How it Started and How it's Going

Tomorrow, Camilla and I celebrate our 2nd anniversary together. On October 17 of 2018, Camilla and I went on our first date to a humble little gyro shop next to a gas station. Best first date ever. Since then, we've had a fun journey, so I wanted to dedicate this blog post to reflect on our story.

Our story starts with a meeting in Houston in the summer of 2018 where we were on a mission to bring the Young Adults of North Houston together for a series of talks and discussions. Camilla and I were liaisons for our respective groups - she was there representing her church and I was there for YCP Houston.

I have this memory of being in one of our first official meetings where we were introducing ourselves. We were sitting around the room and Camilla was a few seats to the right of me. She introduced herself and I couldn't help but think "dang, she's so educated" as she was telling us about herself and how she's working toward her Master's degree. That was my first impression of her, and about a month or two later, we had our first spark of romantic interest.

We were at another meeting at a different church and Camilla was sitting diagonally across the room from me, to the left. At the meeting, I cracked a few jokes and said some things and looked over to her to see how she'd react, and I guess there was something there because she was smiling. I didn't have the courage to do anything at that time and I wasn't quite sure if she was looking for a relationship, so things just sat there for awhile.

Funny enough, my question on her relationship status was answered when we found each other on a dating app a few weeks later. We connected and started talking almost immediately. After a few weeks of chatting and a little bit of waiting, I set up our first date. Naturally, we had a nice first date because it formalized the very casual conversations we had in the previous weeks. We were still getting to know each other and figuring out whether this relationship would work. What better setting to do this than a small gyro shop next to a gas station?!

As our relationship developed, there were a few concerns in both of our minds because she's from Ohio. After her Master's program, she might have moved back home. But guess what? Your boy Khang was such a catch, that after a few months of dating, we made it official and she decided that she'd stay in Houston. Oh yeah!

Our first year together was a pretty typical one - we celebrated many milestones, we talked about nearly everything that came to our minds (especially faith and finances), had a few disagreements, talked about hopes and dreams for our futures, and all the other typical first-year stuff. Our second year together is when thing really started to ramp up. We did so much together that we were nearly inseparable. We were volunteering together, mingling our finances together, started our side hustle together, and got serious with this blog. We grew in our relationship in ways we've never done with anyone else, and in March, I took the next obvious step and and asked her to marry me!

We were nervous about getting on the plane to go to Norway because we had heard murmurings of a virus that was spreading throughout the world. We were excited, but in the back of our minds, we knew there was a lot to be worried about. We just wanted to get to Norway and enjoy our vacation because we spent a lot of time planning the trip and I had gotten things ready to propose.

Fortunately, our trip to Norway was pretty smooth, and our trip was excellent because of our long layover in New York, thanks to our Priority Pass. The Sunday after we arrived was the day for the big question. I had prepared by memorizing what I wanted to say to Camilla. Her mother and sister helped me find a good spot to make it happen. We were all set. After breakfast, I pulled her over to a private area in front of a book case (she loves reading, if you didn't know already), and I got down on one knee popped the question. She said yes!

So that's the story of our engagement - the short version anyway. Maybe one day I'll tell you the long version in the future, where we were frantically trying to get home amidst a global pandemic, and spent 20 straight hours traveling from Norway back to Houston.

In the 2 years we've spent together, we've shared so much love. It's something I wish everybody could have. We've had many laugh-so-hard-I'm-crying situations, many difficult conversations of how we felt about one another, we prayed for one another, prayed with each other, traveled thousands of miles together, faced fears together, supported one another in good times and in bad, and so much more. We've had multiple disagreements, but we've always somehow found common ground to understand each other.

We were once told "Sometimes, you just know it in your knower." And it's true - in this case, my knower was my mind, it was my heart, and it was my gut. You just know - and for me, I just knew Camilla was the one, even really early on. Camilla agrees, too :)

So here we are, engaged to be married in less than 6 months! We've come a long way, and we've got the rest of our lives together to figure all of this out, but we're ready - we're so excited! We are uncertain of how this will play out with the pandemic, but we know for sure that our marriage will happen, regardless of the situation. So as we continue to prepare for marriage, we hope that you pray for us.

With much love,

Khang (and Camilla)