SHE SAID 'JA'

4 years ago, with a bright blue poncho and muddy Chacos I set out to traverse 21 km through mountains of bright green rice fields. About 5 km in, it hit me — a motorbike, that is — straight to the shin, knocking me into the nearest rice paddy, and destroying the motor of this local’s vehicle. Running to my aid was Simon, a cute guy from Germany with adorable curls and a Jack Wolfskin backpack. Throughout the 3 days of the trek, Simon and I continued to navigate each other through the muddy trails, over running water creeks, as he sang me Taylor Swift songs and taught me German phrases. After a sufficient amount of rice wine and blisters, we left the trail and boarded our overnight train back to Hanoi, where Simon would leave to start his grad program in Vienna, and I would continue on my backpacking journey to Indonesia. The odds were not in our favor. We were entering two different worlds, but he made me a promise at the train station that I would see him again. It has been nearly four years, and we’re still navigating each other through the wilderness of life. We can not wait to celebrate our love with you on August 10th. P.S. Little did I know the boy with the matching poncho below would become my HUSBAND.