Cory's perspective: Zin and I’s meeting was very modern. As I so often say with affection, “it was love at first name.” This is because Zinmar’s name of “Zin” is also the name of a popular wine grape shortened from Zinfandel which is well grown and popular in California. We have a longstanding disagreement about whether I saw a photo of her in a vineyard before or after we started dating; the relevance of such further showing my initial attraction being wine-related. Regardless, it was around the Christmas holidays, so we were with our respective families but still managed to keep in touch. I hate talking on the phone but would somehow be able to converse with her for several hours. We got on well, as I could be as weird as I wanted without scaring her off, and the same eccentricities made her laugh. Zinmar's perspective: Re the wine barrel photo: I don't remember putting the wine barrel photo on the dating page. I think I sent that after we had already started chatting. Because I have low tolerance & prefer juice over alcohol, I don't think I'd advertise wine drinking on a dating page. Anyway, Cory & I met on Coffee Meets Bagel. I had chatted with a few guys before Cory, but didn't feel like conversations came very natural. With Cory, I found we had a lot in common, and we were able to chat for long periods of time. I looked forward to all his texts while he was in Washington with his family. He made a snowman of us holding hands and I thought it was so dang adorable and couldn't wait to meet him.

After they had been chatting for 2 weeks, Cory returned from Washington. Zinmar picked him up from the airport, and even switched work-shifts in order to do so. It was already very romantic at the start. It took Cory forever to find flowers for her (even though he is allergic), but he found some and surprised her with them. After they hugged, Cory spun Zinmar around in excitement. They then went to eat Ramen, which was funny because Cory was most excited about eating their fried chicken (apparently his favorite food of all time). They then went to eat ice cream (well, a giant sundae) at Leatherby's, and Cory once again was so excited that he spun Zinmar around in front of the ice cream place. Afterwards, they went for a walk and, high on delicious food, Cory held her hand. He's been holding her hand any time he can since.

Cory: I don't really remember our proposal well…I was very nervous & it was all a blur. I planned it to be during Chinese New Year’s at Zinmar's grandpa's house, so it would be in front of the whole family. The whole time I was so nervous I couldn’t eat anything or talk to anyone. Everyone thought I was sick or that Zinmar had put me on a diet. I had asked Zin’s Dad for permission that night, and he said he’d tell me when to ask. I remember Zin’s cousin and grandma leaving before getting her dad’s permission. I tried to convince them to stay so they wouldn’t miss it, but couldn't tell them why. Unfortunately, being so nervous, I could only think to say I’d miss them too much if they left, which was not much of an argument. Zin’s Dad eventually said, “Cory has a gift for Zinmar.” So I handed Zinmar my red envelopes, and one cousin teased, “Is he going to propose?” to which Zin immediately responded, “No, no, he just wants me to hold his red envelopes.” I remember her turning around and seeing me on a knee and looking very surprised. I don’t recall if I actually got any words out, but I remember trying to put a ring on her finger and cousin Cecilia shouting, “She didn’t say yes yet!" I then looked at horror at Zin, but she said “Yes.” I then sat next to her and almost hyperventilated while her aunts brought me peeled tangerines to calm me down. Zinmar: My most vivid memories of the proposal are: 1. Cory not eating. I thought he must be sick because he LOVES food and was looking forward to all the delicious food at the family potluck. I kept asking him if he wanted this or that and if he ate some onions that had made him sick. 2. His interaction with my cousin & grandma was so awkward. My grandma had to leave because she forgot her medicine and he insisted they stay a bit longer. I said, "Cory, let my grandma go home! She's tired & needs her meds! We'll see them again tomorrow, silly, why are you being weird"