Monday, February 16, 2009

A Romantic Meme

Another brilliant meme from Lara's blog.

1. Where did you and your husband (or boyfriend) meet?
San Jose, CA inside a Taco Bell. His friend and my friend flirted and next thing I know, we were sitting next to them at a booth and then talking at the nearby park!

2. How long before you kissed?
About after our third date; a stolen one. Then, after a month, we went up to Highway 9, and talked about where we're headed with all these dates, since I already have a kid and all, I wasn't comfortable acting like a highschool girl on a date (though I loved it, he was hot!) It turned out we liked each other a lot so we sealed it with a kiss.

3. Who kissed who first?
He stole one from me; I was adamant that we weren't dating and I guess it was his way of telling me otherwise. It was quite flattering. After a month, it was mutual.

4. How long from the time you met until you were engaged?
2 years + 9 months

5. How did he propose?
Actually, if we want to be technical, when we were dating for six months, he knew he wanted to marry me, but my "single mom" adventures kept getting in the way. No, I don't mean L-Infinity, it's the people around L and I that made our dating difficult.
On July 31, 1996, he calls and offered to take me to work, but we stopped at his house first. He had to look for something which took long enough to threaten my work schedule. Then he asked if he can show me something- we ended up at our favorite park in a nearby city. He parked somewhere that overlooked a beautiful garden setting. He then asked me to help him look for his commuter mug. I found it under my seat; he asked me to open it and the ring box was in it.
When I saw the ring, I was speechless! But I also didn't try to say anything because on our 2-year dating anniversary, he gave me a promise ring and I didn't want to be presumptious. He took out the ring and asked me to marry him by saying my full name (though he won't admit to it) and, of course, I said yes! On our way to work, he treated me to a quick dinner and I was almost an hour late!
I got reprimanded, and then my manager asked why: all I could do was show him the ring. He paused and said, "Do not be late again. Congratulations! Now let me see this ring."

6. Did he pick out the ring or did you?
He did; he designed it for me. I wasn't a "big ring" kind of girl, so he designed this 14K yellow gold solitaire setting for a 1/4 carat diamond with one small diamond each on opposite side, diagonal to each other and the wedding band thinned out at the top with a graceful twist to hug under the diamond. It was perfect!

7. Do you still like the ring?
I do, but I lost it back in Mesa, AZ when I had strepthroat and fainted outside the urgent care after my exam. Someone from the ambulance or hospital staff must have taken it out of my finger just in case, but we couldn't remember who or when. I hoped that it was somewhere in the house.
I still miss it.... I was distraught over it for a long time, but then when we were packing to move to Texas and it still didn't turn up, he said that he'd rather lose the ring than me.
Then, on our eleventh year, on Valentine's Day, he replaced it with this...


It was his Valentine's Day gift for me! A beautiful 1/2 carat solitaire diamond on white gold surrounded by over twenty smaller diamonds. It's just beautiful! HE WENT TO JARED! He took me there to see if I can spot a similar ring to replace the original someday. I went through the whole store but didn't find anything that compared. Given, most were beautiful pieces, but I kept seeing the original wedding ring in my head that I wanted to cry... Then he says, "I know I can't replace that specific one, but what about this one?" and pulls out this gorgeous diamond studded band setting and asked me to choose a diamond for it. I couldn't contain myself; I was so nervous picking out a diamond, it took us another hour just to decide on one. There was a couple who were also upgrading their ring, and she told me, "get the biggest diamond honey and just pay it off slowly." Yeah right, lady! First of all this ring is already twice as thick as my original one, can you imagine it with a 2 carat bauble like the one she chose? (Hers was gaudy by the way, because she chose a big band filled with diamonds, but chose a bigger diamond that covered most of the ring! Ugh!!!)
The lady who set and cleaned my ring, called me about a delay but ended the phonecall with "we are all in awe of how beautiful this ring is! It's one of the most beautiful I've set, and I've been doing this for over twenty years!" It made the ring that much more special...

8. Where was your wedding and reception?
We were married in the Oakland temple, an hour and a half than our appointment because Mr. Man slept in! His parents wouldn't even wake him up for me. His mom said, "He has an alarm, I'm sure he set it. He'll wake up." This was 15 minutes before we were supposed to be at the temple and we were coming from San Jose- 1 hour away from Oakland! We also wed during one of October 1996's windy days! Mr. Man wanted my hair down... (you get the picture)
The reception was at our then future church ward. The carpet was perfect for our colors.

9. How many bridesmaids did you have, and who was your maid of honor?
MOH- My BFF Sheila in highschool; two bridesmaids- my SIL and Sis who refused to wear purple then saw the colors and said, "why didn't you just buy me a dress?"

10. What color were your bridesmaids dresses?
Purple

11. What was your bouquet made of?
White stargazer lilies, purple irises, lisianthus and ivy

12. Who gave you away?
No one; temple weddings do not practice such things. But I did seek the approval of my dad in the Philippines and asked my eldest brother to be there at my reception to stand in for him.

13.Did you cry during your wedding?
During the ceremony, yes! The whole time! I barely acknowledged anybody in the room.

14. What style was your dress?
It was something that a tall wide person would look good in; I thought it looked good as an alternate to my dream dress, but even my MIL said, "That looks too big on you, C!" Let's just say I wouldn't ignore the possibility of offering it in FreeCycle.

15. Was your wedding kiss sweet or sexy?
Honestly, I don't remember if we kissed or not. But if we did, I'm sure it was sweet, Charlie's very appropriate.

