THE PROPOSAL!!
This has been the most exciting week of my life!! If you haven't heard already, Keith proposed to me on Easter, US time...which was Monday morning for me before work while we were talking to my family and grandparents on skype! Here's the detailed story...
I had told Keith close to Easter that I was missing my family’s Easter egg hunt, which has always been a tradition in my family. My mom always spends so much time finding the perfect hiding spots around our living room…in places that relate to each of us. For example, she would hide a plastic Easter egg with candy inside maybe near the piano, since I used to play piano, or near Whiskers' (my cat's) bed, etc. Well, Keith surprised me on our Easter day by hiding similar plastic Easter eggs with candy inside in places, like the blender (I’m always making fruit smoothies), by our plant (that I always water), by my laptop, etc.
Then, that night, when I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth, he snuck a note inside one Easter egg and a ring inside another! The next morning, my family and grandparents saw us on skype to wish us a happy Easter before they had their big Easter dinner. Keith then mentioned the Easter egg hunt to my parents, and then what took me by surprise, was when Keith pulled out the note in the egg. I was so confused b/c I had never seen a note the day before during the Easter egg hunt, so I thought I had missed them. Well, to make things more confusing, I was sitting on the floor in front of our low table, while Keith was sitting a little bit higher on our futon. He had reached over holding up the note to the computer screen to show my dad. Then Keith showed me the note and it said, “May I have your permission to marry Tina?” I think my family was all shocked, because when he asked my dad this, my dad didn’t know what to say! He was speechless, which was exactly how I felt. Then Keith got down next to me (I was sitting lol ) and then he poured out his heart of how he felt about me and how I was the only person that he wanted by his side the rest of his life. After asking me to marry him, of course I said yes, and have been gazing at my new beautiful princess-cut diamond ring on my finger ever since and imagining our dream destination wedding on the beach! Check out the pictures of the ring…it’s amazing! Keith had spent so much time researching diamonds…probably 4 or more months! He knows every small detail about the importance and value of the color, cut, shape, size, etc. and has found a very unique ring with the top quality in each section! He is also very proud of the fact that he shopped around and found an excellent deal.
Keith actually had a very difficult time getting the ring to Jeju, South Korea. Unfortunately, they don’t have a wide variety of diamond rings here, if any (he couldn’t find any of real value). Therefore, Keith searched and searched online after learning everything you could imagine about diamonds. Since sending diamond rings overseas costs over $1,000 to get through customs, Keith knew he had to find a way to send the ring over from home or have someone actually bring the ring. Ironically, one of my friends from college had randomly told us a few months back that she would be visiting her friend in Seoul during her spring vacation, since she is a teacher. Although she was extremely nervous, she agreed to wear the ring on her finger and to meet Keith in the airport. Keith’s mom was also a huge help, because the ring was sent to her in Naperville, IL, so she made sure the GIA certificate was accurate. She also went out of her way to meet up with my friend before my friend was taking her trip to Seoul. The funny thing was that asking my friend, getting the ring to her, taking her flight AND meeting up with Keith all took place within 2 weeks…so it was very last minute and luckily it all worked out perfectly! Keith flew out to Seoul, picked up the ring, showed it off to some of our Jeju friends that were also taking the same flight from visiting Seoul back to our island, and he hid the ring (very well) until the engagement…and the rest is history!!
After Keith proposed, we had a little time together to smile our faces off and squeeze one another with hugs and kisses, then it was off to work for us! I bet you could only imagine how happy I was all day at school! I could finally announce our engagement to the world!! It was fun hearing from friends, family, and people I haven't heard from in a while, through e-mail and facebook. Also, it was exciting sharing the news and showing off my ring to my co-teachers, principal and vice-principal and students. Let me tell you, the girls went CRAZY!! All my students had just met Keith less than 2 weeks ago so they felt like they knew Keith and were so happy to hear the news. The kids couldn't believe it was a real diamond, and asked me "Is Keith rich?", "Is it REALLY real teacher?", and jokingly..."Teacher, give me ring, I must sell it!" These middle school kids crack me up!
That night, we went to a fancy and romantic restaurant, called The White House, which was right off the sea with an amazing view. The restaurant specialized in Italian food, so we enjoyed some shrimp pasta, a veggie calzone, salads, soups and wine to celebrate. After dinner, we then headed off to have our favorite special treat- delicious ice-cream, where we took plenty of pictures of the ring!
Well, like I said before, what an INCREDIBLE week! Just thinking about the thoughtful way Keith decided to propose along with the touching speech in front of my family, and the extra effort he made to find the perfect ring, as well as finding a way to get it here in Jeju, makes me feel overjoyed and teary-eyed. I feel very fortunate to have such a caring boyfriend, now FIANCE!!, who puts in all his time and effort to make moments like these special! He is my best friend, soul-mate and perfect match! I can’t wait to be his wife!
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