finally.

Excitement filled the fall air as the incoming freshmen class moved into San Diego State University. The lines for the only two elevators inside Chapultepec (Chappy for short!) Residence Hall went on forever; making the seven floor trek up the stairs to our dorms the easiest journey. We both settled in and made friends with our floor-mates. A Tokyo city kid and a born & raised California girl, an unlikely pair indeed! But, we became the best of friends. We pulled all-nighters, ate together and laughed together, both excited to know someone completely unlike ourselves... and that's perhaps where it all began to change. There couldn't have been just one defining moment. Instead, it was a slow progression of melting into one another's person without knowing. Now, almost 10 years on, it has remained waking up each day and wanting nothing more than more time with your best friend.

After seven years, you officially know your significant other inside and out. It becomes nearly impossible to surprise each other without letting something slip. Knowing this, Mark had the difficult task of making this a surprise! Feigning an overdue housing charge from Chappy, he was able to get me down to SDSU without much hassle. We followed our usual "visiting SDSU" routine, which included lunch at Trujillo's Taco Shop and a walk through campus. When we got to our former dorm, Mark knocked on the front doors and asked the "manager" if we could go in to see our old floor. To my surprise, he said yes! The "manager" gave us a quick tour of the renovated bottom floor and then let us board the elevator, unaccompanied, to the seventh floor. Excited, I pulled my phone out and decided to record our trip down memory lane. The doors slid open and we turned right, into our dorm wing. I noticed that there were pictures decorating either side of the hallway and I moved to examine the first ones. The little boy in the pictures looked exactly like Mark so I quickly turned to him to point it out. The smile on his face said it all, and it clicked. He was going to propose! He had set up red string (which ties soulmates to each other in East Asian belief) on either side of the hallway. Our childhood pictures decorated our respective red strings and eventually tied our dorm room doors to each other, symbolizing the life we're choosing to have together. At the end of our flower lined hallway, he got down on one knee and proposed! & I obviously said yes! We laughed, I cried and we even got some of it on video! We are so excited to share this next chapter in our lives with you! Special thanks to the SDSU Housing Department for all the love <3 See you in San Diego!

Like many other couples around the globe, Covid-19 came and halted all plans for our special day. Despite the flurry of emails to our vendors, phone calls with our caterer, and games of tug of war with other couples trying to secure 2021 dates at our venue, we succeeded. We finally had an official date... again! And so, we waited. The hours of quarantine at home were endless. Through the streaming binges & old reruns, the midnight snacks & monotonous meal menus, the countless amounts of Lysol & hand sanitizer, with nothing but each other's company, we still want to get married! No matter the length time or the hardships along the way, we know our love is patient and strong enough to endure. But... July 10, 2021, still couldn't come fast enough!