Celebrating Our 3 Year Anniversary

On July 31st, my husband and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary! 

We met on July 14th 2007. We were introduced by a friend! 

My friend called me up one day and asked me what my weekend plans were.. He said, "I just met the perfect guy for you." And the minute I saw him... I was smitten!  We exchanged numbers and went on our first date the following day... From that moment.. We were together 24/7! 

My husband accidebtly proposed on feb 14, 2010. By "accidentally", I meant.. On feb 14th, we were visiting my parents for the Lunar New Year, my husband asked my parents for permission to marry me.. Confused by all American white traditions, my mom quickly said yes, ran into the living room where my dad was napping and I was watching TV and screamed at my dad,  "get up! Anna's getting married!!!" And that is how I became engaged. My mom proposed.

We had a traditional engagement on May 12th. I wore a Vietnamese dress (Ao Dai) that I designed. Josh surprised me by getting down on bended knee to proposed. I cried like a little baby because I don't do well when I'm nervous! 

Here are some of our engagement photos:

We were married on July 31, 2010. We had a beautiful ceremony at my church in Laguna hills, Ca. All the flowers, bouquets and boutonnière's were made by my family.

We had a bridal party of 7 bridesmaids, 7 groomsmen, 2 flower girls and 2 ring bearers. Huge.

Our reception was held on a yacht. 210 guest! It was perfect! 

Our first dance!

Bouquet toss

Garter toss..

Our exit! 

It was a hectic day but very memorable...

Happy anniversary my love! Thank you for this beautiful life! 

 

My parents 36th Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday, My parents celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary. this is an accomplishment in itself, but I must tell their story.

My parents have been regular normal parents all my life. It wasn't until my late 20's that I realized how far they've come and how many obstacles they had to overcome.. and here is is their love story...

now, before I start- I must first explain that getting information from my parents about how they got married is like taking a child to a dentist.. painfully grueling lol.. but after years of gathering stories here and there, I think I successfully put the puzzle together.


My parents met in Vietnam. My dad was in the military and he rented the back room of my grandparents house... It was there, where he met my mother and fell in love... As most typical asian love stories go, my grandfather was very over protective and would not allow my mom to date my dad... so they went on, admiring one another for years... in 1975, while my dad was serving the war, my grandfather passed away. My Grandmother sent my mother with her siblings on a ship to America. There were 12 living members in my mothers family, 8 successfully made it to america. 4 stayed behind.

how did they get separated you ask? well, the ship that they were on started sinking so 12 members jumped ship... 8 made it, 4 fell, swam ashore and were arrested...

My mother 22 at the time took charge to help raise her family. Her siblings ranged between the ages of 3-25.

When my dad returned from war that year, he went looking for my mom... He did manage to locate my grandmother who informed him that mom had left for America.. He too, fled to find her.

In Guam, at a refugee camp, she literally passed my dad (he was arriving and she was leaving). They briefly talked for (what she explained) less than 5 minutes. He asked her where she was going and she said, "CA. come find me". She ended up in southern CA and he ended up in San Francisco.

I'm unsure of how long it took them to find one another, but I do know that My dad put out several Ad's in papers all around the state looking for my mom and was unsuccessful. After a few years, they began dating other people.

One day, In thousand Oaks, CA, my father started a new job at a local chicken farm collecting eggs. When he arrived that day, he went to introduce himself to other vietnamese workers... there in front of him was my mom's brother. YEP.

AND that is how they found one another...

Met in Vietnam, separated by war... connected in Guam but then placed in different parts of CA.. and fate finally brought them together... fell in love, Got married and had 3 kids of their own!

That is a GREAT love story!!!

it literally gives me goosebumps every time I think about it!!