What does it mean to be stretched?
We know what it literally means, such as stretching a rubber band. You pull on the rubber band and the tension on it increases, causing it to lengthen, until it reaches its breaking point and then snaps. But what does it mean to be emotionally, spiritually, or mentally stretched?
I think that the tension is still there, it causes you to "stretch" in the sense of reaching to areas you typically wouldn't go to, but instead of snapping and simply breaking, I would say it actually builds someone up or helps them to grow. In summary, that is kind of how I feel after living in California for almost 3 months. I'm really being stretched in many ways. I'll try to describe just a few of those ways.
1. I'm being stretched spiritually. After leaving college, the amount of spiritual accountability and fellowship I've had has been tremendously different. At UM, there was always something related to AIV going on. I could pretty much count on at least 3 or 4 days out of the 7 during the week, I would be having some sort of fellowship. That's in addition to living with other Christian guys in my house. Here in California, there's been much less. At first it was just once a week, at church, and I barely knew anyone. Recently it has become twice a week, as I've joined the singles career fellowship and started to attend their weekly Friday night times of fellowship. Hopefully soon they will be starting small groups for new people in the church (sometime in October) that I'll be able to join. Even so, it's still different than in college where after different events or gatherings, people would hang out together and have extended times of fellowship. After church, I just go home. After Friday night fellowship, I'm typically exhausted and just go home and sleep. It's also been much more difficult to keep trying to stay in the word and to keep reading. Often I'm tired from work and just want to relax, and it prevents me from really focusing on reading and studying God's word.
2. I'm being stretched culturally. This may sound kind of silly, but the more I think of it, the more I realize that I've never been outside a predominantly Asian/Chinese culture most of my life. I had Chinese family friends, I went to Chinese school, I had Chinese friends in elementary, middle, and high school, I went to a Chinese church, and I went to an Asian fellowship in college. It's quite a big transition now going onto a predominantly white church where I'm one of only a very select few Asian people in the church. You wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal, but there is still a bit of a cultural gap between the people I meet and myself. There are just certain differences that make it difficult to connect with people and to feel a part of the community. No matter how "American" I seem or how I shouldn't see things as racial differences, there is still a tension that exists.
3. I'm being stretched out of my comfort zone. It's not particularly easy for me to make friends, and I'm pretty shy by nature. I haven't had the easiest time trying to make friends past a surface level of just knowing who people are and knowing their names. It's particularly difficult when it's a church/Christian context, and you would hope that other people in the fellowship/Church would invite you to things and want to hang out with you, but they don't. It makes me really aware of the importance of really "reaching out" and not in the sense of "I talked to him/her and know his/her name" but to actually invite them to something, invite them to hang out with you, to grab a meal, or to have a deeper one-on-one conversation that's more meaningful. So far I've had a lot of, "What's your name?" "Where do you work again?" "How long have you been here?" "So how's everything going?" but I haven't really had anyone invite me or talk to me about anything more personal.
4. I'm being stretched at work. As you can probably imagine, work is very different from school. The decisions you make actually have large impacts, and often they are monetary impacts. The responsibility is much greater, because instead of simply receiving a bad grade, it actually means something that could impact the company, profits, or even someone's safety or well-being. I definitely feel like I don't know very much, and I know I will continue to feel that way for a very long time. I've heard it takes anywhere from 6 months to a 1 year to really feel comfortable at your job, and because it's my very first job, it's probably even more difficult. Often times I'm confronted with situations at work where I simply have no idea what to do, or I'm asked questions that I feel like I should know the answer to, but I don't. I have to continually ask questions and try to understand my work and how things work in the company. In school, most of the time you can just rely on yourself and go to office hours occasionally when you need extra help. At work, most of the time you can't do things on your own and you have to seek others for help. This combined with my shy nature makes it an even bigger stretch.
5. I'm being stretched emotionally. It's been quite a big transition moving all the way from Michigan, away from my parents, away from all my friends, and away from Iris. Emotionally, there are times when it's just really hard feeling like all your friends are far away and the people who love you the most aren't there. Part of that is because I really haven't made any friends yet here in California, but another part is simply the truth that my family and my fiancee are about two thousand miles away. I can call every day and try to talk to them as much as I can, but it's still different from seeing them face to face, interacting with them personally, and being with them. That combined with all my close friends being in Michigan makes me feel extremely stretched at times, and just wish I could be back at "home."
