The Proposal Story
I can't believe I'm engaged!
This was definitely one of the best days of my life and I'm still pinching myself thinking about it (and staring at my ring– hello!) While it's still fresh in my mind, I wanted to document this special day and write each moment down. Get ready for the cheese, ladies & gents!
On Sunday morning, Patrick and I sat by each other at church as usual. Towards the end of service, he left to use the restroom (or so I thought) and a few minutes later, Care tapped me on the shoulder and motioned me to come out. I followed her out without thinking much of it and she led me to Kelly, Patrick's mom. Kelly was holding a piece of paper in her hand and seemed to be either really nervous or excited. She told me she had a letter from Patrick and began reading it to me. It began like this, "Hello Besito, Today I would like to invite you on a special adventure..." and soon enough I knew something big was about to happen. By the end of the letter, Kelly and I were both giddy and Erik, Pat's dad, motioned for us to get in the car. When we got inside, Kelly handed my "survival kit," which was the Madewell zip transport tote I've been wanting! Inside there was a giant water bottle, sweater, mint, kind bar and dark chocolate for me to take along the adventure.
I had no idea where we were going until we exited the freeway to the oh-so-familiar downtown Fullerton. For our first stop, we walked into Green Bliss Cafe where I was surprised and greeted by a bunch of our friends! After ordering coffee, we went to sit at the back table where Pat and I first met and Aaron read me the second letter. It was really sweet to have a bunch of our friends experience the place where we first met and reminisce about our first (very nervous) encounter. Afterwards, Jen and Alyssa dropped me off to my next stop: my house. I started walking towards the front gate when I saw my best friends, Katie & Ashley walking towards me. They walked me over to the fire hydrant, which is Pat's designated parking spot and Ashley read me my third letter. As random as it may seem, it's a special spot for us because that's where we had many late night talks and really got to know each other. The end of the letter instructed me to go home and freshen up so I got ready with the help of my girls.
Afterwards, we made it to our third stop: Habana, which is my all time favorite restaurant. Pat and I are foodies and love to try out new restaurants but Habana is one that we always return to. There, Katie read me the fourth letter and the three of us enjoyed an amazing meal together. At this point, I was really impressed that Pat had arranged all this together and I thought it was so sweet that he created this awesome girl time for us. Best. Boyfriend. Ever.
When we finished our meal, Katie and Ashley dropped me off at the fourth stop: the nail salon, where I was greeted by my sister. Before we got in, she read me the fifth letter which read how he appreciated my eye for detail and visual aesthetics. As silly as it may sound, I so appreciated this stop because I felt so known by him and celebrated for who I am. It was especially amazing because I got to spend the moment with one of the most important persons in my life, my baby sister. After getting our nails did, my mom picked me up and took me to the fifth and final spot. As we were driving up, I knew that she was taking me to our favorite hiking spot at The Top of the World in Laguna Beach. I was completely relaxed the entire time but as I sat in the car with my mom and all the letters in hand, I started to get emotional. The anticipation finally hit me knowing that it was going to happen soon..!
After we parked, we walked to the start of the trail and waited for Pat. It was nice to take a couple minutes to calm my nerves and enjoy the amazing view. Once he walked over, we said good bye to my mom and ventured to our destination. As we walked along the trail, he asked me about my day and I told him about all the wonderful adventures I had. I tried to relax but he had the biggest grin on his face that made me feel all sorts of butterflies. Finally, we arrived at the spot he prepared. There was a bouquet of flowers perched on a blanket and there he read me the final letter. It was the sweetest letter that stitched the entire day and I was so touched by the whole thing. The whole day I told myself that I wouldn't cry but of course, I started tearing up. After he finished reading, he went down on one knee and proposed and of course, I said YES!
Even as I'm writing this, it's hard for me to contain the emotions and I feel overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. I can't believe how perfect everything was and I don't mean it in a superficial way. It was perfect because the man of my dreams asked for my hand in marriage and I can't believe how incredibly lucky I am! To top it off, we returned to Pat's house after the proposal and there was a party ready for us. Our friends had decorated the whole place, hung up photos, popped champagne and we ended the night surrounded by the people we love.
Special thanks to all our friends and family members for being a part of this special day by celebrating and uplifting us with prayers and encouragements. We are truly who we are today because of the community around us and we cannot express how grateful we are! And finally, thank you to my close friend and incredible photographer Sunny (+ her beautiful family) for capturing this moment and blessing us with her amazing gift.
I am beyond excited for this next chapter – thanks for reading our proposal story!