We met in college at University of California, Riverside in the year 2013. We both had joined a social/cultural club called Nikkei Student Union (NSU), which focused on fun, education, and fundraising events while bringing together those who shared interest in Japanese-American culture. In Amy's third year of NSU, Justin and Amy began to build a relationship through their mutual friends. She somehow convinced him to run for Vice President of NSU, which he did during their senior year. Just 1 year later, Amy asked Justin to be their housemate, and to her surprise, he agreed! Over the next 6 months, they became good friends and spent a lot of time going out to eat, attending music festivals, and adoring Amy's new fur baby, Nalu. Eventually, that friendship grew into something more, and the rest? Well, let's say the rest is history!

While we went out with friends on many occasions, our first date with just the two of us happened in November 2014. Amy had been looking forward to attending an Audien tour show concert in Orange County with a friend, however, at the last minute, her friend cancelled and said he couldn't go. She really wanted to go still, but wasn't too sure about going alone. Justin said he would be happy to go with her, and that made her light up. So, the night of the show, Amy got ready, hair did, makeup on, a cute skirt and even heels, and she met up with Justin at the Irvine Spectrum. This is the first night she met Randi Martinez (and was, of course, super nervous to meet one of Justin's best friends). Luckily, Randi was super kind and easy to talk to, and that was the start of their friendship. Justin was dressed in his usual, a classic Porter Robinson graphic T-shirt, but with jeans and comfortable shoes (the smarter choice). We drove up to the venue together, and, needless to say, it was a blast! We danced, we sang, and it was a great first date. And since that night, we continued going to music shows and events together, becoming closer and making great memories with friends and each other.

We dated for 5-6 months before putting a label on it because we were in our senior year and about to graduate - and, possibly, go on our separate ways in life to pursue our goals. Justin had been studying as a Japanese major and had in mind to leave for Japan for a teaching job. Amy had strong feelings for Justin, and made her feelings known, but knew from her last relationship that she was not interested in that kind of long-distance relationship. Before we officially started dating, he had not said much about whether he wanted to be in a relationship. After considerable thought, Justin suddenly pulled Amy aside and said, "I love you." He graduated, got a job in Long Beach, and moved to Carson to stay in California. And in the next 5 years, we wouldn't live in the same city. Countless Skype calls (and failures), text messages with hearts and "I miss you"s were sent. Some months we would drive every weekend just to spend a few hours together. And then, 2020, COVID hits the world. For us, while it brought on a whole new set of challenges, it also brought us the opportunity to live together. While Justin continued to commute to work in Anaheim, traffic came to a standstill. In July 2020, we found our first apartment together in Mission Valley. Fast-forward to today, we are soon to be moving to a 2 bedroom condo a few miles from our current place. It's been a really long journey, but everything was worth it, if it meant we get to be together now.

It will be 7 years together by the time we marry in April of next year. And somehow it has not felt that long, and yet, at the same time, we have grown together and changed so much from the first time when we met. So, what does the future hold? Amy currently works in Downtown San Diego in the property management industry, and Justin continues to work in Anaheim and part-time remotely in the defense industry. She plans to continue to gain more technical knowledge and is considering the possibility of going back to school in order to pursue further roles in leadership and management. Justin plans to pursue work in another industry that can offer remote work full-time and more opportunity in career growth and employee impact. He has also thought about going back to school if the industry would require this. We both want to travel more and create a life with work-life balance so that we can enjoy the most out of life together. We may even move to a different state in the not-quite-so-near future, depending on how life goes in the next couple of years.