Thao Linh and Hieu first met in September of 2008 at the University of Texas at Austin in Vietnamese class. Linh was a sassy little girl and Hieu was a spry young gent, so it was natural that they never talked to each other... but as luck would have it, they ended up working together to help his friend Alex plan her friend My Linh's birthday celebration, which was perfect because Linh loves planning and Hieu loves being lazy. Over the years at UT, they grew to become good friends, enjoying free music at the Long Center, plays at Zilker Park, hiking the greenbelt, scrambling in the dark playing Night Ultimate frisbee, and volunteering in the soup kitchen at the crack of dawn.

Once out of school, like all best buddies, they each emailed one another once a year to wish a Happy Birthday! This was the only contact for years until one fall when Hieu came back to Austin to visit his friend Tri, Linh found out he was in town and guilted him into attending her sister Thao Hanh's art exhibition. Hieu thought, "Dang this chick is too into me, I'll call Alex out to diffuse the situation". Later that night as Hieu and Alex were entranced by Hanh's amazing artwork, Linh made an appearance that Hieu still remembers to this day. She had that heart-warming smile of an angel but wore a dark leather jacket with spicy long leather boots and dazzling earrings... and his only thoughts were "Wow, she reeeally grew up!" Within that moment, the impossible happened, his artic heart melted a wee bit, and that's when he began seeing her in a new light.

While still only emailing every 6 months for the next few years, they decided to begin traveling together, first only as friends but then they grew and grew together, enjoying trips that had them dancing in the street parades of New Orleans, trekking through the rugged wilderness of Banff National Park, roadtripping from Austin to explore exciting eats in Denver, and the list goes on and on.

After 12 years of friendship and 3 years of dating, Hieu knew he couldn't imagine being 98 years old without Linh by his side, doing things they do best: eating pasta together, hiking mountains together, making fun of people together. So that's when he knew he was ready to ask for her marriage, and in no other place than the motherland of her favorite foods - Italy.