Our Story

Have you ever found yourself in a moment wondering how you got there?  When you reflect on the circumstances that got you to this specific point, do you see how nice and neatly the dots connect?  How about how lots of things, good or bad, big or small made you grow into exactly who you were meant to be for that specific moment in time?  It has been said that hindsight is 20/20.  Going through life and dealing with the sad, disappointing, and heartbreaking moments along with the joyous, blissful, beautiful ones, molds us into exactly who we were created to become.  Our purpose in life may never be clear at the exact time when we question what our current purpose may be.  However, if we look hard enough, glancing back we can see the purpose in even the most unfathomable of events. 

Fernando and I often discuss how we feel so blessed that we were able to find each other in this world.  We come from two very different circumstances that it really and truly is a miracle that we are here together today.  However, when we look at our lives and reflect deeply on what we have been through, whether it be successes or failures, or happiness or heartache, we were being shaped into the "perfect" versions of ourselves for each other.  Here is our story...

Fernando was born in a fairly large city in North Central Mexico.  There he lived with his parents, sister, and brother.  His maternal Grandmother also lived in their home.  He was a happy child who was privileged to live in a family who was not poor like so many others in his country.  His family loved very much to travel together and enjoy new experiences.  They traveled to Europe and the United States while Fernando was very young.  One unfortunate day while traveling to a town in Texas where the family was supposed to board a plane for a vacation, the family endured a forever life altering occurrence.  Fernando's family was involved in a horrific car accident leaving him (age 6) and his brother (age 10) in dire condition, and taking the lives of his four other precious members of his family.  There are no words to describe such a tragic loss.  The months, years, and even decades that have passed do not take away all of the pain the two boys have felt from the gap left in their hearts.  But the boys persevered.  They miraculously survived the event that would steer their lives down a completely new path.  They went back to school, they played with their friends, and they continued with their sports.  All because it was the only thing they could do.  Over time they learned to live with their new reality.  When Fernando was 20 years old he decided to attend a foreign exchange student program at a university in the United States.  He had been enrolled in a private university in Mexico for three years, but wanted to try out the foreign exchange program for a semester.  Normally students from his university who enlisted into the program were sent to a university in Wisconsin, however, for this particular semester in which he expressed interest in attending (and no other semester past or present), they sent the students to a Texas university.  God's plan in motion. 

Jen was raised in a small German Catholic community were she grew up with an older sister and twin brother.  Unlike Fernando who grew up within a large city, she grew up in a rural area.  She was very close to her immediate and extended family enjoying a "simple" and somewhat sheltered life.  Her closest friends and playmates were her cousins for the better part of her childhood, playing on her grandparents' farms.  She left home to go away to college when she was 19 after attending community college for a year.  Going away to school actually happened on a whim.  She had no real desire to even be in college in the first place, let alone know want she wanted to do with her life.  A very close cousin of hers had decided to leave after a year in community college and she just decided to apply along with her.  As luck would have it, she was accepted and left that next fall.  Jen's first semester at college included meeting a wide range of friends with different cultural backgrounds.  Most of which were met while actively participating at the Catholic Campus Center.  The university was small, but culturally diverse, completely  different from the small town Jen grew up in.  Her home had been a wonderful place to grow up, but at this point in her life, it was so exciting and enlightening to meet people from other backgrounds.

