Tien & I met at Welcome Weekend, which was an event held so we could meet our future classmates a few months before dental school officially started. We happened to choose the same restaurant (out of 3), he ended up sitting next to me, and this was the start of our immediate friendship. We would stay in touch over the summer here and there over text, often sharing our reactions to the last season of GoT!

Once dental school started in full swing, we were spending almost all of our time together in class from 8-5 PM and then after school where we would all study together at his Holly Hall townhome. Tien was nice enough to let me stay there until the Houston rush hour traffic died down, so I could study until it was safe to go home. Even then, Tien was always such a good host and would often invite all of our friends over to Holly Hall to unwind with dinner, games, and drinks after a long day of school and stuDYING. This was actually the night that Tien told me he liked me more than a friend and the start of our relationship.

Since dental school took up so much of our time, we actually didn't have our first date until October! We spent the weekend in Dallas and Tien took me to the State Fair and Dallas aquarium for the first time. Here's a fun fact about Tien, he likes to go to aquariums all around the world and has them all ranked in his Notes app!

What was supposed to be a week in Dallas for Spring Break turned into 9 weeks spent in quarantine with the Tran family. This was the start of virtual dental school until we were able to return in person for labs and clinic only. I got to know the Trans more intimately during this time and we got closer as a family!

Even during the pandemic, we were still able to have fun! The Trans graciously invited some of us on this family trip to Florida and it was my first Disney World experience and the start of Tien's Uniqlo addiction.

I finally got invited on the Trans' annual Vail Ski trip! It was my first time seeing snow, and I quickly realized skiing was not for me. I dropped out on Day 1 of ski school. Tien was supportive as always.

Don't go to Houston SPCA, you'll end up adopting 4 cats! Oooops, don't ask us how we ended up being cat parents to 4 fur babies. We don't know either!

Time flies by when you're having fun! We had just finished our third year of dental school, and we honestly could have not made it this far without these people.

To celebrate finishing integrated boards and surviving third year, we took our first solo trip together to DC before starting our final year of dental school!

With the birth of my third nephew, Troy, Tien knew things were getting serious and he had to lock this down before we graduated (;

Tien finally popped the question at the Lincoln Park Zoo under the Honeycomb Pavilion on what was supposed to be a spontaneous trip for his birthday weekend in Chicago. I almost ruined this moment because I spent too long looking at the gorilla exhibit instead of heading towards the surprise proposal spot. Tien surprised me with a photographer and his family flew out to be a part of our special day!

Before we knew it, we were a month away from graduating!

We conquered our licensing exam and trashed our scrubs. One of the last hoorahs of dental school!

Tien even got his ears pierced for passing his boards in one go. It's not a phase, mom!!!

Graduation day! We were finally Doctors of Dental Surgery (,:

The very next day Tien and I had our traditional Vietnamese engagement ceremony (Đám Hỏi) where our families gave us their blessing for marriage.

The day after our engagement ceremony, we packed up Holly Hall and moved to Dallas to start our next adventure in adulthood! AEGD residency for Tien and my first big girl job as a dentist.

If you made it this far, this is where you can find us! Planning a destination wedding and a separate reception while working and being in school is no joke! We are so glad to be celebrating our love story with y'all and hope to see everyone soon on June 22nd, when we return from Maui! We appreciate each and every one of y'all <3