Wedding Wednesday: The Proposal

{To read the other Wedding Wednesday posts (1 & 2) click here.}

1. how it all began: how you met, first date, first kiss, how long did you date? first picture together.....etc.
2. when you knew he was the one: self explanatory.. but how and when did you know?
3. proposal: how it happened, how long were you engaged for? was it a total surprise? pictures of that... etc.
4. the ring: tell us about it! did you pick it out? did he? pictures! tell us about his ring too!
5. engagement/bridal pictures: let's see em!
6. the colors: show some of the flower and colors you used
7. the dress: was it what you always imagined? did you have it made for you? white or ivory?
8. the little accessories: you know, veil? shoes? jewelry? what did your bridesmaids wear?
9. the reception: where was it at? show us some pictures! what day did you get married?
10. the cake/food: i love food. so tell me about what you had at your wedding!
11. your song and/or the first song you danced to at your wedding: share a music video or lyrics if you can!
12. favorite part of the day and least favorite part of the day: can be anything.
13. honeymoon: where did you go? was it good? ;) haha...jk.
14. thoughts on marriage: what is the easiest/hardest part? if you could change anything, what would it be?
15. first place that you lived together: pics if you have them!
16. kids: do you have any yet? if not, when do you plan on it? how many do you want? any tips on good/bad birth control?
17. most recent picture of you and your significant other and what you love most about them :) and any other thoughts.

First off, let  me just say that I am a tough one to surprise because I tend to find out/figure out things quite quickly… but not this time… The night Jason proposed was one of the best nights of my life, mostly because I wasn't expecting it, AT ALL.

Jason and I had often discussed the topic of marriage before. Basically it was pretty set in my mind that he didn't believe or like marriage. He knew where I stood on the issue- I wanted to be married, I wanted a wedding.  We respected each others’ opinions and desires. In my head, I was thinking “Ok, if he actually DOES propose, it won’t be until AFTER I graduate college, and if not then- then he probably won’t do it for YEARS after that” (I was still in university at this time).

Throwback: Legazpi, Philippines

It was the summer of 2009. I wanted to take a big trip before I went off to university (I was going to go to a school that was out of state), so my mom and I took a 6 week vacation to the Philippines to the region that 's she's from- Bicol.

Bicol is located on the southeast end of Luzon (the largest island of the Philippines- the same island that Manila is located).

The regional center of Bicol is Legazpi City. This is where my family lives and this is where we spent most of our time.

Date Nights

We usually go out to eat every Friday after work to celebrate another week down. It's always a tough decision where to go because there are a TON of restaurants here. You walk on any street and you're just bombarded with restaurant signs and pictures and all look so enticing.

Here are a few pictures from our last couple of Friday night dinners- or what we call date nights.

And yeah- we're eating pretty darn well here.

Curry noodles & kimbap.

Wedding Wednesday: When I knew...

I'm a day late, but here's another Wedding Wednesday post. If you missed the first one, click here.

1. how it all began: how you met, first date, first kiss, how long did you date? first picture together.....etc.
2. when you knew he was the one: self explanatory.. but how and when did you know?
3. proposal: how it happened, how long were you engaged for? was it a total surprise? pictures of that... etc.
4. the ring: tell us about it! did you pick it out? did he? pictures! tell us about his ring too!
5. engagement/bridal pictures: let's see em!
6. the colors: show some of the flower and colors you used
7. the dress: was it what you always imagined? did you have it made for you? white or ivory?
8. the little accessories: you know, veil? shoes? jewelry? what did your bridesmaids wear?
9. the reception: where was it at? show us some pictures! what day did you get married?
10. the cake/food: i love food. so tell me about what you had at your wedding!
11. your song and/or the first song you danced to at your wedding: share a music video or lyrics if you can!
12. favorite part of the day and least favorite part of the day: can be anything.
13. honeymoon: where did you go? was it good? ;) haha...jk.
14. thoughts on marriage: what is the easiest/hardest part? if you could change anything, what would it be?
15. first place that you lived together: pics if you have them!
16. kids: do you have any yet? if not, when do you plan on it? how many do you want? any tips on good/bad birth control?
17. most recent picture of you and your significant other and what you love most about them :) and any other thoughts.

Today's #2. When I knew he was the one...
It's actually hard to say the exact moment when I knew he was the one. I know that I had fallen madly in love him and I knew I wanted to spend quite a long time with him, forever even. We had gone through ups and downs in our relationship. Even when I felt like I couldn't handle our downs, even when thousands of miles separated us at times, we still stuck through it. I think a defining moment for us was after my trip to Palau to visit him... after that, I had felt like we could make it through anything and I felt like we had taken a step forward in our relationship. He'd always known my thoughts and views on marriage and I knew his. I knew when he had come back from the Peace Corps a few months early to be with me, he was serious about us. Maybe that's when I knew for sure. . .

