Featured on our wedding website as Our Story:
Our
Story
Thanks for being nosy!
The short version of our story is:
It was
It wasn't
It was
It really was
and now it is.
We met
Rachel:
I will never forget the first time I saw Jesus. I was in Lubbock with Gabby
(bridesmaid) because she was having her bridal portraits taken. We went to St.
Joseph's in Lubbock with her family. As we were leaving church there was this
orange 2011 Dodge Challenger parked outside with a cowboy of a man leaning on
it. Turns out he was a friend of Gabby's family and would be joining us for
lunch. At lunch he didn't speak one word to me! Today he claims he was too shy
to say anything.
Jesus:
I was standing outside St. Joseph's church saying "hi" to Veronica's
sister Gabby when I met her friend Rachel. This was the first time I saw her
and I could tell she liked my car. Then we ate at the Estrada's house, we DID
talk at dinner. She found out I was a farmer and all the other good things
about me.
We
Danced
Rachel:
The first time Jesus and I actually spoke was 2 months later at Gabby's
wedding. He asked me to dance and I said "yes" Or was it the other
way around? Yep...I asked him to open my beer at Gabby's rehearsal dinner. He
did. And then we danced at the wedding. Did I ask him to dance at the wedding
too?
Jesus:
At the rehearsal we said "hi" and talked for a little bit. We agreed
on a dance at the wedding.
Rachel was sitting at a table behind me at the wedding. I kept glancing back at
her because we had agreed to a dance. I kept waiting for her to be free for me
to ask her. But she was so busy with friends and dancing already, I almost ran
out of time! I finally got my chance and we danced to 80's music. I really do
not know how to dance, she laughed at me, but we kept dancing. She was ok with
the fact that I didn't know how to dance.
We
Traveled
Rachel: Obviously we were
in a long distance relationship: San Antonio to Olton and Dallas to Olton. But
it was our trip to Vegas that defined our future. We drove 12 hours in the car
with each other and didn't drive each other crazy and we behaved ourselves in
Sin City (no we did not get married there). That was a true test and I think we
passed with flying colors.
In Thanksgiving we went
to Cloudcroft, New Mexico with Jesus' brother and had a wonderful time together
as well.
Jesus:
One month following the wedding, Rachel came to see me in Olton. I introduced
her to my family. That was the first time she travelled to see me. The next
time we traveled together to Vegas, where I had planned to propose but instead
I figured I jumped the gun and decided to buy her a diamond ring as a promise
ring.
The next time we travelled, we travelled with the family. We travelled to New
Mexico with my brother, who is my best man. We had our first escape with
family. We all really enjoyed the snow.
He
proposed
Rachel:
The moment after Jesus proposed still give me a warm fuzzy feeling. However,
the moments leading up to it drove me crazy!! On our long phone calls he kept
saying he wanted to marry me and painted a beautiful picture of our future. I
was ready to start immediately! But I refused to change anything until I had an
engagement ring. When we went to Vegas he took me into a diamond store and
asked me to pick out an engagement ring. I didn't see anything I liked at the
store, so I learned I would need to customize my ring. Poor guy, didn't know
what he was getting into educating me on diamonds. Once I realized exactly what
I wanted in a ring, I share those wants with Jesus and waited...I waited for
what seemed like forever! I knew what I wanted wasn't cheap so I was as patient
as I could be. But when Valentines Day came around and I didn't have a ring yet
I started with antsy.
When Jesus came to town for my sisters birthday I knew he was going to propose.
He wanted me to get all dressed up for dinner, so I knew something had to be
going on. But he wasn't acting weird like most girls say men act before they
propose. So we posed by my fireplace for some pictures before dinner and he
hands be a Victoria Secret bag. When I open it to find some clothes that were
mixed up with Veronica's clothes on our New Mexico trip all my hope for a
proposal tonight is lost. :( Then he hands me a glass swan vase with a red rose
and I thank him because it is very nice and romantic. Then I see my dream
diamond ring on a red ribbon with the swan and I look down to find him on one
knee. **Here's where warm and fuzzy feelings begin** He asks to marry me, I say
"Yes" and then I text, tweet, call friends, etc. Duh...priorities!!
Jesus:
I had been telling Rachel for over month that I didn't have a ring yet so I
couldn't propose. I had been dragging it on for over a month which I could tell
she didn't really like. My plan was to propose on Valentines Day, but it was
too obvious and she's way too smart for that so I had to be sneaky. I waited
until March, I went to see her on one of our planned visits. We had been taking
about seeing a jeweler for rings and we even made an appointment to see him in
the morning.
I made it to Dallas Friday evening. I waited for her to get off work and
suggested we go out to eat.
She got semi-dressed up and probably thought I was going to propose at the
restaurant. But I told her I had brought her a gift, it was in a Victoria
Secret bag. In the bag was some clothes she left behind in Olton. I set the
camera to take a picture of her opening this bag because I knew she thought it
was the ring. When she saw the clothes she was sad and happy because she wanted
those clothes back. Before this, I did practice recording the proposal on my
camera. So she was disappointed. But I said "I got you something
else" I had bought a swan with a rose on the back, I had taken the bow off
the swan and put the ring on it. As soon as she noticed the swan I hit one knee
and asked her to marry me. It was surprising she didn't see the ring yet, she
was concentrating on the swan and the rose.
And that's how I proposed. Her big green eyes and her smile was more than
enough to tell me that I had done a good job surprising her.
We
Moved
Rachel: Well technically
I moved. I moved from Dallas to Olton in a few short months. This move was
something Jesus's sister, Juanita, asked if I would do to be sure I liked
living in the country. I honestly didn't think it was necessary. I still don't
think it was necessary. Besides being together in the planning process of our
wedding and not having a stressful job, this move is more convenient than
necessary. I already knew I loved the area, the small town and the weather. I
knew I loved his family and the people of West Texas. So while I'm happy to be
here, to me it isn't a 'test' period.
Jesus:
We realized that this wedding was going to have to be supplied by us. In order
to save money we moved! She moved to Olton so that we could save money on
driving and all that stuff. We made a really big step towards our future life
together and I'm really happy she did.