So what does all this mean? I think ultimately, I'm being stretched in so many different ways and in so many different directions that sometimes I feel like I'm going to snap. But really I think what is happening is that God is shaping me and molding me in so many amazing ways that I wouldn't have been able to experience had I not moved to California. I could have been really comfortable living in Michigan. I could have seen my parents and Iris almost every weekend, visited my friends at UM, and just felt right at home. Instead I'm being stretched continuously in ways I have never been stretched before, and rather than feeling sad and disappointed, I understand how I'm really growing and understanding God's love and the gospel more and more.
I'm learning how to love others more, especially those who are different from me. I'm learning how to really push myself to grow spiritually even when it's easy to just not do anything about it. I'm learning how to "leave one's father and mother" and rely on God's strength and provision and not theirs. I'm learning how to grow in love for Iris even though she's far away and it takes a lot of purposeful pursuit. I'm learning how to break past cultural barriers and enter into God's kingdom regardless of ethnicity. I'm learning how to get out of my comfort zone and pursue friendships despite my timidness. I'm learning how to not rely on myself at work and trust in the gifts God has given me
I'm learning ultimately that God is bigger than everything, and in stretching me I feel a lot of stress, tension, and pain, but because of it He is helping me to grow in ways I could have never imagined.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Quick Update
I realized I haven't posted in a very long time, which is since the proposal! I guess a lot has happened since then, and I won't go into details but will kind of highlight how things are going right now.
After the proposal, Iris stayed for about another week in California. We went to Napa Valley for some wine tasting the day after, and then did some grocery shopping to buy food for the week. During the week I had to work, but since I don't live that far away, I came home for lunch every day to eat with Iris and then went back to work afterward. Iris would then make dinner for us when I got back from work and we spent the rest of the night just hanging out. Actually, for a few nights we worked on a little project and made a stop motion "Save the Date" video also! It was a lot of fun and took a lot of work, but the video turned out great! We will be emailing the video to our guests once we get the list finalized and everyone's email addresses.
Iris left the following Monday and I took her to the train station that goes to the SFO airport. I was left pretty sad and distraught, especially since I had to go back to work afterward, but eventually I was comforted in the fact that I would see her again in just a couple weeks. The next few weeks in California I was actually able to spend a lot of time with my co-workers, played golf a few times in addition to playing in a company wide golf outing called the "Lone Star Tournament" where I won a free wedge at the raffle!
Most recently, I just came back from visiting Iris in NJ this past weekend. I took 2 vacation days and took a red-eye flight (overnight flight which arrives in the morning) Wednesday night and arrived in NJ Thursday morning. I had just an amazing time with Iris and also with her parents, who are really encouraging and loving toward me. I just felt really blessed and I felt it was also a spiritual blessing to be around Iris' parents (who are Christians) as well as her friends in NJ and at her church. It was almost a reminder to me to keep pressing on even though it's extremely difficult while I'm here by myself in California and to keep trusting in God and having faith in him. It was a great reminder that I can't rely on myself, and I need to depend on God.
So now I'm back in California for a couple weeks before heading off to Michigan for Labor Day weekend. I have to say that after getting engaged and spending time with Iris this past weekend has really affirmed in my heart that Iris and I are meant to be together. It's really hard being apart and to be here by myself, but I'm encouraged to know that we are moving closer and closer to one day being together forever. It's also an encouragement to me to continue to grow in my faith, because being with Iris has really pushed me to continue to seek God and not be complacent about where I am spiritually. It has helped me to continually ask myself where I lack faith and lack Jesus in my life, and how I can learn to trust and rely on him more, and to hopefully one day become a loving husband who pursues holiness and righteousness. I would definitely say that without our relationship, I would not be as spiritually in tune and would probably be a lot lazier and lack self-discipline. The amazing thing about marriage is that it's God's primary method of sanctification, using our differences to expose our weaknesses, and so we can use each other to continually press on toward the prize in Jesus Christ.
Hopefully if you're reading this and going back to Ann Arbor soon, I will see you either 8/31 or 9/1 when I am in Ann Arbor!
