So picture this: The most beautiful girl whom you’ve ever seen shows up to your brother’s house for a friend gathering (a friend of a friend), and you immediately take notice of her. She’s beautiful, albeit shy - it’s not her usual friend group, and she’s just getting to meet some people.

I slide on over, say “howdy,” and we get to talking. I admit that I don’t remember what we discussed, because I was so enamored.

However, I do remember the following: at the end, as the evening was wrapping up, I asked her if she’d want to join myself, my brother, and a few people to go to the beach tomorrow. She said she’d love to, and we parted way.

I then approached Danny and said that we needed to plan a beach day for the following day. Being the social man he is, we got a group of about 12 together within the span of an hour, and we had a phenomenal day at the beach.

And the rest, as they say…

Is wonderful :)

Long distance has been difficult, for sure, as anyone who’s done it would know. However, by the grace of God my residency and her schedule have afforded us the opportunity to see each other on a regular, monthly basis. And when together, we’re definitely making the most of our time together. We’ve gotten into trekking the south shore of Lady Bird Lake, enjoying the various museums and water springs of Austin, trying new foods (I’m turning Mia into a foodie :) ), and getting into our chef era, as well! Our most recent masterpiece was Sundubu-jjigae, a semi-spicy Korean tofu soup - to die for!

When we’re apart, we’re inseparable - we’re constantly on the phone, texting and calling to catch up, offer words of support and wisdom to each other, and to let the other person know that we’re thinking of each other despite the distance. When together, we’re amplifying each other’s unique energy, which makes each time we’re together beyond memorable, and reinforces the love that we share.

While long distance has been fun, I’m STOKED that it’s coming to an end! I was excitedly telling an Uber driver that I was excited for my long distance to end in June, and he, to his horror, thought that I was planning on ending the relationship. Quite the contrary! Mia and I have been excitedly planning her move to Texas, and very much look forward to beginning our life together.

We’re honored and excited that you’ve chosen to celebrate this special day with us, and cannot wait to see you in June!

It all started on April 19, 2025. It was my first time at Danny's (Andrew’s brother)’s Friday night Bible study, when I met Andrew. I was instantly attracted to him when he first came into the room and even more when I heard him talk. His in-depth knowledge of the Bible was quite impressive.

After the study, Andrew (who was already sitting next to me) immediately introduced himself, asking a ton of questions to get to know me. I loved how interested he was. He invited me to join him and his friends on a beach outing the following day; of course, I said yes!

Andrew only had about 5 weeks left in the Loma Linda area, as he was finishing medical school. So the thought of a relationship was a pretty major question. Long distance was something neither of us had done before. It was going to be a big commitment for both of us.

One day in late May, Andrew left California. I was at court for jury duty. During the boring wait, I got a message from Andrew wishing me the best on my journey in nursing school and life in California. He wanted to continue to stay in touch, despite the long distance, informing me of his plans for the next time he'd be in SoCal.

From that day forward, not one day passed where we didn't talk to each other. It quickly escalated from texts to daily phone/video calls. The more we interacted with each other, I found myself slowly falling in love with him.

Flash forward a few months; he had plans to go to Hawaii with a friend and asked if I would be interested in his idea of switching his flight so that he could get a 4-hour layover in San Diego. This unfortunately did not work out, so the next idea was if I wanted to go visit him in Austin, TX. At this point, we were still in the talking stage, so I prayed about it and decided to make a trip out there to see him (the best decision I made).

The first day out in Texas, Andrew took me to Barton Springs Natural Pool, where we shared our first kiss. The next day followed with Andrew asking me to be his girlfriend. It was all history from there.

Being in a long-distance relationship while in nursing school and him in residency hasn't been easy, but we've truly made it work. Since we officially started dating, we've seen each other 1x a month, spending anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks together. I'm so very happy to see this long-distance chapter of our lives come to an end, with such an exciting future ahead!