Donella & Jeffrey

The Bride:

Donella was born and raised in San Diego. She attended Mt. Carmel High School and graduated in 1997. She continued to the University of California, Riverside and received a B.A in Economics and Finance. She moved back to San Diego to pursue a career in the Financial Services Industry, which has led her to her current position as a Financial/Treasury Analyst for ITLA Capital Corporation/Imperial Capital Bank. She is currently pursing her M.B.A at Point Loma Nazarene University.

While growing up, her parent encouraged her to join the PASACAT Philippine Performing Arts Company, a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and promote the Asian Pacific Culture through the arts, thereby, extending goodwill and enhancing cultural understanding. She was actively involved in this organization as a senior dancer from the age of 13-20. As an alumni, she is currently a supporter of the organization, representing her love for Philippine Folk Dance.

In her free time, Donella enjoys running and spending time with her dog, Ray (and Jeff, of course). She also enjoys traveling, shopping and spoiling her two nephews, Matt and Andy. Her friends love her for her brutal honesty and her loyalty.

the groom:

Jeffrey was born in Chula Vista, CA. For most of his childhood, he lived in Paradise Hills. Shortly after moving from Paradise Hills to Penasquitos, the Rosete Family was subject to the lifestyle of a military family and were transferred to Philadelphia. They lived there for almost 5 years. They returned to San Diego when Jeffrey was beginning the seventh grade. Jeffrey graduated from Mt. Carmel High School in 1992. He attended Community College and received an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts and then continued on to University of Phoenix where he completed a bachelors degree in Business Management.

Jeffrey enjoys the finer things in life, like eating, sleeping, and traveling. He loves cooking and is convinced that he would win an Iron Chef competition or be successful at hosting his own cooking show.

One of Jeffrey’s hobbies is deep sea fishing. If he’s not on a boat, Jeffrey can be found down at the beach, surf fishing. He is convinced that he will own his own boat one day and share this passion with his children in the near future.

He is also a dedicated Charger Fan/Raider Hater! During football season, Jeffrey and his friends can always be found in the “Ultimate Tailgating” Section of L3 (under the trolley bridge).

Jeffrey is a family oriented person. He is also a loyal friend and generally fun loving guy. You can always count on him to have yo’ back!

How they met

Jeffrey & Donella

Donella’s mom, Rosita, was invited to the Wedding of Maurice and Jeanette Gangoy in August 1999. She invited Donella to accompany her to the wedding, which was on a cruise to the Bahamas. How could Donella refuse the invitation? Donella went on the cruise with the knowledge that this wedding was for her mom’s coworker’s daughter. Having not met the bride and thinking she would not know anyone else in the party, she thought she would make the best out of the trip and spend quality time with her mom.
Upon arrival on to the cruise ship, all the travelers participated in a safety drill. As Donella and her mom “mustered” to their assigned station, they were blessed of the exciting company of Jeffrey and Donn. Jeff was a groomsmen in the same wedding that Donella and her mom were attending.

When they returned back to San Diego, Donella returned to the University of California, Riverside. One weekend, her and her best friend Genevieve, went to happy hour at Callahan’s, a popular Irish pub in Mira Mesa. She ran in to Jeff and his friends at the pub, they exchanged phone numbers and the rest is history.

The Proposal

It was the day that we closed on our condo and it was also my birthday. We took the day off of work to go pick up the keys, take a look at our new place and then the plan was to have dinner with my family. The day started off really busy for the both of us. I was out running errands. When I first woke up, I didn't call Jeffrey right away because I'm an early riser and he's a late one. Plus since we both had the day off - I figured I'd call him when I was done running errands. Anyhow, little did I know what my sleeping boyfriend (at that time) was up to.

While I was out, he had went to my house. My mom was home preparing my birthday dinner. Sweating like a mad man, he told my mom that he would like to ask me to marry him. My mom, who was completely caught off guard responded with a simple "Okay" and continued on with her cooking.

He quickly left my house, and waited at his house for me to pick him up so that we could go get the keys to the condo. Before I got to his house, Jeffrey was busy - calling my brothers to let them know that today was the day (I obviously didn't know this at the time). So, I picked him up and we continued on with the day.

The keys to our condo were not yet available. We were told to come back in the evening. So, we then returned to my house to have dinner with family. At dinner, we told my family that we were to pick up the keys to the condo after dinner and asked them if they would like to come see it. Everyone was really excited - almost TOO EXCITED, oddly enough - I had know idea what everyone knew what was going to happen.

On the way to the condo, we picked up Jeff's parents. We arrived at the condo - me, jeff, his parents, my mom, brothers, sister-in-laws and nephew. After about 2 hours of hanging out, I noticed that Jeff's dad was getting a little impatient. I thought he wanted to go home. So, I looked over at Jeff - who was sweating like crazy - and told him "We should go it's getting late".

At that point, in front of our families, he turned to me and said to everyone in the room, " Since we are all here, I'm going to give Donella her birthday gift." He then got on one knee and said "Donella, will you marry me?" I was completely shocked. My first response was "are you serious?" After 5 years and always talking about "WHEN" we get married, I really couldn't believe it had finally become that time. OF COURSE I SAID YES!

 

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