Blessings,
James
After the proposal, Iris stayed for about another week in California. We went to Napa Valley for some wine tasting the day after, and then did some grocery shopping to buy food for the week. During the week I had to work, but since I don't live that far away, I came home for lunch every day to eat with Iris and then went back to work afterward. Iris would then make dinner for us when I got back from work and we spent the rest of the night just hanging out. Actually, for a few nights we worked on a little project and made a stop motion "Save the Date" video also! It was a lot of fun and took a lot of work, but the video turned out great! We will be emailing the video to our guests once we get the list finalized and everyone's email addresses.
Iris left the following Monday and I took her to the train station that goes to the SFO airport. I was left pretty sad and distraught, especially since I had to go back to work afterward, but eventually I was comforted in the fact that I would see her again in just a couple weeks. The next few weeks in California I was actually able to spend a lot of time with my co-workers, played golf a few times in addition to playing in a company wide golf outing called the "Lone Star Tournament" where I won a free wedge at the raffle!
Most recently, I just came back from visiting Iris in NJ this past weekend. I took 2 vacation days and took a red-eye flight (overnight flight which arrives in the morning) Wednesday night and arrived in NJ Thursday morning. I had just an amazing time with Iris and also with her parents, who are really encouraging and loving toward me. I just felt really blessed and I felt it was also a spiritual blessing to be around Iris' parents (who are Christians) as well as her friends in NJ and at her church. It was almost a reminder to me to keep pressing on even though it's extremely difficult while I'm here by myself in California and to keep trusting in God and having faith in him. It was a great reminder that I can't rely on myself, and I need to depend on God.
So now I'm back in California for a couple weeks before heading off to Michigan for Labor Day weekend. I have to say that after getting engaged and spending time with Iris this past weekend has really affirmed in my heart that Iris and I are meant to be together. It's really hard being apart and to be here by myself, but I'm encouraged to know that we are moving closer and closer to one day being together forever. It's also an encouragement to me to continue to grow in my faith, because being with Iris has really pushed me to continue to seek God and not be complacent about where I am spiritually. It has helped me to continually ask myself where I lack faith and lack Jesus in my life, and how I can learn to trust and rely on him more, and to hopefully one day become a loving husband who pursues holiness and righteousness. I would definitely say that without our relationship, I would not be as spiritually in tune and would probably be a lot lazier and lack self-discipline. The amazing thing about marriage is that it's God's primary method of sanctification, using our differences to expose our weaknesses, and so we can use each other to continually press on toward the prize in Jesus Christ.
Hopefully if you're reading this and going back to Ann Arbor soon, I will see you either 8/31 or 9/1 when I am in Ann Arbor!
Blessings,
James
Thursday, July 26, 2012
The Proposal Story
Link to sneak preview of the proposal!
Wow, I can't believe it's been almost one week since I proposed to Iris! Since many of you probably want to know (or have already asked), I figured it'd be best to write the story of the proposal on my blog. Also I think it'll be nice to have both Iris' and my perspective on the proposal, so this first part will be the proposal from my perspective and the second part will be from Iris'. Enjoy!
Iris and I had been talking about marriage since Fall of the 2011-2012 school year. During our discussions, we found that we needed to make sure everything was okay with her parents before we could go ahead with proposing or planning the wedding. We also had to work through a lot of things ourselves and talk about what it would mean for us to get married and when would be the best timing. Eventually, everyone in my family and hers was on board with us getting married, and we felt like we were ready as well! This was around the end of the school year, so maybe around March/April 2012.
Iris' parents then came to visit in April when they went to see Caleb in Indiana. They decided that they wanted to talk to me first about getting married and also give me their blessing. We met at Momo Tea and talked (just the three of us) before Iris met with us and we went out to dinner. During the talk, her mom asked me a lot of questions about why I wanted to marry Iris and her dad gave me a lot of good advice about marriage and things to think about and be careful of. It was a really good conversation and her parents assured me that they were completely on board with us getting married. They only had one request; Iris' mom wanted someone to take pictures of the proposal to have as a keepsake.
