Petar and I remember crossing paths for the first time in 2009, the summer before our Sophomore year of college at UC Santa Cruz.
We were at a party at “The Penguin House” which I had recently moved into with some friends from Freshman year. By way of mutual friends, Petar wound up at the party as well.
I remember noticing Petar eating my bagels out of the pantry. After I let him have it for eating my food, our first conversation was him insisting that someone had given him permission. I noticed how tall and confident he was. Petar can still remember the white dress that I was wearing and the style of my hair.
Over the next year we got to know one another as friends, seeing each other at school and events. However, it wasn’t until Petar came to my hometown of Chico for Labor Day Weekend in 2010 that we realized we were developing more than a friendship and started dating.
A few months later we both remember a couple of weeks where it was feeling nearly impossible to not let “I love you” slip out in conversation. Being nervous to be the first one to say it, we were both relieved when Petar finally got the courage and said it. We laughed talking about the irony of us both anxiously waiting for the words to come out.
We continued to grow personally and in our relationship, and graduated college together in 2012. From there we started a journey of living around California, moving from Santa Cruz to Burlingame, to Anaheim and now in San Rafael-- we learned that we could make anywhere our home as long as we were together.
From a tiny studio apartment, to living in the same complex as our best friends, we have had quite the range of living experiences. Through these times we learned that we could completely rely on one another. We love the balance that we find in each other. While I have always been a planner, Petar taught me to be more spontaneous and brought out my adventurous side.
We have been fortunate to go on many unforgettable trips together– with our opposite skill sets making us the perfect travel partners for each other. At times we stopped along the side of a road (or bridge) to literally smell the roses. (Nowadays we stop so Petar can take photos of the roses.)
As I have embraced spontaneity, Petar has grown to appreciate the value of planning and efficiency. He is now an avid list maker and even started a virtual, shared shopping list for us to use. (Yay!) His tech savvy nature combined with my innate organized ways has resulted in us being an amazing team.
In June of 2017 we were away on a weekend trip to Coronado Island in San Diego. We were with our dear friends the Vogels celebrating Petar’s birthday.
It was a quick weekend trip, so our big night was planned for Saturday to get all dressed up and go to dinner and celebrate. Petar let us know before the trip that he had talked to someone at the hotel and that we were going to be able to take a tour of the Turret, a historical part of Hotel del Coronado.
At the top of the Turret, after I was done asking the tour guide a billion questions, we went outside to take photos on the balcony. I was completely distracted by the incredible view and a bride walking across the hotel grounds. As I was excitedly pointing her out, I didn’t notice that the cameras had turned to Petar and I. I felt Petar kiss the back of my head, and turning around to look at him, I noticed a red box in his hand resting on the ledge.
The video shows the rest from there– from shock, to crying, to drooling, and some swearing. Petar pulled off the biggest surprise of my life.
We are now counting down the days until we make it official on August 11th, 2018. We cannot wait to celebrate our love and kick-off our next chapter together in an epic way!
