The Background Story

On September 17th 2009 I moved to Seville, Spain to teach english. As a recent college graduate I wasn't ready for a 9-5 and I really wanted to improve my Spanish, live abroad, blah blah blah, typical story. Almost immediately, I met Alejandro after responding to his online advertisement wanting a language exchange. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that concept, in Spain it is very common for people to do an "intercambio" which is when two people meet and spend part of the time speaking in Spanish, and part of the time in English. I normally never would have responded to guys... but I was alone in Spain with no friends and bored! So I answered a few ads and met with 3 guys (all ended up being really nice and normal).

Ale was the first guy I met with and we hit it off right away. Within a few weeks we were together and have had a great year and a half so far.

A few weeks ago we were all packed and ready for a romantic weekend in Marseille, France. We were really excited to go and at 4:00 am we woke up to go to the airport. But destiny didn't want it that way. Spanish air traffic controllers were on strike and our flight was canceled. Already wide awake, we decided that we still wanted to get out of Seville and caught the first train to his parent's beach town, El Puerto de Santa María. Once there, we took the ferry to Cadiz, the capital, for a day trip.

Once we were there, I knew something was up. My normally laid back, no rush boyfriend wanted desperately to arrive to the beach to "take a walk" before the predicted rain showers that afternoon. So, I power walked to keep up with him through the quaint streets of beautiful Cadiz. The day was actually beautiful, about 65 degrees and sunny. We got to the beach and were the only ones there. We sat down in the sand by the pier and looked out at the fishing boats.

And then he asked me to marry him. I said yes, and like that, I was engaged. That's the romantic story, and now comes the fun part and the purpose of this blog. Planning two weddings. A Spanish wedding at the beginning of June, and an American wedding at the beginning of August. We are young, don't have a huge budget, and don't know much about wedding planning.

Follow my journey, give me advice, tell me I'm crazy... Who knows, maybe this blog will even help someone plan their Spanish American weddings one day! At the very least it should provide you with a laugh...