| A Cute Story About Me and Joe: So we got engaged on December 21, 2006... and as much as I find it hard to post things on xanga, I want to share this memorable night. Joe was in SF to visit me for about a week, and he told me that he wanted to celebrate Christmas and our monthly anniversary together by having a "casual night out" at a nice restaurant. We had decided earlier (actually, it was more my idea) that we would make something for each other rather than buy something for Christmas. But that night, he told me that he had a few Christmas gifts for me. He tells me to leave my room so he can "prepare" the gift. I thought, how sweet, he must have made me something nice. He calls me back into the room, and I find an enormous basket full of all different kinds of chocolate! (me and chocolate are like popeye and his spinach).. so i thank him, while chastising him about how he cheated by buying these chocolates for me. I proceed to get ready for dinner, and he asks, "so what jewelry are you going to wear for dinner?" i said, "dunno," as i digged through my jewelry box. He suggests "these," and when i turn around to look, he has a pearl necklace and matching earrings for me! In shock, I proceed to hit him with my left hand, while grabbing the beautiful jewelry with my right hand. Again, I chastised him for cheating with the Christmas gifts, as I not-so-subtly gorged the pearls. Oh yea, I almost forgot another gift.. his last ("grand finale") gift before dinner was.... an AEROBED. That's right. He has waited almost an entire year to give me this self-inflating, padded, high-tech, full-sized aerobed. This is because he had initially wanted to buy me an aerobed for my birthday back in april, but according to him, his sister (God bless his sis) smacked him on the head and told him that he can't get his girlfriend an aerobed for her birthday.. she helped him pick out a nice set of earrings for my birthday. So we trot to dinner, and as we are being seated, the waiter asks if we would like to hang our coats. Joe answers, "no thank you." This was because he hid the ring and the box inside his coat pocket. The dinner was mighty tasty. As my favorite part of the dinner approached, i excitedly asked him what he wanted to order for dessert... he quickly announces that he has already made reservations at a cafe for our dessert. I gasp in amazement, as i didn't realize he had planned this night out so much. It was beginning to look like more than a "casual night out.." As we hop in our car, he says that we need to "drop by" somewhere before we head to dessert. He fumbles with some directions printed off of yahoo, and i blink at him for awhile, wondering if he knows how to navigate around SF.. after a while, i suggest that i take a look at it, and he gives me a look, and asks "tell me how get to the palace of fine arts..." i say, "yessir." During our drive to the place, i start entertaining thoughts about his suspicious behavior. The thought of his proposal keeps popping up in my head, but i keep saying, naaah... this is a "casual night out!" We get to the destination, and it is quite romantic and deserted. We walk to the pond area, and start to reminisce about how the last time we were here (back in January), we were entering our 7th year of being just "good friends." Joe told me that this place was significant for him because the last time we were here in January, that's when he realized that he was crazy nutty about me, and had to ask me out. As we were reminiscing, a beautiful white swan paddles up to us from the pond. I squat down next to the water to say hello and stare at the swan (Joe says that the swan was his signal from God for the go-ahead because he was very nervous during the walk). Meanwhile, I hear rustling of paper behind me as Joe is pulling something out of his coat jacket. He clears his throat and calls me back. I get back up, and he hands me an envelope, saying that he kept his promise of "making something for each other for christmas." I open it up, and it is a detailed pencil-drawing. On graph paper. Entitled "Sapphire Engagement Ring." There are numbers and dimensions and sizes and nerdiness all over the paper. I laugh, not knowing what to do. He busts out a ring box, opens it, shows me the actual ring that is pictured on the graph paper, and starts talking... about... (*this is where my memory gets a little hazy*). The gist of it was about our relationship and how he cares for me.. and stuff. He asks me the classic 4-word question. I think I said yes.. about 5 times. Meanwhile, in my peripheral vision, behind the white swan that has been staring at us the whole time, i see about 10 ducks (Joe thinks there were about 15) round the corner and surround the swan... they join the swan in staring at us. then, around the same time, i also see a racoon has has come out of the bushes on our left side. it, also, is staring. at us. then out of the bushes on our right side, another racoon pops his head out. and stares. it is quite an awkward picture, like something out of a Dr. Doolittle novel. After a while, Joe pulls me back and asks me to try to focus... haha. We end the time there with a prayer, and I felt a lot of excitement and awe. I'm glad that so far we've marked every significant part of our relationship with prayer. Afterwards, we headed over to a cafe in downtown, where our close friends were waiting to greet us and celebrate with us. (Joe had called up some friends earlier in the week for this). Dennis, Janet, Christina, and Esther all came out to share the moment. We laughed, gave toasts, ate desserts, and shared crazy stories of the past. It was a nice way to end the night. Here are some pictures (Joe helped me put them up). Joe is a stud. He has awesome hair and an incredible heart. I am proud to have tamed this white unicorn.  before our engagement
 
after our engagement (btw- thanks christina for the pic)
 at the cafe (again, thanks christina)
 Joe's nerdy graph paper
  "my blue and shiny"
 At the Dim Sum Place a day later  at the wine country a few days later
 he is quite talented, my fiance.
 I also have similar skills.
[Joe edit: "Holy Smokes! We're Engaged!"] |
