Khoa and I had our first date at Shunka Sushi in 2016. I quickly learned that Khoa has a lot of great attributes: he’s smart, funny, highly sociable, attractive and loves sushi. It was also quickly apparent that he is fiercely loyal to his family and friends, and that he always wants to make the lives of others better. I was hooked from day one.

For our second date, I took Khoa to see Rogue One. I didn’t fully appreciate at the time that Khoa had never seen a Star Wars movie, and was dismayed that he wasn’t nearly excited enough that Darth Vader single handedly took out an entire platoon of rebel soldiers. Khoa eventually came to love Star Wars and now correctly believes that the original trilogy is good, the prequels are amazing, and the newest trilogy should never be spoken of again.

However, sushi and Star Wars were not enough as Khoa soon left Orange County for a new job in Seattle. Khoa and I visited each other every couple of weeks and explored the Pacific Northwest together. Thankfully, Khoa hated his job and decided to leave Seattle. I was overjoyed! Unfortunately, rather than return to California, Khoa decided to double down and moved to Florida to help his sister open a salon. Despite the distance, our visits continued and our love for one another grew stronger.

Khoa eventually grew tired of Florida’s swamps, humidity, and lack of good Vietnamese food, and returned to California in 2018. I was ecstatic that I got to see my favorite person every day. Khoa met my family and I think it is safe to say everyone loves him more than me! We moved into our first rental house in 2019, enjoyed work from home together in 2020, and got our beloved dog Ashford. In 2021, we bought our first house together and we have enjoyed making it our home with many pool parties and endless fun times.

Although I’ve known for years that I never wanted to be anywhere but by Khoa’s side, in 2023 we made it official and got engaged during a weekend trip. I later learned that Khoa became increasingly annoyed during this engagement weekend due to my continued procrastination in asking Khoa the question. Thankfully, he’s gotten used to that character flaw and still said yes!

Early in our times together, we learned that we loved getting away to Hawaii. While we’ve had great trips to all of the inhabited islands, Maui and its people hold a special place in our hearts. We are honored to have the opportunity to get married here and to relive our memories from the Big Day every time we come back to visit in the future. We look forward to greeting you in Maui!

As a final note, we are requesting no gifts at the wedding for us. To the extent you’d like to give something, we ask that gifts be directed to helping the people of Maui as they continue to recover from the tragedies of 2023. Two of our favorite organizations are:

Maui Strong Fund: https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/strengthening/maui-strong-fund

Maui Humane Society: https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/ways-of-giving/