We did it!

We completed our premarital counseling class!

I really can't put into words to how blessed we are from attending this class.  We would hands down recommend this class to any couple who are thinking about getting married.  You really do not have to be engaged to take this class and now I can see why The Rock church would recommend taking it before getting engaged.  The class helps you discuss things as a couple that you never thought was necessary and you learn so much about each other.

This class helped define and recognize a lot of obstacles that we went through.  A lot of the struggles that we were facing was definitely not any different from what we've learned from other couples.  It definitely gave us some peace in mind that we weren't alone.  It certainly helped us iron engagement/wedding details with our parents.  Wow...in-laws was definitely the hot topic in our discussions and also how us ladies would give our halves the "silent treatment".  Sorry guys...:-/

We learned so much from our marriage coaches, they are the most grounded and solid people we've met.  Along with the 4 other couples we've met on this incredible journey.  During all our discussions as a group helped us learn so much about one another.  It was great to see everyone being so transparent and honest with one another.  Seeing all the quirkiness about each couple brought a lot of laughs and fun.  Definitely bittersweet to our weekly meetings coming to an end.


We are both stronger as a couple; learning to be a team and a unit in all aspects of our marriage.  We have both grown exponentially in our spiritual lives individually and as a couple.  Praying together is key!  A great start to building a strong foundation and we surely can't wait to see what else God has in store for us.  

WE DID IT!  

Dam Hoi (Vietnamese Engagement Ceremony)

It is set!  


After all that has been said and done, the parents have come together and have finally come to a compromise.  We are, well I am ecstatic to start planning the décor and details of everything.


I'm approaching the planning with a best of both worlds type of attitude.  What I mean by that is, I have a lot of ideas and things I want for our wedding. I didn't want a "wow, there is so much going on" type of reaction.  So I decided to keep the feel of the wedding simple and chic.  Yet I love the country rustic feel also; therefore, our engagement party will be just that!


I have been brainstorming various affordable ideas for decorations.  We definitely don't want to break the bank on this event, since our budget for the wedding wasn't set for this event.  I'm looking forward to a lot of DIY for this event and can't wait to let my creativity juices start flowing.  


Stay tuned for my many DIY projects!   

Engagement Preparations

We are weeks away from having our engagement video and photo session.  Gathering ideas, props, and how we want to portray ourselves has been fun.  We are constantly reminding ourselves to stay grounded and not do anything that isn't us.  So we are gonna stick with the simplicity of our relationship and just be ourselves.  Our goal is to help our family and friends understand our love story.  Can't wait to see how it all turns out....stay tuned! :-)


Now for the engagement ceremony, I wish it was as easy as the video and photos.  We have both learned that when parents are involved, it surely complicates things even more.  We both want to honor our parents and now depending on the parents to compromise and help make our day special.  We are both looking forward to having our families come together through this traditional ceremony.  It will be a time for presenting the two families, bride & groom, tea ceremony, shower of gifts/jewelry, and prayer.  


We are both excited as our countdown is getting closer to our big blessed day to come!  

Big Checks & Smiles

Church? - check!
Reception? - check!
Photographer? - check!
Videographer? - check!


Big checks and smiles for me and Peter.  We have officially booked our church and reception venue; we couldn't be more happier.  It has been a tiring, but fun adventure thus far.  Appointment after appointment...searching and hunting for the perfect church, reception venue, photographer, and videographer was stressful, yet exciting.  


We had initially found a church and it was beautiful.  The pastor was very accommodating and the fee was quite reasonable. The only negative thing about the church was the aisle, it was short.  So our search for a church continued. I started to head north with my search for churches and had stumbled on First Baptist Church of San Diego.  The pictures were beautiful and I immediately contacted the coordinator for additional information and set up an appointment to look at the property.  We instantly fell in love with the church and knew that this was where we were to be married. 


Our reception site was on the dramatic side.  We initially had our hearts set for the Coronado Community Center and were able to get our date.  Unfortunately, when they sent our contract to sign and pay our deposit, their were some fees that were not initially disclosed to us.  It was quite disappointing to see this and turned us off to hold our reception there.  We had the Hilton Del Mar in the back of our minds and scheduled another appointment with them to see the property one more time.  The second time around, we knew that this was where we will be celebrating our new family with our family and friends.