So this got me thinking; how am I supposed to get someone to take pictures of the proposal? The obvious answer was to have a friend take pictures of a proposal in Ann Arbor. I thought about the Law Quad as a potential option, but I didn't really have much time before the school year ended and most people went home for the summer. I also thought about Chapter Focus Week, somewhere with nice scenery at Cedar Campus, but it turned out that I didn't have enough money to buy the ring (at least the ring I wanted to get)...
(Quick aside: since Iris and I had already decided we were going to get married, we already talked about rings and even went to look at some rings at the mall in AA to figure out what style she liked. It was also how I was able to get her ring size, since I just directly got her ring sized by using these plastic ring sizers from Blue Nile. Blue Nile was also eventually where I bought the ring from. But just in case anyone was wondering how I knew her ring size.)
Because of the money issue, I knew I had to wait to propose, which left me two options. First, I could propose when Iris came to visit me in California. Second, I could propose when I went to visit Iris in NJ. I got around to looking online for proposal photographers in California and stumbled upon a website called The Yes Girls. I found out that there were these people who could coordinate a proposal for you as well as hire a photographer to take pictures of the proposal. It turned out to be a reasonable price, so I decided that I would go ahead with this option and plan to propose when Iris came out to visit in California. This whole time, Iris didn't know I was going to propose, but she knew it wouldn't be in AA because I couldn't get the ring. But I started planning around May to propose in July when Iris came to visit.
For the proposal, I first filled out a questionnaire that asked a lot of questions about Iris and me and what our personalities were like. They have you fill it out so they can design a custom proposal for you. I told them originally that I wanted to do the proposal in Napa at a wine tasting, but later I saw on their website a proposal on the beach, and since Iris loves the beach I figured this would be a much better option. They then came back with a couple of options for a beach proposal in San Francisco. One was setting up with a "teacher" theme and the other would be a "flowers" theme. I decided the flowers option would be much nicer, because Iris loves flowers.
So basically the plan was to have a blanket on the beach with a bunch of flowers around the blanket. There would be a flower pot and inside the pot would be a note that said I couldn't wait to grow together when we get married! Also there would be books on the blanket that Iris liked (I chose various Christian books as well as some we read together) and a bible that was bookmarked to Proverbs 31 "The Wife of Noble Character." They would also set up a small bench with champagne and glasses and hang a bunch of seed and flower packets on some string as a cute little back drop. We would arrive around 7pm, just in time for the sunset.
Once this was all planned out, I simply had to make sure we got to the beach on time and got to the setup. The photographer (Sara Field Photography) would be sitting there casually pretending to be taking pictures of the scenery and once we got there she would take pictures of us. Afterward, she would take pictures of us for about an hour.
The Day of the Proposal (July 20th, 2012):
I had planned out the entire day beforehand including the trip to the beach and told Iris about it. She had no idea what was going on because I tried to make it seem like a casual trip to San Francisco. I had also planned the rest of the weekend (Napa on Saturday, church and grocery shopping on Sunday) so she wouldn't think anything different was happening on Friday.
We went to San Francisco after an early lunch and arrived around noon. We parked in the middle of the city and took a short 30 minute walk to Fisherman's Wharf, which is a tourist-y area on the pier (specifically called Pier 39). On the way, we passed through Chinatown, which was an interesting experience. At the wharf, we just walked around, ate some seafood, and enjoyed the scenery and breeze along the ocean. Afterward, we walked back to near where we parked to an area called Union Square. There were a lot of stores and things to see in that area so again we walked around, went to some shops, and enjoyed the nice weather. It was a casual and fun time, with a lot of walking so we were both pretty tired. Around 5pm we went to dinner at a restaurant I had previously made a reservation for, called Bluestem Brasserie. The food was amazing and we were pretty much the only people there since it was so early. I wanted to eat early because I needed time to drive to the beach from the restaurant to make it there by 6:45pm.
Both of us were really tired but I insisted we still go to the beach. The whole day I knew what was coming but I didn't really feel that nervous. Iris will tell you that I seemed to casual and relaxed the whole day, which really threw her off because she didn't think anything special was going to happen. That was pretty much the plan, so it worked well =). However, once we started eating at the restaurant and especially once we left, I started getting extremely nervous. The whole time on the way from the restaurant to the beach I was getting more and more nervous, but I tried not to think about it too much. All I had to do was get to the beach, text the photographer we were there, and walk to the setup.
