Jan 2019 - I was living in Denver, Colorado halfway through a Bible School when I felt the Lord ask me to leave early, move to Dallas, and start my ministry... beginning with a vision trip to London and Israel in May/June. June 5 - A mutual friend insisted that we meet each other at the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast in Israel. Peter and I went to dinner... as friends. June 6 - Peter invites me to join him at the Holocaust Museum. I agreed and met him there.... completely shocked when he failed to mention he was there with his parents. #GreatSecondDate

June 7 - I leave for London and Peter invites me to July 4th weekend in New Orleans with 20+ friends. (In my mind, LOL NOPE). June 9 - Peter finds out I’m moving to Dallas and offers to fly to Texas for the weekend to help me move into my new apartment. (In my mind, LOL DOUBLE NOPE) June 11 - I fly back to the states. Peter calls and we end up on a FaceTime for 4 hours. June 12 - I move into my new apartment in Dallas. Peter calls me that evening to ask how it went. I told him it was easy, I’ve been in missions for the last 2.5 years... all I have are clothes on hangers and 2 cat mugs. He asks, “what are you sleeping on then?” Me, “I have a 4-inch mattress pad!” “When are you going to get furniture?” “I just signed an 8 month lease on an apartment. That’s by far the biggest commitment I’ve made in the last 2.5 years... the last thing I want is anything holding me back from going whenever God sends me out again!” .... a few days later, there’s a Casper Mattress sitting outside my apartment door.

July 3 - I agreed and met Peter in New Orleans for the weekend. We helds hands for the first time. July 4 - We shared our first kiss after watching a re-run of the Democratic Debates. July 5 - Peter heard my testimony for the first time. Later that evening, he wanted to define the relationship. Peter made it clear he was “intentionally pursuing me.” “Huh?” “I’m pursuing you with intent. Do you know what that means? We’re not dating just to date.” July 9 - Shared our first “I love you” in DC. July 25 - Had the engagement talk and realized we could get married that day. But... we wanted to honor our family and friends by introducing each other to them. By month 2 - Peter flew down to meet my parents in Houston and took me ring shopping. He spent the remainder of the month flying around the country every weekend to meet all my loved ones and church friends. He somehow even found time and surprised me on a trip to Kona, Hawaii! By month 3 - I was in Israel for ministry and he surprised me to celebrate our “3 month” anniversary in the city we first met. (Who flies all the way to Jerusalem for only 36 hours?!) By month 4 - Peter proposes in NYC AND WE’RE ENGAGED!!! Our wedding will be month 9 (haha no, we aren’t expecting) and we can’t wait to gather all of our friends and family from all around the world for this special day!

I went to work in NYC on Friday, October 4th, having planned this day and weekend for a month. The ring was locked away in a safe, 400+ people were aware of engagement party plans, and reservations had been made. There was no backing out now. The engagement involved an “Afternoon Tea” reservation at a fancy hotel to get Allison dressed up and her hair washed. While we were at tea, a photographer was getting set up in Gramercy Park, picking the perfect spot. With a hotel reservation at Gramercy Park Hotel, one can gain entrance to the park via concierge. It was a 4-block walk to Gramercy Park after finishing tea. Allison was completely unaware that this day would change her life. We approached the park with the park door held open for us, at which point Allison started to get a clue. Everything went hazy when I walked to the spot that the photographer had picked for us, got down on one knee and asked “Allison Marie Ngo, will you marry me?” I think she said yes.. it was all a blur. We spent an hour telling our families and then spent the rest of the weekend celebrating with friends. We headed right to a NYC engagement party hosted by my Best Man, Max Dutcher. The next morning, I woke her up at 5 AM and we took the first flight out to Denver, Colorado. I rented a house in the mountains for an engagement party hosted by Kelsey Rygh, Heather Naumovitz and Jonathan Wei, where over 30 of Allison’s friend were waiting to surprise her for a weekend of celebration and worship.