We're throwing a big party to ring in our new titles as Mister & Missus on Saturday, December 21, 2024! As of today, 7/29/2024, we hope that you have received your invitations by now. We are becoming more and more excited as each sleep draws us nearer to celebrating with all of your beautiful faces. We'll continue adding content in the days leading up to our big day, so please check back periodically!

It was August 2009, I was 24, about to be 25. My heart had just been broken to pieces. The market crashed and I was jobless. My finances were in abysmal disarray. Creditors called daily, late fees were adding up, I was behind on rent, getting displaced. Severe depression had set. I was a complete mess. But, unbeknownst to me at the time, the crux of rock bottom was behind me - it was a positive trajectory from here. My high school friend, Arlo (If you're reading this - TYY!), would regularly post his catches of halibut on Facebook. I had reached out to him, asking if he would invite me over the next time he caught fish. Sure enough, once became twice became a regular occasion, eventually leading to those nights being affectionately dubbed "Typical Tuesdays", where we'd round up all the homies, cook up his daily catch, make tacos, paired with amazing special sauce we'd thrown together. In the days he had been skunked (no fish caught) by the fishing gods, we'd purchase fish and a case of Heineken from the market and play darts, ping pong, beer pong, drinking games, karaoke, have meaningless and meaningful conversations. Just all around have a jolly ol' time. In fact, many life friendships/ relationships (including with Loanie!) were born during these times. As fate would have you, Arlo must've caught halibut the day after and ran back-to-back days, hosting a Wednesday edition of "Typical Tuesday's". We had gathered already when our mutual friend, Austin, reached out. He had just finished watching the movie "(500) Days of Summer" with his "homegirl" (slang for platonic female friend - so cringey, I know) and they weren't quite done with the night. They decided to swing by Arlo's as the night was still young. I vividly remember I had been in the midst of a game of ping pong when Austin arrived, making his rounds and introducing his friend, Loanie, to everyone. I was laser-focused in the game, but she, with the white plumeria flower donned in her left ear, secretly caught the corner of my eye. Now, I had been quite skilled at ping pong, able to place my shots within inches of a target on the ping pong table, but peculiarly, not this night. I continued playing horribly - my coordination was skewed? An earthquake? I wasn't wearing my glasses? There was sweat in my eyes? The balls were surely all lopsided or defective? Bizarre because as Loanie spectated from the sidelines, the ping pong balls were seemingly attracted to her as if she had been some kind of ping pong ball magnet. The flurries of ping pong balls from my end of the table, rocketing towards her were the first (purely accidental) shots I would take at her. The night progressed as one would expect on a "Typical Tuesday," on a Wednesday, and we transitioned into playing a game called King's Cup, where she ended up taking a seat next to me. She seemed to have been a bit annoyed towards me, perhaps a bit traumatized from my poor aim in ping pong, so it was only small talk. After several rounds of King's Cup, drinks ran low and munchies were trending high, so Loanie left with Dang in his silver Tacoma for a re-up. Once they had returned, we would go onto singing karaoke on the Magic Mic. I had only ever sung karaoke within the past three weeks of this night, but sang my heart out to "Creep" by Radiohead, my go-to song. I should mention that downstream, she'd eventually disclose to me that she found my karaoke voice "enthusiastic", though, not quite sure that's a good thing, come to think of it! The night inevitably drew to a close and I would regretfully learn that she had to return home in San Jose by the end of the week; so, I chalked off the night as a very memorable one and we parted ways. The story could have ended there, but about two days later, an AOL Instant Message came through at 3:44 AM: *waves* hi there Loanie recently clarified that Austin had offered my contact to her - she didn't ask for it! One would think the rest is history - but, it wasn't!

2019 was a very special year over the decade we'd known each other at that point. Loanie came up with the idea of celebrating my birthday in Yosemite that year, which would be the first time I'd return after 20 years and her very first time visiting. After that trip, I would fall deeply in love with Yosemite. Thus, naturally, quite a few trips back would follow, solo and several times with together. It was after that trip in 2019 that you may have noticed that photography and Yosemite had progressively become more and more of an obsession to me. If not, you may have noticed a couple of ants precariously perched at the edge of a steep cliff above Yosemite Valley, thousands of feet above the valley floor in the postcards, which we hope you've received by now. I say "ants" because our cousin Evelyn, upon receiving the postcard, exclaimed in the voice of Zoolander, "What is this - a hill? For ants?!" Subject photo was captured by yours truly (Credit to my cousin Derek for carrying my tripod and ensuring the camera was operating as expected to make this shot possible) of me proposing to Loanie. Yes, it's really us! Not photoshopped, not AI! Disappointingly, though I had wanted this to be the location for the actual proposal, the photo doesn't depict the actual proposal as by this point we had already been engaged for two months. However, this photo at this location is still meaningful as it represents a culmination of years of planning, waiting and painstakingly keeping it a huge secret from Loanie. Getting to this location required prayer and surrendering to God as it's a roughly 3-mile out and back hike from the trailhead over undulating terrain. To any able-bodied, moderately active person, this may seem easy physically. However, if you've been around me the past decade, you may know that I had been suffering from severe osteoarthritis in both of my hips, prompting me to be deliberate with travel, limited to when it is more or less mandatory. The cartilage between my hips' ball and socket had deteriorated and one of my hips had collapsed, bone grinding on bone with every agonizing step. In the years leading up to this photo moment, I would often dauntingly wonder, "How in the world will I physically reach this spot?" As if the logistics of physically reaching the spot weren't discouraging, Glacier Point Road, the only road offering access to the primary trailhead for this location was closed after the first snowfall of 2020 and would remain closed all of 2021 and 2022, years during which I just knew she had been secretly waiting patiently for me to convey my intentions. So, the first time we would eventually take the hike to get this shot would be the first time for both of us - I was unable to scout this location before the proposal. As soon as I'd learn that the road would reopen sometime in 2023, I would work towards acquiring the ring, which I was truly blessed to have successfully been able to accomplish. Afterward, the official park website would finally update the road's status after three long years of being closed, indicating that the road would reopen April 2023. I'd then start planning the trip with Loanie, with the ring burning in its secret hiding spot. I would soon discover that reopening would be delayed again, to late May 2023. I decided to push the trip to June thinking the road would certainly be open by then. To my dismay, when we arrived to Yosemite, a park ranger at the entrance advised that the road would remain closed until July. I truly was shattered, heartbroken. When Loanie tells the story of this photo, she recalls the disappointment in my voice as I heard the terrible news. I had of course planned a back-up location where proposal proceeded and succeeded as scheduled, but if only she had known! Eventually, we'd both return to Yosemite about two months after we were officially engaged, persistent with chasing this shot. As you may have already gathered, it was mission accomplished!