Rachel W. de L.

 We met on a Role-playing Game over the internet and hit it off right away. Soon the both of us were spending hours and hours chatting over instant messengers and the phone. Luis flew down from Canada in May of 2004 (nine-months or so after we had started getting to know each other online) and was my escort to my High School Senior Prom. The first time we actually met in person was in the International Terminal at Los Angeles Airport.  Over the next six years we juggled school between visits to each other, switching who went where for Christmas and managing to see each other for a couple weeks every three to four months. In Spring of 2007 I was lucky to be selected for a Study Abroad program in Siena, Italy and was able to arrange for housing so that Luis could come with me. He took a Semester off of school and we both spent August through December of 2007 traveling Europe and living together. It was just as perfect as I thought it would be. This past Fall 2009, just after I finished my degree, Luis also arranged a Study Abroad program - this time in Guadalajara, Mexico. I joined him there in October and we lived together and explored Mexico. We made sure to fly back to the United States in plenty of time to have Christmas with my family. On December 18th 2009 we flew into the same International Terminal where Luis and I met in person for the first time and, while waiting for my parents to pick us up, he got down on one knee and proposed.  With an International Reltionship, it has taken a good deal longer and a lot more planning to get ready for and plan our wedding. We will be signing the legal paperwork in Canada on September 17th 2010 with only our close family in attendance. This will allow Luis to claim me as his spouse and apply for Permanent Residence in Canada for me.  As for our wedding plans, that means I won't be able to leave Canada until I get permission from the Government (hopefully only a six month time period). Plan a wedding from Canada? Sure, destination wedding brides do it all the time right? We'll see how it goes.