It's a boy!

In troubled and gray times, Marta was pregnant and the world was sad. Then Lisandro was born and the universe never was the same again.

At least that’s how Lichi remembers the story.

School starts

A few months before Gillian was born, Lichi was starting elementary school. Before the era of digital photography, Marta paid for a nice picture of her son smiling in class. This is what she got.

It's a girl!

7lbs , 2 ozs, 21”, Gillian was born on new years eve, 1998. Needless to say, her mom has never had a new year’s celebration quite like it.

Pumpkin Pickin'

Nolan and Gillian chose the biggest pumpkins in the patch to carve for Halloween. Clearly Gillian has always liked a good workout.

High school is over

After 17 years of hard work, sweat and tears, high school is finally over.

Okay… that’s a lie. It’s not that he didn’t learn anything, for example, here we can see him at a very productive Economy class where he learnt how to create a bubble inception successfuly.

Teachers, he’s very sorry.

Not really.

High school graduation

You know what they say: opposites attract! Gillian was ever the shy, studious girl, spending hours studying and thinking an A- was the end of the world. Despite a few worlds ending, she made it to graduation and went on to study computer science at DePauw, inevitably leading her to an internship where she would meet Lichi!

Over priced high school

Like the picture says… first day of 13th grade! Gillian started her bachelor’s degree in 2017 at DePauw University. There, she made a lot of wonderful friends, learned she loved HIIT workouts, and discovered computer science… all which lead her to an internship at Stanford, where she met Prince Charming.

He was charming <3

The first time they laid eyes on each other was when Gillian was trying to lug three heavy bags, and Lichi offered to help. It was love at first sight for Gillian. For Lichi? Well, he doesn’t remember this happening.

Off nights at Stanford

They worked on the same team that summer, so they spent a lot of time together. On their off nights, you’d often find them playing cards together or walking around campus. When Lichi finally made the first move, Gillian said “This is a bad idea. Long distance relationships are hard.” Lichi said “Its worth trying.” And they kissed.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder

They started dating the last week Gillian was at camp, then she was off to school, and he was headed back to Argentina. The beginning of their relationship was spent video calling and texting–staying up till 2am talking because it was all they could do.

Hola, amor ;)

Happy airport reunion 1! Gillian got a passport and hopped on a plane to visit Lichi in Argentina. She’d never been out of the country before, nor did she speak Spanish, so it was quite the experience. She threw up on the airport tarmac because she was so nervous and excited. Lisandro still kissed her. #keeper

Argentina adventures!

Empanadas, Español, Asado, traveler’s diarrhea… their first reunion was quite the experience.Lichi was very sweet, showing Gillian around his city, introducing her to his friends and family, and translating everything for her.

First Marriage

Half a year later, they happily reunited at camp. During the day, they had to pretend that they barely knew each other. But, Gillian’s class of 4th graders saw her phone background… that day at recess they made her a flower crown and started giggling. Then they pulled her over to Lichi to ‘marry’ them. Cutest wedding planners ever.

Goodbye

Every goodbye was harder than the last. Going from hand holding to video calling was heartbreaking, but they were good at it– they had a lot of experience.

Pure Joy

Another long awaited reunion. Lichi went to spend Thanksgiving with Gillian’s family, braving the cold for her. He loved picking out a live Christmas tree with the family. Then Gillian flew home with him to Argentina for Christmas. She sang Christmas carols in Spanish and fell asleep on Christmas (they stay up so late in Tina!). It was a glorious several weeks together.

Goodbye

Parting is always hard… little did they know this time they’d be apart for an entire year!

What's kissing like, again?

A year of video calling, sponsored by COVID. So many plans to see each other derailed. So many long nights spent calling. So many I miss you texts. But, despite bad wifi connections, time differences, and many tears, they prevailed!

So this is what we've been missing out on!

Yay! The long awaited hug and kiss finally arrived! (Though slightly delayed because of stupid airport mask rules.)

Yes! (finally)

Sweet Lichi told Gillian he wanted to take a time lapse of the sunrising in Houston. They woke up at the crack of dawn, set up a tripod in a park, and froze their butts off watching the sunrise. Lichi gave Gillian a photo album with ‘Will you marry me?’ hidden in the pages. When she looked up, he was on one knee. <3