It was on August 23rd in 2012 when my friends and I were at Flowing Tide (Sportsbar) in NW Reno and we were playing pool. Phil was there with his neighbor Pete, and he sauntered over and asked if he could play pool with myself, my friend Holly and another friend of ours. He was funny and so talkative (that was from the tequila lol) and I remember asking to see his Driver's License after he shared how old he was, he definitely didn't look 10 years older than me and with the most beautiful green eyes.

We hung out with a group of my friends all night long and hopped around to a few other bars while he tried to get rid of his 5 hours of hiccups. We had dropped his car off at his home around the corner and realized he lived close by my friend Holly and knew we had to have crossed paths before and just didn't know it. We ended the night at Bully's another Sportsbar and had biscuits and gravy and talked about a BBQ he planned to give me the following weekend. (My birthday was in a few days). I had no doubt I liked him but we both were not looking for anyone, but we had so much fun. I was just as surprised when he made that BBQ happened the following weekend and our friends merged together nicely for the first time, and we even found out he knew my longtime friend Ginger. He and his buddies would go to the place she worked at for lunch often.

After that we continued texting and chatting on the phone. (Phil was not the greatest at either but did it for me) ❤️. He asked me out on a date, and he took me to a local BBQ spot in town and we chatted in my car for a while after. We were smitten.

We continued to date and eventually our boys all met and got along well. We have 5 boys between the two of us and love them so much. Phil has been a father figure to my boys from day one and they love him so very much.

We had a brief time apart but that only showed us right away that we wanted to be together again and this was it for us both... We put in the work that made us even stronger than before and got a chance to date again. Soon after- it reconfirmed for us both and we knew we were one another's best friend and I knew he was the love of my life and this was it, we planned to live together again as soon as we could. Our life restarted and we never looked back.

One day we were at a celebration of life for our friend Paco, we were sitting around a firepit with friends and Phil reached over me and grabbed his best friend Ed's hand and he instantly said "yes, yes, yes, I will marry you" Phil laughed and said, "No, I was going to ask you to be my best man" then he turned to me and smiled... I knew of course I would marry him, and we still laugh about how he asked me in the round about signature romantic funny Phil way. Phil always said he would not marry again but deep down I always wanted to marry him because I had not been married before. I was so excited and in shock for so long. We began planning for something in a couple of years and we were so excited. This would be my first and of course his last. 😂

Phil's mom Kathy visited us that year and while we were on a trip showing her the cute town of Truckee, we decided to throw together a chapel wedding while she was in town in a couple of days. We found a dress for me at the next store we went to and instantly we knew it was meant to be. My mom (Annie). sister and some family and friends were able to make it but unfortunately my family in Southern California could not make it in time and parents had to watch us get married on an iPad from their home. We vowed to get married the following year. While it was a blessing for both of my son's to be there and to be able to walk me down the aisle, I had always dreamt of my dad doing it all my life. We sent out announcements to many and said our wedding was to come....

Unfortunately, life, covid and Phil's many near-death medical issues happened, and we had to keep moving the wedding planning back each year. We set our sights on 2025 and booked the place in the fall of 2024. Unexpectedly the end of 2024 and this year has been an extremely hard one for us but we are so grateful each and every day and so thankful Phil is healing and here with us for us to share our special wedding week and wedding day with you in October in Corolla, North Carolina. It is a magical place to us, and we are so excited for those that are able to join us for our wedding week otherwise known to us as "Renee's Wedding featuring Phil" 😂

We are best friends and soulmates who can sit in a closet together and laugh for hours and we talk for our dog every moment of the day who cannot wait to renew our vows in front of you all.

And just like that....we became the Rivera's 💕