Our story started eight years ago on a Friday night in Belmar, NJ. While we didn’t officially get together until 2016, we passed each other at parties from time to time due to our mutual friends, Gina and Ian. In 2016 at the start of the summer, Ian’s band played at the infamous PK Shamrocks in Belmar. I went to support Ian, unaware that Bill was also performing a set that night.

After we had met, Bill made a gesture to a scar on my arm that he suspected might be of similar origin to his. He was right, it was a scar from a shot I received when I had been adopted and brought to the States. To my surprise, Bill proceeded to pull up his sleeve to show a matching scar. He was also adopted! He was born in Bucaramanga, Colombia, and I was adopted from Guatemala. We knew this was something special.

Though we are opposites in many ways, we discovered how much we have in common. We both grew up at the shore, went to the same high school, were employed by the same company (and laid off by the same company haha), and have one sibling. Some of our favorite activities are lazy days watching movies and TV, going to concerts, and enjoying nightlife such as restaurants with good food and of course tequila (haha).

The day Bill asked me to be his girlfriend was when I told him I was moving to NYC. While this would be a challenge for a new couple, we made it work. I got to see the “beauty” of NJ transit, and Bill racked up mileage and toll fare on the "scenic" NJ turnpike.

After a fun year of living in NYC with my best friend Kristen, I moved back to NJ. I was excited about the future with a man who brought excitement, spontaneity, and security to my life.

In December 2019, we started the next chapter of our story when Bill bought us our house in Jackson. Together, we worked to make it a home with our puppy Copper.

In August 2022, we celebrated our 6th anniversary with takeout next Silver Lake in Belmar by the gazebo. A pizza from Federico’s that we used to have every Friday for lunch in high school. I knew he was being romantic for our anniversary but was shocked when he got down on one knee and proposed to me at sunset. As you know I said yes! Our next chapter has yet to be written but has never looked brighter.