In 2018, we traveled to Japan, with the highlight of the trip as getting to see the engagement of Kyle & Ann. Little did either of us know, that this would be the beginning of the rest of our lives together!
When I told Ryan I didn’t really celebrate Christmas since my family usually spends this time of the year to travel to Cambodia, he made it his mission to instill the Christmas Spirit in me. He took me on many festive dates including seeing holiday lights, seeing a play, watching Christmas classics and much more.
Many days were well spent under the Seattle sunshine with Ryan’s old boat named Smokey.
Our first vacation together, just us two, was in Puerto Vallarta in September 2019. We fell in love with everything PV has to offer. This was, by accident, the most romantic trip either of us had ever been on! It was a no brainer for us to decide to return for our wedding.
We celebrated our first anniversary overseas! We traveled to Bangkok to visit Ryan’s family that lives there and also spent time exploring and enjoying the island of Bali.
We bought our first house right before the pandemic struck in March 2020! This was a great quarantine project for us as we worked on several DIY projects getting it move in ready and turning the house into our cozy home.
We searched far and wide for the perfect little addition to our family. We finally got to bring her home in September 2020. We are so happy with our little baby Kikko!
December 2020 we celebrated our two year anniversary. It was also our first Christmas in our new home!
What a day this was. Special? Of course. Nerve racking? Absolutely. I had been thinking about this moment for quite some time before deciding to make it happen just a few weeks prior. I knew I wanted to pop the question on a beach (Monie is addicted to them) and during sunset (golden hour is her favorite hour). I also knew I didn’t want to procrastinate. The longer I waited, the more anticipated it would become, and the less of a surprise it would be (Monie loves surprises too).
But that wasn’t enough for me, or for her. This moment will be one that we talk about and show pictures of for the rest of our life, so it had to be more than just special.
When setting up the fireworks show, I had to coordinate timing, consider resort policies and restrictions, advise security to grant access to the photographer, and involve the Puerto Rican fire marshall. There were several moving parts to coordinate in such little time. Even flowers were hard to find, since this was Valentine’s Day. The stress and distractions even caused me to forget to plan a 30th birthday for Monie the night before. She wasn’t too pleased. She had no idea what was coming the next day.
Nonetheless, mission accomplished. The element of surprise, the beach, the sunset, the fireworks, the ring, and our friends all contributed to this very memorable and important day for us as a couple. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out, especially since she said “yes”.