Li-Yea and Thomas’ first date was…a lot of Thomas talking about nerdy things and Li-Yea graciously letting him do so. For those of you that know Thomas, that’s probably no surprise. Luckily, Li-Yea saw enough in him to say yes to a second date and get to truly know him. More importantly, Thomas stopped talking long enough to find out that Li-Yea is one of the most wonderful people in the world. Over three years later Li-Yea said yes again and they are now getting married on March 17th, 2024!

Li-Yea and Thomas’ relationship was built during the pandemic, a time when traditional dates were hard to come by. Due to this, they spent a lot of their early relationship going on picturesque picnics. Thomas wanted to recreate the feeling of these romantic afternoons during his proposal to Li-Yea. He planned out a few days in San Diego and Anaheim that would include a trip the zoo and Disneyland, eating at some nice restaurants, and of course the picnic. Unfortunately, the day of the picnic was blustery and quite cold, so when Li-Yea and Thomas got to the park, Li-Yea asked if they could just eat their tacos and soup in the car. Thomas felt conflicted, and he seriously considered putting off popping the question and just treating the week of activities as a nice vacation. He was, however, too excited about the prospect of asking the woman he loves to marry him, so he swallowed some pride and proposed over soup in a Prius C. Li-Yea said yes and neither one of them regret their choices that day.