Our Love Story (narrated by Nadia)

The most precious gift is least expected; And just like that you walked into my life. I didn't even know what I've been missing... A feeling "I am at home" when in your arms.

How it all began? Was it magic that brought us together, was it an answer to our prayers? And the answer is yes and yes!!!! Let me take you on a journey which brought us to where we are right now preparing to celebrate our love with you - people so dear to our hearts!

That's how it started... Year 2022 before we met turned out to be truly a difficult one. I lost my sweet kitty Darcy, who had been with me for 14 years-most of my life here in US, and then a few months later my mom passed away unexpectedly. The world crumbled beneath my feet, and I thought it was the worst year of my life. But December 31^st surprised me with an unexpected gift, my beloved Daniel. Little did I know on that day that I met “the one and only"! I had already planned to sell everything before traveling the world full time, and all of a sudden it didn't seem like such a great idea... Speaking of making plans, and God changing them... I am so happy "He" did!

For our first date on January 1^st we went ice skating. It was so romantic! He held my hand and it felt really good. As we were walking to a restaurant, some stranger walked over to us and said “Don’t break up!" I don’t know about you, but I pay attention to the little signs from the Spirit (God), and I knew this was a sign (first of many)!

Sometime later we were driving, and Daniel quoted a verse from the Bible. I was genuinely surprised and smiled, because my mom always wanted me to study it, but I was resisting! And now here was this charming man quoting the Bible... I laughed and said "My mom would have liked you!". As soon as I said that,I felt as if she was telling me: "I sent him to you"! But we were just starting to get to know each other, and I didn't want to get too excited and create expectations rather than just staying in the present moment. On the same day I got the news that my apartment was flooded!!! This meant that I could not leave Colorado just yet, had to cancel my plans and to return my one-way ticket to New York scheduled for February 7th. By the time I dealt with the flooding, I realized that there was another reason I had to stay: if I left, I would miss him and would always ask myself “What if I stayed? What if he was the one? ”And so I made a choice my heart was pretty happy about!

As we continued seeing each other, at the end of our 2^nd month of dating he asked me to be his girlfriend. Yay! The following month we decided to take our first long road trip. Daniel wanted to go to California, but I have already taken this trip 3 times and was looking for something different. I have a few really good friends living in Tampa, FL, so I convinced him to go there. I didn't know that his sister Andrea lived in Tampa, and also that his parents would be visiting her and her newborn baby Analia at the time we were planning to be there. Daniel's parents had no idea that he was seeing someone. And so, he casually mentioned to them that he was coming to Florida with a girlfriend while filling up gas on our way . Oh my! Is this how I was going to meet Daniel's parents? I must admit, I was really nervous. But once I met them, I felt better because they made me feel so welcomed! Thank you, Cathy and Andrew, my future mom and dad-in-law!

Then a few months later at the end of summer another chapter started as we took a month-long trip to Europe. I thought it might had been a good test for us, since we would be spending so much time together. We visited Azores, Lisbon, Porto and Albuferia in Portugal, Barcelona in Spain and Paris in France. Such a great time it was! And fortunately, we still liked each other very much after our trip! Daniel showed me over and over again how important I was to him and how much he cared. Everything seemed like it was falling into its place. For quite a long time I couldn't find where I belonged in this world while moving around, thinking that it might be this state or another, or maybe even somewhere far away. But when I met Daniel, who is the most caring, wonderful, smart, ambitious, handsome, loving man I have ever met; I felt that I have found my place. When I am in his arms, I feel at home. He is my home. I feel so blessed and happy that I met him, and that he is going to be my husband, my partner, my lover, and the father of our children.

Once I saw on Discovery channel that penguins mate for life, and when a male penguin chooses a female penguin, he brings a rock to her. If she accepts it, then they mate for life. I thought it was so cute that I told Daniel jokingly if he decided to propose he should do so with a rock! I want us to be partners in this life and beyond!

Then in January of this year I traveled to London for study and was gone for 9 days. It was the longest time we didn’t see each other. I missed him so much and was very excited to get back. Daniel picked me up from the airport and brought me home. I opened the door to my apartment, and WHAT???!!! The whole living room was covered in roses!!!! My jaw almost dropped to the floor; nobody had ever done SOMETHING like this for me! It was such a beautiful and romantic moment! I turned around and saw Daniel holding a rock in his hand. It looked rough, but was shaped as a heart. He was saying something about what that rock represented, and something else sweet and loving, as I was getting a little hazy and light headed realizing he was about to propose. It feels so magical when you are fully experiencing the moment of your dream coming true! It is the butterflies in your stomach and almost out of body experience! Then he turned the rock over to show me a gorgeous heart shaped Amethyst hidden inside! My dear Daniel said that this is how he felt when he was with me.... Wow!!!!!

I vaguely remember what happened after he posed the question “Will you marry me?”. He said I was laughing! For my defense I must say that I was so excited and happy that guess it came out as a laugh! I said “yes”. Of course, YESSSSS!!!!!!! And this is how we ended up here. And this is how you ended up here, on this page. So, I'd say, it was well worth it! :)