Our Full Story

We Met...

It was April 16, 2016.  While Emily was living in the Inland Empire at the time, Rodney was living in Downtown Los Angeles.  She was finishing up school and he was in his first year practicing law.  Needless to say, there were not going to be many opportunities for their paths to cross—and it may never have happened at all had Emily not decided to attend a Los Angeles Dodgers game that day.   

See, while Emily was at the game, she got invited to a concert in DTLA.  There was going to be a pre-party for the artist at a guy's loft close to the venue, and everyone was meeting up there.

For Emily, receiving these types of invites was not abnormal.  In fact, and as you could probably guess, Emily got invited to shows quite often.  She did not, however, often (or ever) say "yes" to these invites.  But this night was different.  Emily was already out in Los Angeles so, she figured, "why not?"  She said she was in.       

Rodney was busy getting his apartment in order, tidying up and getting ready for people to come over.  He was the one hosting the pre-party; it was his friend who was playing the show.  

Although he was doing his best to play host, Rodney could not help but notice when Emily walked in the door.  As soon as she entered the room, Rodney was captivated.  Something immediately felt different and he knew he wanted to make a good first impression.  That did not happen—unless you consider an awkward half-hug that Emily met by leaning away with a look of confusion as to why this total stranger was trying to give her a hug to be a "good first impression." 

Undeterred, Rodney tried his best to put the moves on Emily at different points during the remainder of the night.  That too was largely a failure.  As Rodney was attempting to flirt with Emily, she was quite busy trying to play match-maker.  Specifically, Emily was trying to set up Rodney with one of Rodney's other friends.  Fortunately, that did not work.  Still, Rodney was able to "succeed" in one small way.  He got Emily to dance with him.  Granted this was a dance that made no sense in the context of the music being played, but ballroom dancing in the middle of a club is, if nothing else, certainly memorable.

The following morning, Rodney woke up and starting cleaning his loft.  He saw a debit card and checked the name: it was Emily's.  He asked his friend for Emily's number and proceeded to text her.  For those thinking that this was Emily's way of setting in motion a future get-together, you'd be wrong.  For all of her many wonderful traits, Emily was big on losing her cards at this point in her life-in bars, at restaurants, house parties, everywhere.  This was not a calculated move in the least.  Still, Rodney figured he had another shot and he was going to take it.  

So, Rodney asked Emily if she wanted to get together so he could return her card.  Her response read like the final nail in the coffin:  "No thanks.  Mail it to me."  

"Ouch," Rodney thought as he started to resign himself to the fact that maybe he never had a chance.  Yet, as he put the card in the mail, he did not relinquish all hope.  

This very well could have been the end of the story.  Instead, it was just the beginning.

We Fell in Love…

Even after Emily's card arrived safely in the mail, Emily and Rodney kept talking.  They talked so much that it led to a first real date.  

On May 28, 2016, keeping with the musical theme from their first meeting, Emily, with an extra ticket to an orchestra show at the Hollywood Bowl and apparently no better options on the table, decided to ask Rodney if he wanted to go with her.

That date led to another, and another.  As Emily and Rodney kept getting to know each other better, they talked about their different interests, fears, and dreams.  Soon, they were officially a couple.  This relationship was real. 

They met each other's families, beginning with Emily somehow agreeing to spend Christmas in 2016 with Rodney (and his whole family) in Sacramento.  Rodney did not often bring girls around, but Emily was different.  His family saw it immediately too.  They loved her (and he did too, even if he hadn't said it yet).  When it was time for Rodney to meet Emily's family, there was one little issue: Spanish.  Rodney could understand "un poquito," but he definitely could not speak it.  That did not matter.  Emily's family welcomed him with open arms, proving that love and gratitude are a universal language.  Emily still thinks her family might like Rodney more than her, even if Rodney can only communicate with them like a "no sabo" kid.

Over the years, Emily and Rodney's relationship continued to grow.  They attended so many concerts and festivals that a recent "retirement" felt particularly well-earned.  They ate pan con pollo on Thanksgivings, celebrated family member's birthdays, including each of their amazing grandmother's, played games and picked up new ones (Emily is going to be both a pro golfer and snowboarder), and developed a tradition of spending Christmas Eve with Emily's family (including staying up late to open gifts at midnight) before waking up early and making the trek up to Sacramento to spend Christmas Day with Rodney's.

They moved into their house, and advanced in their respective careers.  They stood by each other through good times and bad.  They got a dog (Cora) who is the cutest and best dog in the world—if you disagree, well, Emily may need a word.    

And, saliently, they started discussing marriage and all that the future might hold.  Before meeting Emily, Rodney wasn't sure he would ever get married.  However, he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and it seemed like she wanted to grow old with him too.

We’re Getting Married...

With a plan to travel around Europe after a trip to the East Cost for the wedding of two close friends in August 2023, there was something else that was on Rodney's mind: He knew he wanted to ask Emily to marry him, and he wanted to do it in Croatia.

Rodney started ring shopping, looking at diamond after diamond trying to find — just as he had with Emily — the "one."  Emily had always said she wanted to be part of the process since the thought of hating the ring haunted her dreams (literally, she said).  Rodney still didn't include Emily.  With time running out and the departure date fast approaching, it happened: he found what he thought was the perfect stone, taking a risk to have it set and shipped to him to pick up in New York.

Rodney asked Emily's mother for her blessing and snuck away to go pick up the ring.  At the same time, Emily was telling her friends about a dream (nightmare?) she had the night before: Rodney proposed (yay!), but the ring was hideous and nothing at all like she imagined and she had no idea how to tell him (ugh!).  Hearing about that dream did nothing to shake Rodney's confidence.  He hid the ring in his fanny pack and they set off for Croatia.   

While at Krka National Park a tour guide asked Rodney how long Emily and he had been together.  After Rodney told her 7 years, the tour guide pulled him aside to say that was pushing it, even for Croats who notoriously move at their own leisurely pace.  Rodney needed to put a ring on Emily's finger, she said.  Of course, that was exactly the plan.   

The only question was when and where, and Rodney wanted it to be perfect.  But in the lead up to each time when he thought he would be dropping to one knee to ask Emily, the love of his life, to marry him, the circumstances were decidedly not perfect. In fact, a lot had gone (and kept going) wrong.  There were issues with their flight plans, a dinner reservation gone awry, and a chain-smoking neighbor who seemingly wouldn't go away.  Ultimately, Rodney realized he did not want to keep waiting for the "perfect" moment.  It did not matter how crazy, difficult or unpredictable life got; whatever happened, Rodney knew who he wanted to be with then, now, and always.  He asked and Emily said, "Yes!"