We met at JMU during Amber's senior year (in Oct 2012), Willy just graduated from VT and visited JMU on a retreat for the non-profit we both volunteered at (Mid-Atlantic Union of Vietnamese Student Associations / MAUVSA). We met through mutual friends and became... just acquaintances. A year later, Willy moved to Chicago for Dental school and Amber had a work trip there so we got to hang out together for the first time. One of our mutual friends, told each of us separately, that he thought we would be good together. We both didn't think much of it since Willy went away for school for the next 4 years. Amber happened to visit Chicago each of those years for other reasons but hung out with Willy each time. We kept in touch and were long distance friends. During his senior year, we started talking more and more, then he asked if she would go on a Korea trip with him in December, Ishe said yes not thinking it would really happen. Then she asked if he would be her date to a wedding in Cancun a couple months before the Korea trip. He said no :( but ended up deciding to go! After that he asked her to be his girlfriend on Black Friday when he was home from break and we ended up dating long distance for 6 months before he moved home to Virginia.

Willy planned to propose months before it actually happened. He had the ring and left it out everywhere - in his car, on his desk and I never noticed. Closer to the proposal date, he even left out his string lights and I just accepted that they were Christmas lights even though he never put them up. Willy asked Thuy to keep me busy on December 30th by having her ask me to go her company "holiday" party. I thought it was weird that it was RIGHT before New Year's but accepted when she said her company was just cheap by having it on a Sunday in a restaurant. I was actually busy that day with a family baby shower but then the same day my mom texted me and told me that we couldn't go anymore. I didn't realize something was fishy about the plans changing so easily! It turns out that after I said I was busy, Willy told my parents his plans that same day. That day, Thuy and I planned to go do our nails and get ready together. But I ended up doing my nails with my mom (black with glitter!). My mom told me it looked good! She even knew about the proposal and let me go through with that! Thankfully, Thuy peer pressured to get pale pink and match her. Before we were supposed to leave, she said we need to go earlier so we can pregame. I just said ok and didn't think much of it. We arrived at the location which I recognized because I had been before. She didn't know which way to go and I was just following blindly until I saw balloons and said "Wow what's going on there!?" thinking it was a proposal or something. It turned out, it was but I still didn't realize it was for me even after I saw Willy. Then I was crying all the way down the walk way. After I said yes, our family and friends came out and surprised us! Afterwards, we headed to Frank's house for the engagement party! It was funny to look back on moments leading up to the proposal, Donna and John were driving right behind us, and Thuy actually parked her car right next to Willy's and I didn't even see!