Once we got to the beach (Baker Beach), the view was simply amazing. I was so thrilled because the sky was clear and the view of the Golden Gate bridge, the ocean, and the mountains was stunning. However, I saw that I had a text from the photographer that I shouldn't park in a certain parking lot because it was going to close soon. Unfortunately, I was parked in that lot. Unsure of what to do, I told Iris I had to go to the bathroom first. Before that, I actually put on a jacket which was inside my trunk, which was where I had the ring hidden (the box is way too big to hide in my pocket). I thought about what to do and whether I should move my car, but I decided that it was best just to go ahead anyways. Since I knew we were in the wrong parking lot, I had to look around to see where the setup was. I knew it should be north of the parking lot, but since I was in the north parking lot, it might have been south of where I was. Luckily I looked because the setup was indeed to the south (turning left) instead of to the north (turning right).
I told Iris to walk in the other direction (instead of toward the GG bridge) so that she would see the setup. At first, she didn't understand what was going on and uttered "what is this?" I looked at her and then she realized what was happening. It was a beautiful setup just as they had described it, with the blanket, flowers, books, and champagne. We sat down, and Iris was so surprised that she couldn't stop saying "oh my gosh." I took the bible and opened up to Proverbs 31 and read the section on "The Wife of Noble Character." I then had her open the note inside the flower pot that said, "I can't wait to grow together: in friendship, in love, in Christ ... forever." I told her to stand up and then .. I got down on one knee and proposed! I was really nervous during the kneeling part and actually saying, "Will you marry me?" because seriously, who ever utters those words in their life?? It's quite nerve-wracking, but I did it and Iris said "yes!" and gave me a hug and I put the ring on her! The whole time this was happening, there were two people taking pictures of us and another taking video. We just kept looking at each other and taking in the moment, so we poured the champagne (well actually it was Arbor Mist sparkling wine) and I explained to Iris how this all happened.
Eventually we got up and then talked with the photographer and the florist (who was also the person who set up the whole proposal scene) and they gave us some time to enjoy the moment before we went ahead and took pictures on the beach and of the sunset. The photographer was really awesome and fun and she got us to do a bunch of fun poses and pictures. We even went into the water and jumped around while Iris splashed me with water. It was really fun and from the pictures we have seen so far, extremely rewarding. The scenery was simply amazing and beautiful and we couldn't have asked for anything more amazing. The ring also looked beautiful on Iris in the sun and was sparkling and shining beautifully.
After the pictures, the photographer and florist left and Iris contacted all of our close friends and family to let them know the big news. We also watched the rest of the sunset over the beach to enjoy the rest of the moment. Driving back home we both had this excitement and energy from what had just happened and were getting nonstop texts and calls from friends and family. Once we posted the news on Facebook, there was just a flood of encouragement and support from so many people. We couldn't be more thankful of everyone who thanked us and congratulated us, and we feel so blessed by the whole experience. It took a lot of planning and effort, but it was so worth it in the end to have this memory that we will cherish forever. I'm really glad I went through the time and effort (and money) to plan the proposal and have a photographer take pictures of us. In the end, all of the praise goes to God for making that day so magical and amazing, and in many ways, more perfect and more beautiful than we could have ever imagined.
Here's a link to the slideshow of the proposal our photographer made for us: Proposal Slideshow.
For Iris' perspective on the proposal, check out her blog post!
Wow, I can't believe it's been almost one week since I proposed to Iris! Since many of you probably want to know (or have already asked), I figured it'd be best to write the story of the proposal on my blog. Also I think it'll be nice to have both Iris' and my perspective on the proposal, so this first part will be the proposal from my perspective and the second part will be from Iris'. Enjoy!
Iris and I had been talking about marriage since Fall of the 2011-2012 school year. During our discussions, we found that we needed to make sure everything was okay with her parents before we could go ahead with proposing or planning the wedding. We also had to work through a lot of things ourselves and talk about what it would mean for us to get married and when would be the best timing. Eventually, everyone in my family and hers was on board with us getting married, and we felt like we were ready as well! This was around the end of the school year, so maybe around March/April 2012.