Jen's second semester was Fer's first semester at the university.  Now, the school was small enough where if you were friends with one international student, then chances were you would meet most of the international students at some point whether through university activities, organizations, parties, dorms, etc.  Fortunately she made many international friends in different areas during her first semester, including at the Catholic Campus Center.  She ended up meeting friends who, in turn, would make it possible for her to meet Fer.  Her friends were notorious for needing car rides due to the fact that they were unable to have brought their cars with them from home.  On one afternoon after kickboxing class and lunch, Jen mentioned to a couple of friends that she would be making a trip to the store if they needed to ride along.  Little did she know that when they went over to their dorm to gather their things, they were going to bring back three more guys with them who intended to get a ride.  Five full grown guys and herself were supposed to fit into Jen's small Geo Metro???  Annoyed at the situation, Jen walked as quickly as she could to get ahead of the group so that she could mutter under her breath about how she was tired of this happening.  All she had really wanted to do was make a quick trip to the store and get back to shower since her only class that morning had been kickboxing.  She was looking at her best to yet.  She was sporting a messed up ponytail on the top of her head, sweats, and absolutely no makeup.  Yep, pretty much a rock star....As she's was walking quickly she felt someone closing in the gap behind her.  She looked back to see one of the five walking as quickly as he could to catch up to her.  He said to her in broken English, Hi, my name is Fernando, what is your name?"  Then he flashed his million dollar smile.  "Great!", Jen thought.  She was trying to be huffy and annoyed and then his handsome guy is trying to be friendly because she had "so graciously" offered a ride that he badly needed.  And then she realized how awesome she was looking in that moment and instantly felt a hundred times better...NOT!  But it didn't matter to Fernando.  That moment sparked a friendship that continued for months and eventually grew into something even more special.  There's nothing like meeting the man of your dreams when you are looking at your worst and him not even noticing.  Miracle #3!!! 

Fernando was originally a foreign exchange student which meant that he was only supposed to stay for one semester.  He was able to apply for a scholarship that would allow him to continue on at the university.  Before the end of his first semester he was blessed with the good news.  He received the scholarship and would continue on as an International student through the end of his undergraduate career.  One semester on December 23rd after arriving back into Texas after having visited his brother for a couple of weeks during Christmas break, Fernando proposed to Jen in front of a beautiful cathedral declaring in front of God that he wanted to start the rest of his life with her.  About five months later, Fernando had graduated with his undergraduate degree, gotten a job, and moved to the DFW area to pursue his new professional career.  Three months after that, Jen completed school and moved back to her home town to finish planning the wedding and to spend a couple final months with her parents.  When October came and the final plans were complete, Fernando and Jen were married in front of God, their family, and their friends.  Jen joined Fernando at his home and they continued to grow in their faith and relationship with God and each other.  A year and 9 months after they were married they met the first of God's greatest gifts to them, Maximiliano Fernando.  Two years and 3 months after that, God blessed them with Nicolás Michael.  And then two years and two months after that, God's miraculous blessing continued when Isabel Carolina was born.
 

Max

Nico

Belle

Fernando once told me that he believes that if his parents were still alive, that he probably would not have had the care to leave his home and try out school in another place.  Possibly he would have, maybe not.  No one can know.  But miraculous is God's mercy and love.  Fernando is the most amazing papa to his kids.  He is constantly trying to implement new traditions with his boys when he has a cherished memory return of times he and his brother spent with their papa.  Since he has become a parent, he has shared more memories with me.  He has some truly beautiful ones and a lot of them are of very "simple" moments that most people would overlook, even brush off as day to day routine and nothing special.  Because his time with his parents was so short, those every day routine things are big "events" to him.  It is important to him to be with his children as much as he can.  He wants to teach his boys to be good men and to teach his daughter how beautiful and precious she is.  He wants them to know that no matter what happens in life, you have today and that is all we can ask for.  And at the end of that day, you need to thank God for it.  He's the one that makes it possible and the only one who can wake you up tomorrow. 

God blessed me (and cursed) with a big heart that, as you well know, I wear on my sleeve for the world to see.  I try to not leave things left unsaid because I don't want a day to come when I have "shouldas".  I'm not always successful, but I definitely try my best.  It is very hard to explain, but I'm ultra sensitive about how I treat others, about how I'm treated, and I can actually feel other peoples emotions, pains, joys, fears, etc.  I've even been known to feel anothers' physical pain and I just can't stand to see anyone or anything suffer.

These special gifts that Fernando and I have been given have created our unique family, values, and views on the world and how we want to live our lives.  Not every day is as perfect or carefree as we wish it to be.  But God is in every moment, whether bad, good, tragic, or amazing.  It is our hopes that we always keep him at the center of our lives and family no matter what happens.  This is why we live our lives the way we do and why we do the things we do with our kids.  Life is just way to short to waste it.  Every day that I get to spend with my kids is a great day, no matter what the particulars are for the day.  We pray that our family is always able to do our best to make it the BEST DAY EVER no matter what the circumstances.