Remember Wing's Ugly Cry?!

365 days ago, I was in Seattle with my family+Derrick to celebrate my cousin's graduation from Seattle University. We decided to attend daily Mass at the Chapel of St. Ignatius to give thanks to God for all her accomplishments. Little did I know that my family and Derrick were up to something a bit more.

After daily Mass ended, I lingered in the Chapel. The Chapel is one of my favorite places in the world (yes, the whole world!). I didn't notice that as I stayed behind my family slowly disappeared and I was left with Derrick. We went together to the Blessed Sacrament to pray and spend some time with Jesus.

After we were done praying, I felt a sense of peace and happiness. It was nice being in my second home, being in the Chapel, and being with my beloved. :) Derrick led us into a pew, and we sat down and chatted.
It was a special moment, a time where the world went on and there was nothing but the two of us. For a split second, it crossed my mind that this would be a sweet proposal. I quickly brushed that idea aside because I knew that marriage was a reality in the future, not the present (Derrick had done a great job convincing me it wouldn't happen for at least 3 or 4 years...). In the middle of our conversation, we were approached by two Seattle U friends, George and Kat. (Again, I didn't know this was part of the plan! They were spies!) Once we parted ways, Derrick said it was time to return back to my family. We walked outside the Chapel, enjoying the soft sun and pleasant day.

Derrick stopped me again in front of the reflection pool and shared more sweet sentiments. Before I knew it, I realized that this seemed more than a romantic moment, an anniversary celebration, or sweet love letter It was going to happen, Derrick was about to propose.

And lo and behold, Dante Derrick David got down on one knee, asked me to spend the rest of his life with him, starting now, and presented me with a gorgeous dream ring!

However, the proposal wasn't quite over yet. Derrick said he wanted to share this moment with a few of our loved ones. This was the next vision I saw:

Family and friends from California and Seattle came together to be part of our Engagement! It was amazing and beautiful to see and feel all the love and support from so many people. So while many of you tease me and love to remind me of my "ugly cry" (see below),

I remember the feeling of being overwhelmed and overjoyed by the amount of love and support we have been blessed with. Oh and the fact that I was going to spend the rest of my life with the love of my life :) It was FORREAL now!

So thank you to our wonderful family and friends for being such an important part of our lives as individuals and within our relationship. And thank you to my beloved, my fiance, my soon-to-be husband for the best proposal that I could have ever dreamed of.

I love you lots!