We met as students in St. Olaf College studying abroad on a semester-long program, The Global Semester, and traveled around the world in eight countries. Ian pursued Nancy first during the trip, utilizing his unparalleled charm, wit, and humor. Nancy was not having it at first, but always knew there was something special about him. By the time they had reached Thailand, Nancy and Ian began their relationship. Since then, it's been a long journey of graduating from college, transitioning to a long-distance relationship while Ian returned to Hong Kong and Nancy was in Minnesota, and navigating through more long distance during graduate school. A time came when we made a decision to finally be together and then the COVID pandemic happened. We halted our plans to focus on safety and taking care of our loved ones, and as soon as vaccines allowed for the slow transition back to some "normalcy", we decided we needed to make our life happen. We celebrated in an intimate Hmong cultural ceremony with Nancy's family, while videoing in Ian's parents from Hong Kong, and then moved to Colorado to finish off his doctoral studies. After Colorado, Ian's post-doctoral internships brought us out west to California, a place where we both are now planting roots and calling our home. Supporting each other has always been important to us, alongside spending time with our loved ones. While we live far from Minnesota, we visit so often that we still very much consider ourselves part-time Minnesotans. We love our life in the Bay Area and always knew that getting married in Minneapolis would truly bring our story full circle. We are thrilled and grateful that we can officially celebrate in community with our loved ones for the very first time.