welcome to our beginning

A quiet but bold aspiring basketball player whose skills rivaled the rest. A passionate, yet eccentric girl with hopes and dreams of becoming an actress. This isn't your next Disney movie. It's just Josh and Nikki, both at 11 years old. Spoiler alert- Josh didn't make it to the NBA and Nikki is certainly not on Broadway. Yet, their love story is as classic and pure as time itself. Both raised in loving and hardworking families, Josh and Nikki met at Brookwood Elementary School. Although seeing each other around the schoolyard since 3rd grade, not a word was shared between them until 5th grade. Nikki started riding the same school bus as Josh and was seated next to him. Although frizzy-haired and exceedingly strange, Josh found her charming. It took weeks for him to muster up the courage to say something to her. Eventually, the two bonded over a slightly traumatizing hail storm during the afternoon bus ride home. Eventually, they were telling each one another about their day on the bus; bonding over their shared Asian culture, and endlessly conversing about Pokemon. They spent the remainder of 5th grade growing closer in friendship. They even found out they had the same piano teacher that came to their houses to teach. They discreetly would use her as a medium to pass one another notes and candy. Eventually, school re-zoning separated the two and they were assigned to two different middle and high schools. As a kid with no way of communicating, that's basically a death sentence for a friendship. The last day of 5th grade was a tearful one. Josh told his cousin and future groomsman (Danh Vo), "Well, I'll never talk to her again probably so I should probably just tell I like her." He asked Danh to tell Nikki how he felt by writing it her yearbook for him. Thinking he could get away with doing that, Josh thought that it was his last ditch effort to tell Nikki this information. She sat next to him on the bus later that afternoon, blushing and beaming. She wrote her own home phone number and her AOL Instant Messenger username in his yearbook. The two promised to keep in touch. As the middle school years trudged by, the two leaned on another for support through phone calls and instant messaging. Nikki's initial feelings for Josh begin to start then.

As high school came, the pair started speaking less frequently. They never missed greeting one another on their birthdays on Facebook. Josh became more active in playing basketball through an amateur league. Nikki was entrenched in dancing competitively and participating in community musical theatre. The two really hadn't changed that much since 5th grade. Both excelled academically in school and were deeply involved with their churches. Although still friends, the two experienced the joys and pains of being teenagers. Learning who they were, starting to date, and navigating high school were just some of them. While they didn't know it yet, the two shared the commonality of cultivating their own personal relationships with God. One fateful cold weekend in January of their senior year of high school, Nikki was invited by her friend to a weekend cabin church retreat. Upon arriving to the cabin and feeling awkward and not knowing anyone, Nikki instantly regretted going and was already hastily making plans to call her dad to drive into the middle of the woods to pick her up. It was then that a young man carrying firewood ran into her. Hastily apologizing, she helped him gather what he dropped and quickly realized it was Josh. He was taller and stronger, his voice was deeper, but he still looked the same. The two burst into laughter and joy at their unexpected reunion. Nikki ended up not calling her dad. The whole weekend, the pair stole glances at one another and shared smiles across the room. Nikki admired Josh's demeanor when he spoke about God. He spoke about Him the way you would talk about a reliable friend. He seemed so honest and genuine about his faith and laid it all on the table. She was very impressed. Josh was so happy to see his childhood crush, but like in 5th grade- had no idea what to say. In true Josh fashion, he waited until the very last day of the weekend retreat to give Nikki his cellphone number. As senior year ended, the two went off to two separate colleges. Nikki moved to Athens to attend the University of Georgia and Josh started his freshman year living in Atlanta at Georgia State University. After a couple months of living in the city, Josh quickly realized that living in Atlanta was not where he was comfortable. Already making a game plan to transfer somewhere else, he suddenly remembered that Nikki attended UGA. He dug around until he found her cellphone number and quickly texted her to see if she could show him around. In October 2015, he spent the weekend with her as she showed him around her new college town. To be completely honest, we don't even remember what happened or how it happened. That weekend in Athens changed everything. Just a month later, they confessed their feelings for another and began their relationship on November 24th, 2015.

Of course, the rest is history. As most of you know, Josh ended up transferring to the University of Georgia where the pair spent a majority of their dating years. They spent their school years spending most of their time together and found a family with UGA FSA. Here, they met some of their closest friends. Josh and Nikki shared so much during these years. Lots of tears, laughter, deep conversations, stupid arguments, healthy and deep discussions. They cared for one another in times of illness and rejoiced in times of celebration. They were each other's rock through the deaths of both of their late maternal grandmothers. Their biggest joy yet was the rescue of a tiny, skinny Pitbull named Autumn that grew their hearts three sizes. They helped one another grow emotionally, physically, and spiritually. They became a part of each others' families. Soon enough, Nikki was hanging out with Josh's cousins by herself and even became a Godmother to one (Dana). Josh was coming over to eat dinner with Nikki's parents while she was away for grad school. The two have jetsetted all over the U.S. and they currently have dreams of spending their lives together seeing the world. Both graduated with their Bachelors degrees from the University of Georgia in May 2019. Nikki graduated with her 2 Masters degrees in May 2021. Josh followed after in May 2022- both from the University of Georgia. All this fairy tale needed now was a ring. After his Masters hooding ceremony and surrounded by his family, Nikki's family, and their best friends- Josh looked at his girlfriend of 6 years. When he looked at her- he not only saw his proud girlfriend beaming at him. All at once, he saw his best friend, his childhood crush, his life companion that would help him get to Heaven. He saw the weird frizzy haired girl with the Spongebob glasses and he saw the young woman he knew he wanted to spend his life with. Although Nikki didn't know what was coming next, she looked at him with pride and saw her best friend, her rock, and her unwavering and consistent companion. He got down on one knee and they made official what they've known since the beginning. And the best part is- God is still writing. We are so honored and happy that you all will be with us to celebrate our union.