16. Who caught your bouquet?
One of my highschool friends; though Lisa was knocked down during that.

17. What flavor was your cake?
German Chocolate with buttercream frosting. It was delish! I insisted on it.

18. Did you smash the cake onto each other's faces or feed it to each other nicely?
Nicely; Mr. Man wouldn't have done that to me. I think I smeared some on his face though. LOL

19. What was "your song" that you danced to at your wedding?
Last minute, I didn't want to use any of the songs we've exchanged with each other, so I started looking for something different. I heard Mariah Carey's "When I Saw You" and it was perfect!

20. What did you serve your guests to eat?
His mom and some RS ladies took care of the food. All I remember is how much grapes we were able to enjoy on our first night together because they packed a big picnic for us since I was starved at my own wedding reception!

21. What did your friends do to decorate your car?
They trashed it with soap, cookies, lotion and whatever else that we couldn't even see out the windows! We spent our route to the wedding night suite in the car wash three times!

22. What was your favorite wedding gift?
My mom's wedding dress fund for me- $1000! (Too bad, I didn't get to use it on my actual dream dress...) Mr. Man loved the toaster oven that my work crew from another building pooled money for. I was their favorite Engineering Assistant Tech.

23. What was the worst wedding gift you got?
I don't know, I thought all were so cute and generous at the time...

24. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Disneyland; we spent three nights at this Best Western that overlooked Anaheim from the Honeymoon suite. It was very romantic.

25. Looking back, is there anything you would have changed about your wedding? A lot! Read "Different Is Good". You'll know why... But despite all of the mishaps, once we realized we were married, things just became something to "laugh at".

34 comments:

Chandy said...

I transferred all the comments...

Chandy said...

From Lara (Overstuffed):

I would be sick if I ever lost my ring, but your new one is certainly gorgeous!

Chandy said...

I know; I was crying over it almost everyday that I notice I wasn't wearing it after coming from the hospital. It hurt Charlie to see crying over it and looking at bottoms of every furniture and corners of the house in Mesa.

Chandy said...

From Marivic (Grumpy Angel):

This is so fun to read! I love all these personal details about you and your husband. And your replacement ring is simply gorgeous! I almost lost my ring once, and I was freaking out. Fortunately I found it, but if I get a replacemnt like yours maybe---hmmm--- :-)

Chandy said...

From Margaret:

Your new ring is beautiful. That was lots of fun to read.

Chandy said...

Marivic, I'm so glad you found it! Whenever I look at the new ring, I can't help but wish I have the original one, too! It took him a year to pay for it, so yes, I'm so sad about losing it!

Chandy said...

Margaret: Welcome!

Thanks, I hope you visit again soon!

Chandy said...

From The Blonde Duck:

Popped in from SITS to say hi!

Chandy said...

Hello and welcome fellow SITS-tah!

Have a great Wednesday!

Chandy said...

From Sue: (Beautiful Pear Tree):

What a wonderful love story. sounds like you not only got a beautiful jewel to wear but a jewel of a husband as well!!!! Thank you for sharing, And thank you for visiting and your sweet words.
Blessings, Sue

Chandy said...

Sue: Thank you, he is a gem!

Lisa: I do love the new one, but I can't help but miss the old one...

Thanks, ladies!

Chandy said...

From Olive Rue:

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and for the sweet comment. I meant to leave you a comment yesterday but we had some really bad weather and it kept knocking our internet out. What a beautiful ring!

Chandy said...

Olive: Welcome! I love that mirror! I hope to find a bigger one at a great price soon!

Chandy said...

From Lisalyn:

Hi!
Here from SITS.
I'm lookin for Wenda. She hasn't been here yet??

Chandy said...

No, I guess not...

Chandy said...

From Ann (Life At Ann's Place):

Hi ,I just had- to come meet you.I love your answers.Why don't you do Pink Saturday?It"s fun!...Ann

Chandy said...

From Megan:

Your ring is gorgeous!

Visiting from SITS. =)

Chandy said...

I certainly like that ring! Just popping by from SITS to say hi! =) It was fun to read your love story! =)

Chandy said...

Ann: Welcome! I'm ready for Pink Saturday!

Megan: Thanks and welcome!

Jacky: Thank you, it is gorgeous!

SITS Rocks!

Chandy said...

From Kristen:

I think I'm blind...nice ring. Hi SITSta!

Chandy said...

From Stesha:

Day 2 of the Where’s Wenda? Contest is here. Today, I am visiting all of the SITStas that commented on Hot Chocolate Caramel Mocha. That means you! Thanks so much for stopping by and for being a great SISta! -Wenda

Chandy said...

From Cairo TypO:

I'm here following Wenda! :)

I am sooo jealous that you go to Disney for your honeymoon. That's where i wanted to go but we couldn't for a myriad of reasons. :)

Chandy said...

From Colleen:

Sounds beautiful!

Chandy said...

Hi Wenda! Thanks for stopping by! I also reported back to HCCM!

Chandy said...

Kristen, Stesha (Wenda), Cairo, Colleen:

Thanks, you awesome ladies!

Chandy said...

From Megan:

Ooohh, I found Wenda! =D

Chandy said...

From Tranquility:

Very romantic... and such a gorgeous ring!

Chandy said...

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Chandy said...

From Mama Krit:

There is a LOT i would have changed about my wedding too!!

Chandy said...

Hello Mama Krit! Glad you found this blog, too!

Chandy said...

From Irma (Rose Cottage):

What a gorgeous ring!Sorry to hear your first set was taken, but I'm sure the replacement makes up for it a little, OK, alot, its just fab.
Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comments. Hope you come back to visit.

Hugs :)

Irma

Chandy said...

Hi Irma! Thanks and welcome!

Chandy said...

From Ms Cupcake (Zen Cupcake):

Checking in from sits! Happy Sunday everyone!

Zen Cupcake is holding a special Oscar Contest. Please check it out.

Chandy said...

Thanks for coming by Zen!