Wedding Date on Jun 10, 2022

Love story: January 10, 2017 Sarah's Perspective: Usually when we tell people we met at Whole Foods they think we are joking or ask us if we were both reaching for the same watermelon and then touched hands and knew it was fate. In reality we were both there for lunch, well at least I was. I was there with my friend Carlos and Ivan was there doing... who knows what. Needless to say, Carlos was busy with some homework he had to do and couldn't pay much attention to me. Years ago, Carlos created a verb for me: Sarah-ing. Basically if you are near me, we will become friends. I will start a conversation or flirt with you (the two go hand in hand for me). Lucky for Ivan, he got Sarah-ed that day. While Carlos was busy with homework, Ivan was sitting about 5 feet away at the table right next to us. I started a conversation with him because he was filming himself making a sticker or something. I thought that was kind of weird and it made me curious about what he was doing and why. I started asking questions and found out he had just moved to the area to play soccer with Bellingham United. I don't know what came over me, maybe it was his cute smile or the fact he had the book '7 Habits of Highly Effective People' (I love a man who loves self-development) sitting on the table, but I asked him to hang out that weekend. He obviously couldn't resist me as I handed him my business card (a super cool move on my part) and he ended up inviting me to his soccer game that next weekend. I started going to soccer games, then we started going out afterward with some of his teammates, then we started hanging out outside of soccer games and getting to know each other more and more. Although we are opposite in many ways, we complete each other because of those differences (so corny, I know). 5 years later and we have accomplished so much together as a couple and as individuals! Ivan's Perspective: On a Bellingham winter day, I was sitting in the WF food court drawing a sticker to ship to one of my supporters. I was recording the process and had my phone propped up by a book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Which would later hook the attention of a fellow self-development enthusiast... The sliding door kept opening and closing letting in gusts of cold air as people came and went. Out of my peripherals, I noticed a pair of burgundy pants and a black baseball cap start to move in my direction to escape the cold. It was two people and I assumed they were together, so I kept drawing. After they sat down and got situated I heard the woman in burgundy pants ask me a question "What are you doing?" I felt the genuine curiosity in her voice. I replied "Drawing a sticker." leaving the door of curiosity wide open. The questions kept coming, "Where are you from?" she said. "California," I said. "What brings you here?" "The wifi...and the local semi-pro soccer team." "Where do live?" "Ferndale." "Oh, I'm from Ferndale!" After briefly getting to know who I was, realizing I didn't know many people in town she said, "You should come out with Carlos, his girlfriend (Rachel, now married to each other), and myself!" Possibly out of feeling bad for my vagabond state. But in my gut, I knew there was something more beyond the surface. At the end of our interaction, she handed me her business card with a smile. Instinctively, I snapped a selfie of all of us. I later texted it to the number on her card. At the time we both didn't think much of the encounter. Fast forward 5 years later and it turned out to be the beginning of a beautiful connection.