Quan and I first met on a rainy mid-Autumn day. Saturday, October 30th to be exact. We were both invited to dinner at a mutual friend's house and were in our best dress- me in my long formal trench coat and him in his casual blue plaid pajama. Two very different personalities coming from two different worlds (and literally different fashion styles), but we've realized during the fleeting conversation that night that we shared more similarities than differences. There were too many secret glances which ended in me getting up and striking the first conversation with him alone (although to this day Quan doesn't believe that I made the first move). I truly thought that was our first and last time meeting each other, but lo and behold God did not plan to write His story for us that way. He opened many doors for us to meet again through a series of church events and group hangouts over the next few days, where we found ourselves gravitating towards each other talking about everything under the sun. Our shared love for photography. Our stressful but fulfilling jobs in finance that we started around the same time (working for each other's direct competitor, but we moved past that). Our unending passion for food. His intellect interests me, and his dry humor amuses me. The fleeting conversation from that first encounter became endless Instagram messages and eventual texts that never stopped coming even past midnight. I found myself starting my day with his "good morning" text and ending my day with his "good night" for three months straight until he finally asked me on a date after a month of prayer from both of us (and my comprehensive pros & cons analysis) and a series of heart-to-heart conversations about our dating values and what marriage truly means for us. Apparently he couldn't wait for the next time to see me in-person (given we never spent times alone with each other) and decided to call me at 11PM on Friday, January 7th asking if I would like to go on a date with him. Our first date was literally the next day and the rest is history.

Even through the ups and downs of our relationship, I always knew he was the lifetime subscription that God had prepared for me. The gift that I never thought I would receive. When I first caught COVID and was miserable, this is the man that asked to also get COVID, so I didn't have to be alone in my quarantine. When we were going through various relationship difficulties and I was at the crossroad of whether to pursue this attractive job opportunity which may also put our relationship in jeopardy, his immediate response was "go do the things you love, and I'll go wherever you go". I realized at that time that the thing that I love more than anything else in the world is to be by his side. To this day, this is the man that never lets a day go by without texting me his "good morning" or opening and holding the car's door for me even in the minor or major inconveniences. This is the man that loves the parts of me that are not easy to love - the one that I'm excited to be calling "home" soon.