Our Story

For those who may not know, our story goes way back. Our paths first crossed as awkward 7th graders in the halls of Northwood Middle School. Aside from sharing some mutual friends, at that time our relationship didn’t go much beyond the occasional AOL instant messenger chat, because that’s what all the cool kids did. While the chats increased some in frequency, we still stayed just friends. However, as the years progressed and we became the ever wise and mature high schoolers, our friendship grew, partly because we shared a lot of classes, and partly because Emilio was starting to realize this Desiree girl was pretty nifty. As the smooth kid he was, Emilio tried several methods to grow his relationship with Desiree, even offering to give her rides home from school when her truck was broken down. However his grand gesture came when he asked her to their senior prom (hence our super awesome Save-the-Date photo in which we both look excellent). We went as friends and had a blast, but it was soon apparent that friends is all we  were and all we would be, so as we took separate paths to college, Emilio realized it was time to move forward and let that high school dream go. However, as is characteristic of teenagers who are still figuring things out, it was only long after Emilio let that dream go that Desiree realized maybe that Emilio guy was pretty nifty too.

Suddenly she was using her trips home from college to hang out with Emilio, including a surprising family dinner, and these trips became more frequent. All of which led to one very confused college freshman (i.e. Emilio, his roommate at the time, Ben Loewen, can attest to this).  Eventually, we ended up on the same page, and realized what some people had known all along, that we were meant to be together. The next few years were a whirlwind, as we  lived in different cities for school. Trips back and forth across the mountains became commonplace as did long, late night phone conversations. Long distance unfortunately became a way of life of us as our education and careers took as all over the northwest and the world, but rarely to the same spot at the same time. FaceTime became a necessity and we developed some pretty great skills at maximizing the limited time we had together, as well as getting creative with our ever unpredictable schedules. Finally, after years of being together, and endless questions from friends and family about when an engagement was going to happen, Emilio got his act together and popped the question.

Following the big day, Desiree plans to move to Portland where Emilio currently lives as he completes his residency in Internal Medicine at OHSU. She will continue in her role at Commellini Estate while working remotely and commuting frequently. Our journey has been full of ups and down, but also full of adventures and surprises. From re-created homecoming dances, outdoor adventures and international travel to quiet nights in and trips to pet stores to pet the dogs and countless inside jokes, our relationship has a little bit of everything. Above all, it continues to be full of love and laughter, and we have all the support of our friends and family to thank for that. We are so excited to share this day with you all and can’t wait to see everyone on September 16th! We’re hard at work to create a truly meaningful day, which includes all of you, and to plan for an awesome celebration and party. So take a look around our website for some more information, and we’ll update sections as we know more. Then, when September comes around,  just come prepared to eat, drink, dance and have a great time!