Yuan and I like to think that fate had a sense of humor bringing us together, though we still laugh (and debate) over when we truly met. I’m convinced it was that time I blocked him at a volleyball tournament; he conveniently "doesn’t remember" that. Yuan insists it was at a Halloween party when I handed him a shot of Malort, one of those drinks you only try once (if you’re lucky). Either way, volleyball court or costume party, we both agree fate was hard at work behind the scenes.

We ran into each other again a few months later at a local bar, and that’s when sparks really flew. From that night on, we wanted to be together all the time. Whether it was more volleyball with friends, binge-watching movies, or planning ski trips, we couldn’t get enough of each other. Then the world shut down, giving us the perfect opportunity to test just how well we’d handle all our time together. Lucky for us, we loved it!

Before long, we adopted Lucy, our pitbull who completed our little family, and together, we took on our next big adventure: moving into a fixer-upper. We spent six cozy months in the basement with nothing but a hot plate, an air fryer, and a whole lot of determination to make our project house a home.

In 2022, work took us on a new adventure to San Antonio, Texas. We packed up our life in PA, Lucy in tow, and made the 26-hour drive south. In Texas, we quickly found another volleyball community, settled into the local vibe, and started building a life we love.

Then came August 2024, when Yuan surprised me on a breathtaking trip to Hallstatt, Austria. At the top of the Austrian Alps, he asked me to marry him. As we look back on all our memories—the volleyball games, the hot plates, the endless DIYs—we know there’s no one else we’d rather be on this journey with. We’re ready to keep the adventures coming, hand in hand, for the rest of our lives.

E&Y