessica was there and, if not, I would  simply go home. Ok, that's a bit stalker-ish, but it was true love like a Hallmark movie.

Jess was mostly at the bar on what were called, “Well-fare Wednesday's" which featured free pool and $2 well drinks. We would often both be meeting up with Bradley and Jess and I became good friends (who were madly in-love with each other).

Jess says she wasn't in love.

Jessica remembers me approaching her at Sweetwater often to say “hello” and lingering around her, especially if she was out on a date. If she has told you I was trying to break up her dates, she may not be that far from the truth. But, that’s not creepy, is it? Maybe that’s why her roommates asked her if I was that “crazy stalker chick" when we went out to dinner as “friends" (who were totally in love with each other).

Jess says she wasn't in love.

This part is totally like a Disney or Hallmark movie, not stalker-ish at all. At one point Jess so wanted to prove that she wasn't completely in-love with me that she began introducing me to other single women at the bar to, supposedly, make me leave her alone. This was most likely to prove to herself that she could live her life without me. You guessed it, Jess was playing hard to get.

Jess says she wasn’t playing hard to get.

Anyway, I did date a couple of these women , but only did that to make Jessica jealous (and boy did it work). But, you'd be surprised. Jessica is a great actress. Even with her undying love for me at that point, she was able to act as if she didn't care. Like she didn't care at all. Almost like she didn't even notice. Jess is just so talented.

 Jess says she didn't care.

Oh, this last part is so romantic. It's like Snow white… without the snow and dwarfs and the man prince or poison. Now that would make a good Dateline: “Lesbians, 7 little men, poison a man prince and a cat. Next on Dateline". But I digress.

Jessica will tell you that I hit on her relentlessly over the course of the next couple years. The truth I was simply verbalizing to her the positive physical and intellectual attributes I appreciated about her on a regular basis (See, I'm sweet and lovely like a Disney princess).

The cold hearted Jessica (who couldn't understand the depth of love she was feeling for Alice) had gotten fed up with my affirmations of her physical and intellectual qualities and threatened that, if I continued to “hit on “ her, we could no longer be friends.

I told her that her ultimatum was not fair. I had gotten so used to praising her positive qualities that I couldn’t simply stop at the drop of a hat. I told her “that is not fair, you have to give me 3 chances" to which Jessica claims to have reluctantly agreed. (She sent me an email with her erroneous side of the story which I am including in this true account).

As asking Jessica out had become quite a habit over the years, I “blew through” (her words, not mine) the first two chances. Before my third chance, a mutual friend of ours named Doug encouraged Jess to “go for it because she didn't have anything to lose". Thanks Doug?! I am not sure what that means or if I should be offended. Then, as luck would have it, Jessica needed a ride to the train station to go to the Bay Area to attend a concert with Bridesmaid, Kellie Hall. “What a coincidence!” I said to Jess. “I can do you one better than a ride to the train station. I just happen to be driving up to see my parents this weekend. I can give you a ride up and back.” (Again, I am such a wonderful person.)

Jess agreed to the ride and I immediately hung up the phone and called my mother to ask her if she was going to be home that weekend because I was coming up last minute and bringing “a friend" (who was totally in love with me).

Jess: I wasn't in love.

After two years of chasing Jess (who was playing hard to get), and a six hour ride to the Bay Area from Southern California, I made my third attempt to ask Jess out and she agreed to date me. Who knew ten years later we would own a home together, have adopted two more children and be celebrating our marriage with our closest friends and family?

See, I told you it was like a Disney movie.