We met in college...

Since Rachel pretty much planned everything for the wedding I will be writing “our story.” Rachel and I first met  at La Sierra University 2009-2010 school year. We both had Chemistry together. I remember seeing Rachel in class and thinking to myself, “She is the prettiest girl in the class.” Rachel would tell me how she would see me come into class and think, “He is a very good looking boy.” However, that was the only good thing she thought about me back then. Rachel told me an occurrence during lab when she was asking the TA for help with one of the lab questions and I was next in line to get help. Rachel said she was so annoyed, because she thought I copied the answers that she got from the TA. In my defense, since I heard the TA answer the question I was going to ask him, there was no reason for me to ask the same question, so I wrote the answer down and walked away. We never talked until a Biology camping trip. We introduced ourselves at a picnic table at the campsite. After that camp we would say hello to each other in class or if we passed each other walking. It wasn’t until summer 2010 where we became good friends during our Organic Chemistry class at University of Riverside, California. In class, Rachel would always give me a lot of attention, which I liked very much. She would also see me walk in and tell me to sit by her. I always enjoyed our special talks together in class. I never knew a girl could be so funny and cute at the same time. Our first time we spent together outside of class was when Rachel texted me asking if we could go to Friday night vespers. I took her to my dad's Indian Church and afterwards we walked around my neighborhood. At the end of the night I knew that I really liked her. Unfortunately, Rachel tells me that she did not like me then, but I think she did, maybe. We would sit together more frequently in Organic Chemistry and I would always hear Rachel whispering to her friend Grace, “He is so cute.” That was the start of me spending several minutes in front of the mirror everyday looking at myself and feeling very proud of my looks. I remember in class sitting with my friend Alex and telling him, “I'm going to marry her one day,” no joke. After summer school was over I went to India for a few weeks where Rachel and I would email each other frequently. Weeks after coming back from my excursion to India we started our next fall quarter at La Sierra University where we began a new tradition of have Thursday lunch together. I would occasionally flirt with her, and just as much as I would flirt with her she would flirt just as much back, but more deliberate. Little did I know that Rachel had feelings for me also. Rachel was somewhat frustrated during this time in our friendship because I seemed completely oblivious to any of her signals. The Friday before Thanksgiving break started we saw each other in between class to say goodbye. When we gave each other a hug Rachel whispered in my ear, “Awww my future husband.” I feel kind of stupid to say that I could not understand what she said at the time, however she told me when we came back from break where we talked about our feelings and made our decision to commit to each other. These are the memorable events that lead to the next four years of fun and joy together.

Photography provided by Melinda Holland