About the Couple

Leo and I are originally from the Philippines. We met at the International Rice Research Institute where we used to work as rice researchers. We got married in 2012 but in 2013, I had to move to the US to start my PhD program at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. In 2017, Leo got a PhD assistantship at LSU and moved there in 2018. Our original plan was for me to work at LSU after graduate school so that both of us will be together but as fate would have it, I found a better opportunity at the University of Florida and moved there in 2018. In 2019, we finally decided that we are done with living separately and we need to find a way to be in one place. Fortunately, we found a PhD assistantship for Leo at the University of Florida, with the same Research Center where I work, and by the end of 2019, Leo finally moved to Florida with me.

Although Leo and I may seem similar since we share the same research interests, we are definitely far from being the same. However, we do complement each other. Leo likes fishing, I like going to the beach. Leo likes to drive, I love traveling. Leo likes to cook, I love to eat. :)

For those who are wondering why we are calling our baby, Pearl, it's just our nickname for her. It's a nickname that came from our newest release, the white strawberry variety, Florida Pearl. It may sound nerdy but the name stuck because Pearl is also connected to our home country, Pearl of the Orient Seas, the Philippines.

Expecting Baby Pearl is a real blessing for us. After all the years of being apart, our family is about to be complete. In a chaotic world we live in right now, we hope and pray that Baby Pearl will grow up to be a healthy, happy, God-fearing, decent human being.