We had our hearts set for our photographer and videographer at the get go and was eager to book them.  Fortunately, the videographer was a friend of mine who does amazing work and we were able to book him.  I wish I was able to say the same for his sister, the photographer.  To my great sadness, she was already booked on our date and became unavailable.  My heart sank hearing this news and my stress level shot up in the fear of not finding a photographer we liked.  In our great fortune, my friend recommended us an amazing photographer who was twice as expensive, but the work we've seen so far is worth every penny.  


Big check offs on the list of venues/vendors to book and it came with giddy and smiles from ear to ear.

Venues & Guestlist

Venue searching has been fun and quite eventful.  It's amazing to see God's work at hand when we start seeing things slowly come together.  Our hearts are set on a few locations, now we are just playing the waiting game to see if we get our date.  Today is the day we should find out if our names get pulled for the Nautilus room.  I'll tell you now, it's unnerving not knowing if we got it or not.  We're both praying hard that if this is where and when God wants us to wed, then the place will be ours.  Which in turn, brings us peace and comfort in mind that we don't have to worry about it.

Now the guest list, oi...NIGHTMARE!  If it was just Peter and I making our guest list, we wouldn't have any real problem.  Adding the parents into the equation has certainly been quite the experience.  Parents can either be easy going with our plans or adamant wanting it a certain way for themselves.  Only time will tell what the outcome will be.

All in all, we are both enjoying the planning process and coming up with ideas for centerpieces, invitations, party favors, etc.  So far everything is going smoothly with the ideas, now it's just a matter of executing our ideas now.  Let the craziness begin! 

I said, "YES!!"

On April 8th, it wasn't an ordinary Friday for either of us.  Little did I know that it was the last day I was going to be a girlfriend.  My boyfriend at the time, who is now my fiancé had been so sneaky for the past two to three weeks.  

During my friends visit to San Diego, I was busy for most of the weekend helping her plan her wedding.  Little did I know that the "big ride" to Ortega Highway that Peter claimed to do during the wedding planning was a hoax.  He took advantage of the time to go ring shopping with one of our close friend, Tony.  Peter had thrown me off for the past month giving me the idea that he was just beginning to do "research", but all in all...he knew exactly what he needed to know.  That same day during his "big ride", he went to several shops and bought my ring.  He had to get it fitted on the setting he picked out and resized, so he had to anxiously wait for four days.  He picked it up on Thursday, April 7th and to his great surprise, he received a bottle of Don Perignon and a beautiful box for the ring.  He certainly couldn't hold his excitement as he left the jewelry store and called Tony to let him know that the ring was gorgeous. Peter quickly drove home and hid the ring in the closet, since I was on my way over.  Who knew the whole time I was in his room, my little gift in the closet was the start of a whole new beginning for both of us.

As Friday rolls around, we were getting ready to leave the house and have dinner at Bud's.  I noticed that Peter put on his pea coat and I thought to myself, "big coat and not his north face?"  *shrugs* oh well...When we arrived to Bud's I noticed that he walked on my left side, which isn't normal.  Since I carry my purse on my left, he would normally be on my right side.  During dinner, he kept checking his jacket pocket and fumbling with his keys, so then I asked him if he wanted to put his keys in my purse.  He declined and we continued our dinner.  After dinner the check arrived and I wanted to pay for it, since the day before he paid for so much already.  Obviously he didn't let me, since it would be odd for me to pay for dinner on the night of our engagement.  Mind you, I still had no clue!

After dinner, we decided to go to Tabac, the coffee shop that definitely kick started a wonderful relationship.  We had to park at Horton Plaza and we had to carry an umbrella, since it was raining.  He insisted to hold the umbrella and walk on my left side.  I made fun of him for holding my pink Victoria Secret umbrella and continuously bumping into me. 

We finally arrived to Tabac and Peter went to order our coffees and find a table, while I went to the restroom.  As I came back, he sat inside at a secluded corner table closest to our table from the patio.  Sadly it was raining and so we weren't able to sit outside at our table.  As we both sat there sipping our coffee, he then started to share our journey together.  From the moment we met and the hurdles that we had to overcome together to get where we are today.  Throughout the whole time, I kept thinking to myself, "Where is he going with this? No, he's not proposing is he? No...he just wants to reminisce our journey together!"  Then to my great surprise, his ending line to his speech was, "I have something for you." He then pulls out a box and there it was, the most beautiful ring.  As I looked at it and then turned towards him, he was down on his knee and said the most beautiful words, "Will you have my hand in marriage?"  I quickly shook my head yes and was left speechless.  That night I walked into Tabac as a girlfriend and left as a fiancée, whom I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with...my best friend and my life partner. 

He did sooooooo good!  ^_^