To be perfectly honest, I don’t know how to write this post without ugly-crying in front of my laptop! But I would like to start by saying that our story would never be complete without the whirlwind romance of how it all started. This post is pretty much the sequel to all of my previous attempts of writing the story of us. Jeez, it still feels surreal calling him my fiancé — we’ve openly talked about marriage and our future plans, but being here in this moment, I still couldn’t believe it. It’s been days, yet I still couldn’t believe it despite having started with the wedding preparation.

Our relationship may not be as long as others, but we sure have gone through so much together. I remember that a lot of people didn’t approve of our being together, some even said that what we have won’t last long. Looking back now, it feels like it’s been a lifetime ago, yet I can still remember it clear as day. My past self would feel so good knowing that they were wrong about us and knowing that she made the right choice.

I’ve always felt like I’m constantly making wrong decision after wrong decision my whole life because that’s what everyone around me made me feel, but with you, it just instantly felt right. You pushed me to be a better person and made me realize that taking risks is not always as scary as it seems.

Here, on the first chapter of the sequel of our book, I am both ecstatic and afraid. And that’s okay, because one thing that I learned from our relationship is that the most worthwhile moments are the ones that scare the hell out of me. You’ve proven that, time and time again.

How He Proposed

Our plan was to have lunch in BGC before heading to Dasma Village. We arrived in BGC early, so I decided to just grab a cup of coffee from Tim Hortons before we started strolling around. Then, we visited a few swimwear shops because I wanted to buy another swimsuit that I can use once this pandemic is over. I only have one swimsuit that I use all the time, so I decided to invest in another one given that our usual escapades pre-pandemic was going to the beach.

After having purchased the swimsuit, it was time for us to have our lunch. We decided to eat at Ooma because I’ve been craving for Japanese food for quite some time now. Then, we headed to Fully Booked. I don’t get a lot of chances to visit their BGC branch that often, so when I’m around the vicinity, I always make it a point to drop by. I bought two epic fantasy novels which I will be featuring on my Stuff I’ve Been Reading Lately for the month of May.

When we were done at Fully Booked, it was time for us to go to Dasma Village. It was just a few minutes’ drive from BGC, and the place was very serene and peaceful. It truly is a perfect place for unwinding inside the city.

Now, here’s the thing: throughout all this, I never once thought that he was going to propose. It was such a normal day for me, I mean, it was similar to all the times we’ve been on a weekend getaway. When we arrive at a place, we usually take photos first before diving into the activities of the day.

The setup usually goes like this: Him asking me to stand in front of the camera so that he can focus the lens, and me just waiting for him to be ready for our picture-taking. We had a couple of photos done. At one point, he started towards me, kissed me, and said, “Babe, this is it.” I didn’t know what he was talking about and was about to ask what he meant when he took out something from his pocket, bent on one knee, and asked me to marry him.

I didn’t know what to do, I was honestly in shock, and all that came out of my mouth was, “Hala.” I think I’ve been waiting for this for quite some time now, but having it happening before my very eyes felt very surreal. I hugged him, and he hugged me back, and then I heard him say again, “Babe! Will you marry me?”

Of course, I said yes. Watching the video that he recorded was absolutely funny because I saw my initial reaction and that I didn’t know what to do. Norman said that he felt a little bit nervous when I hugged him because he didn’t know if I would say yes or no, so he asked me to say yes 50 times. 😂

A million times, yes, John Norman Quilang. ♡