Iris' parents then came to visit in April when they went to see Caleb in Indiana. They decided that they wanted to talk to me first about getting married and also give me their blessing. We met at Momo Tea and talked (just the three of us) before Iris met with us and we went out to dinner. During the talk, her mom asked me a lot of questions about why I wanted to marry Iris and her dad gave me a lot of good advice about marriage and things to think about and be careful of. It was a really good conversation and her parents assured me that they were completely on board with us getting married. They only had one request; Iris' mom wanted someone to take pictures of the proposal to have as a keepsake.
So this got me thinking; how am I supposed to get someone to take pictures of the proposal? The obvious answer was to have a friend take pictures of a proposal in Ann Arbor. I thought about the Law Quad as a potential option, but I didn't really have much time before the school year ended and most people went home for the summer. I also thought about Chapter Focus Week, somewhere with nice scenery at Cedar Campus, but it turned out that I didn't have enough money to buy the ring (at least the ring I wanted to get)...
(Quick aside: since Iris and I had already decided we were going to get married, we already talked about rings and even went to look at some rings at the mall in AA to figure out what style she liked. It was also how I was able to get her ring size, since I just directly got her ring sized by using these plastic ring sizers from Blue Nile. Blue Nile was also eventually where I bought the ring from. But just in case anyone was wondering how I knew her ring size.)
Because of the money issue, I knew I had to wait to propose, which left me two options. First, I could propose when Iris came to visit me in California. Second, I could propose when I went to visit Iris in NJ. I got around to looking online for proposal photographers in California and stumbled upon a website called The Yes Girls. I found out that there were these people who could coordinate a proposal for you as well as hire a photographer to take pictures of the proposal. It turned out to be a reasonable price, so I decided that I would go ahead with this option and plan to propose when Iris came out to visit in California. This whole time, Iris didn't know I was going to propose, but she knew it wouldn't be in AA because I couldn't get the ring. But I started planning around May to propose in July when Iris came to visit.
For the proposal, I first filled out a questionnaire that asked a lot of questions about Iris and me and what our personalities were like. They have you fill it out so they can design a custom proposal for you. I told them originally that I wanted to do the proposal in Napa at a wine tasting, but later I saw on their website a proposal on the beach, and since Iris loves the beach I figured this would be a much better option. They then came back with a couple of options for a beach proposal in San Francisco. One was setting up with a "teacher" theme and the other would be a "flowers" theme. I decided the flowers option would be much nicer, because Iris loves flowers.
So basically the plan was to have a blanket on the beach with a bunch of flowers around the blanket. There would be a flower pot and inside the pot would be a note that said I couldn't wait to grow together when we get married! Also there would be books on the blanket that Iris liked (I chose various Christian books as well as some we read together) and a bible that was bookmarked to Proverbs 31 "The Wife of Noble Character." They would also set up a small bench with champagne and glasses and hang a bunch of seed and flower packets on some string as a cute little back drop. We would arrive around 7pm, just in time for the sunset.
Once this was all planned out, I simply had to make sure we got to the beach on time and got to the setup. The photographer (Sara Field Photography) would be sitting there casually pretending to be taking pictures of the scenery and once we got there she would take pictures of us. Afterward, she would take pictures of us for about an hour.
The Day of the Proposal (July 20th, 2012):
I had planned out the entire day beforehand including the trip to the beach and told Iris about it. She had no idea what was going on because I tried to make it seem like a casual trip to San Francisco. I had also planned the rest of the weekend (Napa on Saturday, church and grocery shopping on Sunday) so she wouldn't think anything different was happening on Friday.
We went to San Francisco after an early lunch and arrived around noon. We parked in the middle of the city and took a short 30 minute walk to Fisherman's Wharf, which is a tourist-y area on the pier (specifically called Pier 39). On the way, we passed through Chinatown, which was an interesting experience. At the wharf, we just walked around, ate some seafood, and enjoyed the scenery and breeze along the ocean. Afterward, we walked back to near where we parked to an area called Union Square. There were a lot of stores and things to see in that area so again we walked around, went to some shops, and enjoyed the nice weather. It was a casual and fun time, with a lot of walking so we were both pretty tired. Around 5pm we went to dinner at a restaurant I had previously made a reservation for, called Bluestem Brasserie. The food was amazing and we were pretty much the only people there since it was so early. I wanted to eat early because I needed time to drive to the beach from the restaurant to make it there by 6:45pm.
