Gio and I actually went to the same high school. We had several classes together, but funny enough we never spoke to each other throughout those years. What I did remember about him, though, was his Ronaldo haircut, which still makes us laugh to this day.

In college, we ended up at different schools, but my best friend at the time happened to be dating one of Gio’s close friends. One night, she told me there was a party Gio had invited his friends to. It was kind of a limited invite, so we had to wait for the green light but once Gio gave her boyfriend the okay, we went.

At the party, I saw Gio and thought he was really cute. I nudged my friend and told her to help me out to “hook it up,” lol! The next day, Gio added me on Snapchat, and by the end of that week, we had our first date!

We were about to celebrate our fourth anniversary, and we both knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. I decided to propose to Gaby on Christmas Day, I knew it would completely catch her off guard, and I really wanted our families to be involved.

Since she lives in an apartment, it was easy to keep things a surprise. I coordinated with her mom so that after she finished opening her gifts in the morning, she’d say, “You have one more gift, go open the door.”

After standing outside for about 30 minutes, I finally heard those words. Gaby opened the door and saw me with my family behind me. She was surprised to see my parents and sister, especially since she was expecting to see them later in the day, so she knew something was up.

We all walked in and sat down, and I started telling Gaby why we were there. I told her I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life without her. Then I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me.