Wednesday, June 17, 2009

I'm engaged!!





So I got back from Iloilo, Philippines Wednesday night! Things have been such a whirlwind since then. I was just getting over jet-lag when my wonderful boyfriend proposed!! Everyone wants to know the story, so here it is!

He told me that Sunday was going to be our day. We really hadn't had any alone time together since I had been back, so we were planning a fun day. We went to church, the food court, dropped my computer off at the Mac store and found out that there was a Filipino festival in town. We hung out with our friends Ashley and Dan at the festival, it was a lot of fun! Then, we went hiking at Loch Raven. We came back to my place and I changed real quick and we were off to go on a date! We ended up going to XS in Baltimore, our favorite little sushi place!

Once we ordered, Aaron had a bag and said that he had a present for me! He did this to throw me off and it definitely worked. If he was going to propose he wouldn't do it that way. The bag had a gift certificate in it. The gift certificate was to About Faces, a one hour body massage, mini facial, pedicure and manicure! That was the nicest gift ever! I was very happy and excited with the gift and he said that he had to get me something, so I totally fell for it!

After we ate, he stopped suddenly and said that he had to go to the bathroom. I thought that he may be sick or something and then I was starting to get worried once he took a while to come back. But when he eventually came back he had another present!


I was curious, but he told me that he had spent time making it when I was gone. So I opened it up and it was this awesome scrap book! He entitled it our story. It is seriously way better than anything I could have ever created. He matched our baby pictures (i.e. a picture of me on the beach and a picture of him on the beach, a picture of me taking a nap and a picture of him taking a nap). The next pages were our older years, still matching our pictures together. After that, he had pictures of our family and friends. Next was our life together. He put "who knew two people so different have so much in common." On this page he did things like matched a picture of me as a pirate and a picture of him as a pirate, with captions and everything. The next pages was "we always put our best face forward." It is two entire pages of all our goofy faces. We can never really be serious! haha. The next page is a play on words. He put "we wrestle through our issues" and there are pictures of us wrestling. It was jus so thought out and creative! The next pages show us having good memories, etc. After that, he put "We've been around the world." He put pictures of us in Australia and my in the Philippines when I was 14 and just recently. He put postcards I had sent him and mail I had sent him. The last full page says, "Lets start a new chapter."

By this time, the wheels are beginning to turn for me. hmmm...lets start a new chapter? So then, he tells me that the book is not finished. So I flip to the next page and it says, "Will you marry me?" He gets down on one knee right there. I freaked out and he had to ask me, "Is that a yes?" haha. And of course, I said Yes. He had asked the manager to take a picture, she had been waiting that whole time and so she took the photo.


After this Aaron said that he wanted to make some phone calls so we got in the car to do so. As we were driving home, I talked to his mom and his dad and they both were so excited. His dad even said how he wished he could celebrate with us. As we are driving, Aaron makes a wrong turn and then pulls up into Sara and Liz's house.


I was a little confused...but as we made it to the driveway there was a surprise party waiting! Now, here is the real surprise....our families were the only ones that knew he was going to propose. Everyone else thought that it was a "Coming Home" surprise party. So it was not only a surprise for me, it was a surprise for them too!


Aaron's family came from Florida and Philly just for the party!


This is Sara finding out that we were engaged about 5 minutes after we told everyone.
This face is priceless!

Me and the rents, they are really excited!


It looks like the wedding will either by March 27th or 28th....so mark your calendars!!

Leia Mais…

Monday, June 1, 2009

Some down time before I leave...

So we had a chance to go to Guimaras and do one camp there. But before we did the camp we got to relax and hang out on the island. It was wonderful. Then, last weekend we went to Ahoy and went camping on a sandbar. There were some rough moments for sure but it was very cool.


One of my favorite desserts is Buko (aka Coconut). In Guimaras they climbed up the tree and we all enjoyed our snack! The best part is adding some sugar and milk and ice to the buko juice. It is an amazing refreshing treat!


Aimee and Sarah and I on the beach at Guimaras, just enjoying relaxing.


Sunset on the island.
Riding the jeep to tell the kids about Camp Sonshine! It was a day of fun for sure! I met Diadem when I did camp in Guimaras in 2001! I loved continuing the tradition with her!


Eating Indian Mangos on the beach! Good times...


We also celebrated Sarah's bday! Both my roomates had bdays while here in the PI!
We had massages and fancy dinners to celebrate!


We had banquet to celebrate the Ignite A Movement youth event.
We got a chance to remember what God has done, eat good food and say goodbye to the team!

The roomies and I at the banquet. Of course, we can't be too serious!

After the IAM team left we were off to Ahoy. We camped out on a gorgeous sandbar.


The weather did not always cooperate for us.

But despite the storms we got to see some beautiful sights.


We decided to be adventurous and climb up a moutain nearby. We first had to swim and then the climb turned out a lot more difficult than expected since it rained so badly. My fliflops broke, but we eventually made it up! Can you guess which feet are mine?
This is me looking down on what we had just climbed! You can't really tell how high it is!

This is at the very top. The natives helped us make it there. The one boy is holding a pineapple because they were growing wild all over the mountain! Very cool!


T-5 days until I come home! Keep me in your prayers please! I love you all!

Leia Mais…