Both of us were really tired but I insisted we still go to the beach. The whole day I knew what was coming but I didn't really feel that nervous. Iris will tell you that I seemed to casual and relaxed the whole day, which really threw her off because she didn't think anything special was going to happen. That was pretty much the plan, so it worked well =). However, once we started eating at the restaurant and especially once we left, I started getting extremely nervous. The whole time on the way from the restaurant to the beach I was getting more and more nervous, but I tried not to think about it too much. All I had to do was get to the beach, text the photographer we were there, and walk to the setup.
Once we got to the beach (Baker Beach), the view was simply amazing. I was so thrilled because the sky was clear and the view of the Golden Gate bridge, the ocean, and the mountains was stunning. However, I saw that I had a text from the photographer that I shouldn't park in a certain parking lot because it was going to close soon. Unfortunately, I was parked in that lot. Unsure of what to do, I told Iris I had to go to the bathroom first. Before that, I actually put on a jacket which was inside my trunk, which was where I had the ring hidden (the box is way too big to hide in my pocket). I thought about what to do and whether I should move my car, but I decided that it was best just to go ahead anyways. Since I knew we were in the wrong parking lot, I had to look around to see where the setup was. I knew it should be north of the parking lot, but since I was in the north parking lot, it might have been south of where I was. Luckily I looked because the setup was indeed to the south (turning left) instead of to the north (turning right).
I told Iris to walk in the other direction (instead of toward the GG bridge) so that she would see the setup. At first, she didn't understand what was going on and uttered "what is this?" I looked at her and then she realized what was happening. It was a beautiful setup just as they had described it, with the blanket, flowers, books, and champagne. We sat down, and Iris was so surprised that she couldn't stop saying "oh my gosh." I took the bible and opened up to Proverbs 31 and read the section on "The Wife of Noble Character." I then had her open the note inside the flower pot that said, "I can't wait to grow together: in friendship, in love, in Christ ... forever." I told her to stand up and then .. I got down on one knee and proposed! I was really nervous during the kneeling part and actually saying, "Will you marry me?" because seriously, who ever utters those words in their life?? It's quite nerve-wracking, but I did it and Iris said "yes!" and gave me a hug and I put the ring on her! The whole time this was happening, there were two people taking pictures of us and another taking video. We just kept looking at each other and taking in the moment, so we poured the champagne (well actually it was Arbor Mist sparkling wine) and I explained to Iris how this all happened.
Eventually we got up and then talked with the photographer and the florist (who was also the person who set up the whole proposal scene) and they gave us some time to enjoy the moment before we went ahead and took pictures on the beach and of the sunset. The photographer was really awesome and fun and she got us to do a bunch of fun poses and pictures. We even went into the water and jumped around while Iris splashed me with water. It was really fun and from the pictures we have seen so far, extremely rewarding. The scenery was simply amazing and beautiful and we couldn't have asked for anything more amazing. The ring also looked beautiful on Iris in the sun and was sparkling and shining beautifully.
After the pictures, the photographer and florist left and Iris contacted all of our close friends and family to let them know the big news. We also watched the rest of the sunset over the beach to enjoy the rest of the moment. Driving back home we both had this excitement and energy from what had just happened and were getting nonstop texts and calls from friends and family. Once we posted the news on Facebook, there was just a flood of encouragement and support from so many people. We couldn't be more thankful of everyone who thanked us and congratulated us, and we feel so blessed by the whole experience. It took a lot of planning and effort, but it was so worth it in the end to have this memory that we will cherish forever. I'm really glad I went through the time and effort (and money) to plan the proposal and have a photographer take pictures of us. In the end, all of the praise goes to God for making that day so magical and amazing, and in many ways, more perfect and more beautiful than we could have ever imagined.
Here's a link to the slideshow of the proposal our photographer made for us: Proposal Slideshow.
For Iris' perspective on the proposal, check out her blog post!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Excitement
Iris is flying into SFO tonight! I will be leaving at 10:30 PDT to pick her up. There will be plenty of updates to come as we'll be doing some fun things this weekend. Stay tuned!
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