I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt,
but only more love.
-Mother Teresa

08/24/07

WE'RE ENGAGED!

Larry and I are engaged! We have been together almost 10 years now, and I guess some of you may be saying that it's about time. Even though I knew it was coming, he still took me by surprise.

There are 2 versions: The short version, and the long version.

First, the short version:

So, Larry and I were sittin' next to each other while eatin' us some grub. He said something like, "Hey you, wanna get hitched?" And I said something like, "Aiight, that's coo."

And there you have it!!!

Next, the longer (and more accurate) version:

About a month or two ago, Tim and Annie invited Larry and I to join them for a Michael Buble concert on Saturday, August 25th. I asked Larry if he could fly back so that he could go to the concert with us, and although I thought that maybe it was a longshot, he surprisingly said, sure! He told me later that he was actually looking for a reason to fly back so that he could surprise me and propose. This gave him that excuse.

So I tried to plan what we would do the Friday before the concert while we were in the Bay Area. Larry wanted to have a picnic somewhere in San Francisco, and I eagerly suggested that we go to the place where Dat proposed to Angela because I wanted to see how it looked like after hearing their story. In Larry's head, he was thinking, "uhh, noooo" because he couldn't propose in the same exact place. This was the first time I tried to thwart his plans unknowingly. In the end we ended up planning to go to Grand View Park in San Francisco, as originally suggested by Mr. Dat Thang Lu.

On Friday, August 24th, I had to drop by Comcast in Berkeley. It was starting to be a pretty cloudy day for having a picnic. While I was talking to the Comcast people, I kept watching Larry as he repeatedly checked his phone to see how the weather would be like in San Francisco. I tried to reassure Larry that our picnic would be great whether it was cloudy or not, but in hindsight, I know now why he was so stressed out.

We picked up some food from Cafe Intermezzo and Sweetheart (!) in Berkeley, and along with some food we brought from home, we headed out toward San Francisco. Grand View Park is a super tall grassy hill in SF that overlooks a pretty view of lots of houses and buildings in the city. There was a long stairway to get to the top, and I have to admit that all the tapioca drinks and my long absence from any kind of gym were working against me. Once we got to the top, surprisingly the clouds opened up for just a little bit and it was actually pretty sunny. We set up a blanket on the ground and we started to take out our food from this big bag I brought. Originally, we were supposed to take my big picnic basket, and I found out later that it was Larry's plan to put the ring in the picnic basket so I'd see it when I opened it. Unfortunately for him, that morning I told him that I didn't want to bring the picnic basket because it was too big and bulky for us to carry around. Oops. Sorry! Anyway, so Larry's backup plan was to wait until I closed my eyes to pray before I eat like I usually do, and to propose when I opened up my eyes. I guess that day I was pretty hungry because then instead of praying, I put on the first song that happened to be on my cell phone's itunes, Michael Buble's The Way You Look Tonight, and then I just started to dig into my food. Oops again! So then, Larry reminded me, "Aren't you going to pray first??" "Ohh yeah, that's right," I said, and I closed my eyes. After I said my prayers, I thought to myself how weird it was that he reminded me, and wouldn't it be something if Larry was proposing when I opened up my eyes. To my big surprise, he was.

He was on his knees when I opened my eyes to look at him. He was giving a long speech about us and our past, as well as our future together. To tell you the truth, I wasn't listening. I was so shocked about what was happening that I was sure he was going to bust out with a "Just kidding!" at any second. Then I looked down to see him open a box with a ring in it, and then I knew he was serious. Of course, he then asked, "Will you marry me?" and I also of course cried and said "Yes!" a few times while we hugged. After the hug, I pulled back a little and pleaded, "Can you please repeat the whole speech you just said, because I didn't hear a single word you said!" Haha, and he did repeat it all! And it was perfect! The only thing is that the second time, he told me later that he put everything in the right order, because the first time he was a little nervous. :) So the next few minutes were filled with some tears and us babbling things like "We're going to get married!" and "I'm going to be your hubby/wifey!" and other little things like that. :) A few minutes later the fog started to roll in again. It turned out that the weather made accommodations for us just for those 10 minutes.

After we enjoyed the rest of our picnic, we got a couples massage together at this one spa place (yay, I love massages!), and then went to dinner at a place Phong suggested, the Cliffhouse. It was really cool there! The rest of the Friday and Saturday was spent hanging out with our Davis friends (plus Ronald!) and eating out. We met up with Tim and Annie for dinner and the Michael Buble concert later on in Alameda/Oakland, and told them all about how they fit into our engagement story. :)

Those of you who know me a little better may know how I've always said that I don't care too much about the ring--in fact I have no idea what the suppossed four C's are--but that the proposal was what was most important to me. You may be wondering if I approve... and... I do! :) Otherwise I wouldn't have said "Yes," haha. He also asked my parents beforehand, which made me happy. I love the ring, though... great pick, Larry! :) For those of you who do care about the ring, here it is:

At the beginning of our long distance relationship, we always tried to look ahead to the future and getting married, and we used to say that the next 4-5 years wouldn't be so bad compared to eventually getting to spend the rest of our lives together. It's almost here, and we're both so excited. :) Thanks for all of your congratulations and warm wishes!

11/06/04

SEVEN WONDERFUL YEARS TOGETHER...

Wow, it's been a year since I put up this website. Since then, our relationship has become a little different--you moved to Philadelphia, I don't get to see you for months at a time, and I guess you could say that we've living different lives in two separate places. But then again, a lot has remained the same since then, as well. Talking to you is still my favorite part of the day, we're still there for each other through the good days and the sad ones, and I still think that all those other girls who say they are the luckiest girlfriends in the world... have obviously never met you.

And as we celebrate our first anniversary apart, I hope that you know how much you are thought of and how much I can't wait until you come back again. Don't think that you can go all the way across the United States and get away from me, Mr. Larry Lau. You could circle the world two and a half times and around Pluto and back and it'd be okay.

I would still be here waiting for you.

05/06/04

HAPPY SIX AND A HALF YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

yayy! Another day to celebrate! Despite all of the stress and all of the craziness in the world, thank you for being you and giving me so much to be thankful for. It may just be a half a year anniversary, but to me, it's six more months of uncontrollable smiles on my face when you come and visit me, six more months of thinking about how great you are when I should be taking down optics notes, and six more months of feeling so completely loved that it seems like all other problems don't matter. Thank you for never ceasing to amaze me. I love you!!!

11/06/03

Dear Larry...

Yay!! It's our anniversary! Normally people would say something like, "6 years?! I can't believe we've been together for so long...," but that type of a statement doesn't really make sense for us, don't you think? There's nothing surprising to me about a girl falling in love with an amazing guy who embodies everything she's ever wanted and finding herself never wanting to let go. There's no real trick to finding a way to stay with a person for the six years that we've been together; when you meet the right person, everything just falls so naturally into place. Actually, it's not so much the past six years that I stand in awe of, but the many years together we have ahead of us. It's that excitement that kills me.

But I have enjoyed every second of these past six years... from the time you surprised me by asking me out, to the way you surprise me everyday--just when I think I know everything there is to love about you. Therefore, in honor of our relationship and the past six years, I wanted to create a website just for us... a way for us to keep record of what we have been through together, and a way for me to show you that I'm not afraid to let everyone in the world know how much you mean to me. (not that everyone in the world is going to look at my tiny simple website, hehe). Anyway, happy six year anniversary, Larry... I love you! <3