Not too long ago, I received a sweet email from Thao, who found me on Instagram, wanting to schedule her & Jeremy’s Mini Holiday session! We scheduled one quickly and I was able to meet the lovely face behind our emails in person!
For this session, I had the assistance of me & John’s dear friend, and often times coworker, Chris Ahn of Chris Ahn Productions! We met up with Jeremy and Thao and instantly clicked! They both are such joys to be around, & I loved getting to talk with them and get to know them better!
As we drove to Santa Rosa, I got to hear a bit of their background story and how they came to be. :)
If I can remember correctly, Jeremy started off telling me about how they started dating by saying, “I had to fight for her!” Like a gladiator. Haha!
Their story starts off in 2009, where Jeremy and Thao met in Downtown Fullerton while celebrating the birthday of one of their mutual friends! Thao was attending Cal State Fullerton and Jeremy was at Cal State San Bernardino! At the time, Thao had been dating someone else, but did notice Jeremy’s niceness. “Talk about bad timing, right? Or maybe it wasn’t in God’s hands for us to be in each other’s lives just yet.”
Jeremy definitely noticed Thao.
“I remember seeing her beautiful cute face for the first time. Her smile was so cute and her eyes were so bright, I had to know if she was single. Unfortunately, I found out she was taken and our romance would not begin until two years later when she was single once again.”
Two years later, their paths crossed again and as Thao put it, “Jeremy made sure I wasn’t going anywhere, haha.” Haha! :) This is when Jeremy’s pursuit began:
“We talked a lot about life, God, relationships, and everything in between. He was so easy to talk to. But although we hung out & talked all the time, in my eyes, we were just friends. One day, I got a phone call from Jeremy, asking if we could talk, and that was when he spilled out his feelings for me. He told me how much he likes me and asked if we could be more than just friends. I told him I really didn’t want anything more than just a friendship, and that I’ve placed him in the “friend zone” since the beginning! Haha! (Truth is, I did have feelings for Jeremy, but I was just too scared to get hurt if things didn’t work out.) But Jeremy was so persistent and wouldn’t give up!”
And so Jeremy fought on. ;) These were his words:
“While we were just friends, we began having the deepest and longest conversations that I have ever had with anyone in my life. I found that I could confide in her about anything. I later began realizing that I could not be without her. I had to win her over and we have been dating ever since. “
So how did he make this cross over from the friend zone?
“One summer day in June, he asked me to go to the San Diego County fair with him. Before heading to the fair, he made a quick stop at the Harveston Lake and asked me to come out and sit by the lake for bit with him. He pulled out a blanket and we sat down, he then pull out a cooler, and inside was a plate of homemade chocolate covered strawberries! I guess you can say he won me over with some homemade chocolate strawberries! :) To this day, I thank him every day for never giving up on me. Agreeing to being his girlfriend was the best decision I’ve made thus far. We’ve been going strong for 3.5 years now, and it’s been the best 3.5 years of my life! :) He has taught me so much about love & life and the real meaning of unconditional love.”
– Thao
Hanging out with these two during their session allowed me and Chris to both see their fun and loving relationship with one another! There were so many laughs during this session–so much fun! :)
I asked the two of them to share three things they love about one another, and their answers were just so sweet!
“I love how when she looks at me, I can tell she loves me with her heart and soul.
I love how she lets me have the last bite of some of her favorite foods.I love how silly she is.
I love how she is the silliest girl I’ve ever met. She makes me laugh so much with her silliness.”– Jeremy
Thao’s answers were pretty similar to Jeremy’s and it was sweet to see the similarities they shared in their love for one another:
“There are just so many things I love about Jeremy (big & small things), so having to choose 3 is hard! Haha.1. I love his ability to make me laugh all the time. It doesn’t matter where we’re at or what we’re doing, I can always count on him to make me laugh out loud. He’s just so quirky!2. I love how close he is with his family. The love he has for his family is so grand, it’s just so amazing to see.3. Lastly, I love how caring & loving he is towards me. I remember this one time I was having such a horrible day at work, like nothing was going right. During my lunch break, I called him and told him how bad my day was going and hoping to hear his voice so it could cheer me up a bit. It did. But later that day when I got home from work, I walked in, and there on our kitchen table, he had bought my favorite chocolate candies, chips, and ice cream just to cheer me up. I know it’s not much at all, but his kind gesture meant the world to me. He cares about me so much! Like, he’d always remind me to drink water daily (I’m horrible at that, and I totally need to work on it), but he’s constantly making sure I drink enough water throughout the day. :) Also, he’d always let me have the first bite/sip of everything.”
Chris and I were able to see a lot of these thins during the session. They constantly were able to make each other laugh, and their love for one another was visible as they looked at one another. :)
As Thao and I discussed their mini session, we talked about props, and it was so cool to see how we thought of similar things! Thao wrapped these cute presents for the shoot! I loved the fun glitter lettering touch she added to them! :)
So what do these two do to celebrate Christmas?
“We normally spend Christmas with our family & friends. Aside from spending Christmas with our family (his & mine), we also attend the SMC Christmas party annually. SMC stands for Sierra Madre Crew, haha. Growing up, Jeremy and a group of his friends all lived on a street called Sierra Madre, and all the kids on that street became friends and they would always hang out. Now that they’re all grown up, they still remain close friends. So it’s tradition to have an “SMC Christmas party” every year. I look forward to the SMC party all year long! Haha. All of his friends are so nice & so much fun to be around! :)”
– Thao
Jeremy also shared that they used to always go to Disneyland California Adventure to take pictures in front of the Christmas tree, which is also one of Jeremy’s favorite memories.
“My favorite Christmas memory with Thao was all those Christmas trips to Disneyland and sipping on the unlimited coffee while enjoying all the Christmas decorations.”
“All of my Christmases that I’ve spent & shared with Jeremy are all memorable, but my favorite memory is Christmas #1 (this year will be our 4th Christmas together). Christmas 2011 was my favorite Christmas because that year Jeremy gave me a HANDMADE Christmas card made out of red & green construction papers with Christmas stickers all over! It’s the best Christmas card I’ve ever received! It was just so sweet & cute! :)”
-Thao
I had so much fun getting to know Jeremy & Thao better during their session, and I loved getting to witness their love! I’m so excited to see how their relationship grows and matures over the years! :)
Merry Christmas to you both!!
Happy Friday!