cheers to the cheas

It was a February evening get together at the Chea house when Amanda & Jonathan first met. Amanda came over to see Christina, a water polo friend whom she hadn't seen in awhile due to graduating high school. Amanda was now a sophomore in college and Jonathan had just graduated with his B.S from UCI. Amanda remembered the moment she walked into the room and first saw Jonathan, she had no idea Christina had such a handsome older brother. He was wearing a dark blue long sleeve and laughing with friends, she tried hard not to blush but felt her face get hot as she walked outside where Christina was. A couple nights after, Amanda was working at the CSUSB Rec Center as a lifeguard, but since the pool was down, she had to work inside the gym, where Jon came often to work out. She noticed him every time he came to the gym after that night, but struggled to say hi. Finally, Jon came up to her as she was folding towels and they talked. Not long after that day, Amanda received her first message from Jon over Facebook Messenger at midnight! (Due to a push from Jon's friend Matt) They began talking on messenger for a few days until Jon asked for her number and he asked her on their first date. The first date was planned for March 27th. It was a family effort on Amanda's end. She remembers her whole family packing up the 5th wheel after a spring break vacation at San Clemente to get her back home for her first date with Jon. She got ready as quickly as possible and before she knew it, Jon was there ready to pick her up. Jon's itinerary consisted of Thai food, (where Amanda quickly showed her lack of skills in navigating Jon to the restaurant), Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach Lighthouse, Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles, Starbucks, Ontario Mills, and lastly, the Lego Movie. Amanda had never been on such a detail oriented date, nor been with such a respectful, caring, and funny guy. From that moment, they both knew they had something pretty special.

Jonathan finally asked Amanda to be his girlfriend on the first day of summer, June 21st, 2014, at San Clemente on a cliff at sunset. Jon was getting ready to apply to several occupational therapy programs. Amanda was continuing her BA at CSUSB. Amanda and Jon worked hard and spent their days going to Disneyland with his sisters Christina and Jessica, going camping and having fun wherever they went. Soon after, Jon decided he wanted to become a nurse. In 2015, he applied to South Dakota and got into an accelerated nursing program. Jon and Amanda got ready to move him out to South Dakota and prepare for a year of their soon long distance relationship. It was hard in the beginning, but soon after they settled in 2,000 miles away from each other hard at work in school. Jon excelled in his program and started up his own vlog on the side. Amanda started her credential program and student taught in Yucaipa while working as a customer service manager and lifeguard at the rec center and a hostess at a restaurant. Amanda made care packages for Jon and was able to fly out to SD a couple times to the wonderful 5 mile wide city of Aberdeen. Once December of 2016 came, they were more than ready to drive Jonathan back home. Jonathan became a licensed RN after passing his NCLEX and began applying to jobs back home. He was able to land a position as an ICU nurse at Redlands Community Hospital. Amanda graduated from CSUSB with her BA and credential and accepted a job offer from Redlands Unified as a 5th grade teacher. Amanda and Jon were finally able to work hard in their careers after their college years. They also added two furry babies to their small family, Lucy and Harley. Amanda and Jonathan were able to go on vacations in between their jobs. They went to Cancun together with his best friend Sandeep, explored Cambodia, and finally the Philippines with her siblings and his sibling, Christina.

In 2019, Amanda was finishing up teaching 3rd grade and Jon had been an ICU nurse for about 3 years. They scheduled to go to the Philippines with family. Little did Amanda know, this trip was planned for Jon's proposal. Amanda, Jon, Patrick, Jessica S. Brandon, and Christina made their way through the Philippines on the island of El Nido. Once sunset drew near on March 19th, Jon told the group he wanted everyone to dress up to take pictures on a local private island. Once everyone got ready, they hopped into a boat, and their host Sam drove them over to the island. Everyone was sunburnt with smiles from ear to ear as they drove across teal waters and looked at the El Nido island coastline. Once they docked the boat, they all got out and started exploring the island. Christina started flying the drone, Patrick whipped out his phone, Brandon held the Canon and Jon walked over to Amanda holding their Adventure book. He handed her the Adventure book where he added pictures of the past few years together detailing specific wonderful memories of their time together from Cambodia to getting their fur babies, Lucy and Harley. Once she came to the last page, she noticed a picture of Jon's hand holding an open ring box with the most gorgeous ring inside. She looked up, to see Jon on one knee, holding that same ring, the ring he had designed for Amanda and had been keeping for this special moment. The rest of the trip was full of motor bike and island adventures that they will keep dear to their hearts forever. It was truly a trip of a lifetime. After the Philippines trip, summer of 2019 came and Jon got ready to head out of state again, this time to Texas to attain his Doctorate of Nurse Anesthesia. Jonathan had been hard at work and got accepted to this rigorous and competitive program back in January when he interviewed. As Jon worked hard in Texas, Amanda continued to teach first grade back in California while finishing up her Masters of Science in Education at CBU.

After Jon came back from Texas, the pandemic hit. Life suddenly became very unprecedented and the world shut down. Just as everyone felt their lives change, so did Jon and Amanda. They experienced hardships and rebuilt their relationship from the ground up. Their wedding plans came to a halt, but they continued to grow and build a stronger foundation for their future. After a year of focusing on themselves and their relationship, Amanda decided she wanted to play against tradition and propose to Jon. During a trip up to Bishop in May 2021, Amanda planned the proposal with the help of her sisters and Abrar. After reaching the summit of the mountain, Amanda took out a ring and asked Jon to spend the rest of his life with her. Two years after their original wedding date of December 20th, 2020, they planned a new wedding date for May 28th, 2022, where they will FINALLY say "I do".