Hello!
Guess what? We're engaged! People have been asking me for "THE STORY," and I never know what to say. I'm not one to tell sappy stories. But I thought it'd be good to write it down so I can remember it (and so I know what to say when people ask me about it)! Our engagement story is below. It's kind of long and rambling, so if you just want to get to the meat of the story, skip to the last two paragraphs.
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Eddie's birthday was this past Wednesday (11/18) and I knew that I wouldn't have much time to plan anything so I kept pestering him about what he wanted to do for his birthday. He kept telling me that he was really busy with all of his ministry and life commitments and didn't foresee himself having much time to have a party. Then the week of his birthday I started feeling pretty sick and was pretty overwhelmed with all of the schoolwork I had to do. I was feeling guilty that I hadn't planned anything for his birthday. Then, this past week, his housemate Tim IMed me to tell me that all of his housemates were planning a surprise birthday party for him--a food tour of LA, with stops at The Hat, El Tepeyac, etc. (this was a fake party so that Eddie could set up everything for the proposal). I kind of thought, "Whew, that's a relief. I don't have to plan anything." I was majorly exhausted. Eddie also asked me if I could plan a scavenger hunt for his birthday with some of our college friends, but because I was too tired, I asked if our close friend Joseph could do it. Eddie ended up sending out an evite to some of our friends for the "birthday party." (It turns out that after he sent out the evite, he sent out another email to the "guests" saying that there wasn't really a party, but asking that people just respond the way they normally would.) Actually, my second thought (after "woohoo! We're engaged!") was, "Darn. I guess Eddie doesn't get to have a birthday party."
When I woke up on Sunday, I knew that it was THE DAY. Engagement day, that is. I just felt that it was IT! Actually, I suspected (wrongly) that the "birthday party" Eddie was planning was actually going to turn into an engagement party. That is, I thought that Eddie was going to propose and then everyone would be waiting at the restaurant. I knew that Eddie was going to propose within the next week or so, because we had just finished up our pre-engagement counseling, so we were ready to go (and both pretty eager to be engaged)! So I already had an idea that it would be Sunday. Before we were set to go to the "birthday party," I made sure to look extra cute and do my makeup carefully because if it was indeed THE DAY, I knew I'd have my picture taken.
At around 4:30, Eddie called to tell me that he was running late. He and his housemates were still on their "food tour of Los Angeles" and they still had a stop to go. He asked if I could just ride with Joseph, since he'd need to be dropped off by his housemates at our friends' house. This is when I started to doubt, because if he was going to propose, he wouldn't be late, right? He'd be dying to get there so he could prepare! I made casual chit-chat with Joseph in the car until we pulled up to our friends' house. Joseph said, "Oh, can I meet you inside? I have to set up some stuff for the scavenger hunt." I got out of the car to get out of the house and our friends were pulling out of their driveway. I couldn't think why they would be leaving the party. I stood there waiting for them to tell me where they were going or park, but they just drove away. And that's when I was 100% sure. Eddie was going to be in the house, and we were getting engaged!
I lingered outside for a couple minutes (which probably seemed like an eternity to Eddie) because I was just SO nervous. I prayed that I would remember everything (it seems like most girls can't remember much of their proposal because they were too nervous) and stay in the moment. And when I came in the door, Eddie was sitting on the sofa with a guitar. He had been learning to play the guitar for two years to prepare for this moment, including some secret lessons with my buddy Scott! He played Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" for a couple minutes. (Here's where things get funny.) As he finished the song, he got down on one knee (he had put the guitar on the sofa). But he kept glancing behind me, until I started to, too. Finally, he leaned in and said, "This is really embarrassing, but can I get something from behind you?" He had left the ring on a chair behind the sofa! He ran to get it and then you know the rest: he asked, I accepted! Ta-da! We were engaged!
Eddie had set up a lovely dinner and purchased some of my favorite foods: the morning glory salad at Jitlada, potato balls and mini-desserts from Porto's, and some macarons from Euro Pane. He also had some pomegranate wine because I love all things pomegranate. At dinner we talked about how he had put together the surprise until 7:45, when Joseph texted to ask if they could come back. Our friends came back and we celebrated and hung out (plus got some help finishing up those desserts) for the rest of the night!
Some of our friends after our engagement. I'm so glad that (some of) our friends were there. I have been praying that we would have our community really care for us in this season of our relationship and just have really good friends (including couple-friends!). So this was a great way to start our engagement!
More to come!
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