After seven months of being in the country, Joaquin met a group of mutual friends at a Switchfoot concert. Then that next Tuesday, that group of friends invited Joaquin to attend the young adult's ministry, the Porch, at church with them. It was through Watermark Community Church that we met!

Our first meeting was at Hawaiian Bros after the Porch one night, and after that we just continued to see each other here and there at church events, group gatherings, and post-porch hangouts. Joaquin asked for a date TWICE before Brittany agreed and finally said yes. After we began going out, we made it official on January 10th, 2023! Our dating season was full of great moments and learning situations, where we grew in our faith together. We experienced amazing and/or trialing things together like jumping out of planes, Merge (a couple's pre-marriage class at Watermark), concerts, broadway musicals, hiking, traveling, skiing, two-stepping, a car accident, an appendix removal, and more. We have shared laughter, tears, hugs, and memories in our time of dating and engagement season.

Our proposal: Throughout dating season, Joaquin made an effort every month on our anniversary to write a letter and gift little Colombian coffee candies. He also used a sunflower wax stamp to seal every letter, which has been an important element in our dating and engagement seasons. Little did Brittany know that the first letter of every card would then form a phrase with the help of a clue on engagement day – "Will you marry me?" On the day of, after eating at Maggiano's (where our original first date was), Joaquin surprised Brittany with a setup at a nearby park and wooden bridge with the help of friends and family. It was decorated with lights and sunflower strands strung across the bridge. A small wooden chest sat in the middle with all the letters inside, meant to be opened by the small key that Joaquin had given Brittany a month before. Inside were all the letters, and after figuring out the message, Joaquin popped the question and Brittany of course said yes!

We are so excited for this life together, come what may. Thank you to all of the support we have had along the way, and for the love of our friends and family. You guys rock!