Paul

This is Paul, one of my 3-year-old students and don't tell anyone- but he's my favorite. He's such a sweetheart & full of personality.

Random English: part 2

Here are some more pictures of random English for your viewing pleasure:

Too bad this place was closed-- I'm really curious as to what this place is.

Missed part 1? Click here.

Wedding Wednesday: How it All Began

I saw this neat (who says that?!-- I do...) idea from a blog I follow - The Married Couple - called Wedding Wednesday. Every Wednesday you post about your wedding on one of these different topics:

1. how it all began: how you met, first date, first kiss, how long did you date? first picture together.....etc.
2. when you knew he was the one: self explanatory.. but how and when did you know?
3. proposal: how it happened, how long were you engaged for? was it a total surprise?  pictures of that... etc.
4. the ring:  tell us about it! did you pick it out? did he? pictures! tell us about his ring too!
5. engagement/bridal pictures: let's see em!
6. the colors: show some of the flower and colors you used
7. the dress: was it what you always imagined? did you have it made for you? white or ivory?
8. the little accessories: you know, veil? shoes? jewelry? what did your bridesmaids wear?
9. the reception: where was it at? show us some pictures! what day did you get married?
10. the cake/food: i love food. so tell me about what you had at your wedding!
11. your song and/or the first song you danced to at your wedding: share a music video or lyrics if you can!
12. favorite part of the day and least favorite part of the day: can be anything.
13. honeymoon: where did you go? was it good?  ;) haha...jk.
14. thoughts on marriage: what is the easiest/hardest part? if you could change anything, what would it be?
15. first place that you lived together: pics if you have them!
16. kids: do you have any yet? if not, when do you plan on it? how many do you want? any tips on good/bad birth control?
17. most recent picture of you and your significant other and what you love most about them :) and any other thoughts.

I figure I'd like to participate in this cute, silly thing to help me keep track of things, like the wedding and whatnot seeing how I haven't been able to do much tracking since we moved to Ecuador right after the wedding, and now to South Korea shortly after that. So here it goes.

Here's the shortened & condensed version...

How it All Began:
Jason and I met through my best friend. We started off as friends at first. My best friend and I would hang out with him and his friends quite often. Then my best friend moved out of state to go to university, but I still hung out with Jason and his friends.

My BF, Jason & I. 2004.

Jangyu Valley

Today was a gorgeous day and we headed out to Jangyu, which is the next city over from us. We went with a guy that Jason met to play music with before named Simon. Then when we got there, we met up with a friend of his and her friend.

It was good to get away from all the tall buildings and the little hustle and bustle of our city for a bit. We went to Jangyu Valley, which is this nice area along a river. It was good to be out in nature again.

We set up a picnic on a big, flat rock next to the river. And it was just awesome. Jason was on the guitar, Simon was on the fiddle, and we had a small grill with some Korean-style bacon cooking up, complete with all the side dishes and some kimbap. We spent the whole day hanging out, relaxing, enjoying the scenery.

The 3 Little Pigs

On May 5th, Koreans celebrate "Children's Day" (which is much like Mother's Day, I suppose). Since May 5th was on a Saturday this year, we celebrated at school on Friday. It was a Special Day (much like the last Special Day I talked about before.) For us foreigner teachers, we had to perform a play. We chose The 3 Little Pigs. I'd say it was pretty successful. Jason was the big bad wolf and he made his own costume- and it was a hit! Kids loved it, some didn't and he made many kids cry. We performed the play 6 times... it was exhausting but a lot of fun!

Random English: part 1

I am an English nerd, I'll admit it. It's always been my favorite subject in school- hence why I majored in English Language in college.

Since living in Korea, I've seen English used in some crazy ways-- like "What the heck?!" type of crazy. When I see something in English that says something really off the wall- from silly spelling mistakes to intense sayings- I get excited and I have to take a picture. A lot I've found are at restaurants. Many have these really deep, emotional messages written on their wall or window.

My collection is building of these type of photos, so I would like to start a "segment" called Random English. Here's what I have so far- Part 1:

"Many people want to feel the nature in the raw. In Nature, Many people find ways to live in harmony."

"Don't bite me or You will love me!!"

Someone with love you

This was drawn in a bathroom stall.

A kids' notebook.

Written in a nail salon's wall.

From the same nail salon as above.

It's always a good time with fried fride chicken.

First Busan trip

Busan is South Korea's 2nd largest city and is about an hour to an hour and a half from Gimhae where we live.

Today we finally decided to go check it out- well, a part of it- not all of it. All of it would be too much to do in one trip.

We went to a big shopping district called Nampodong. It reminded me of the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. There were TONS of people (South Koreans and foreigners) and it was consumer heaven. A lot of shops, restaurants, street vendors, etc. You could get a pair of socks for 1,000won or get a Gucci purse for 700,000won (1,000won is about 1$).

We're not big shoppers, so we weren't that impressed or excited- we were just overwhelmed by the amount of people, stores and restaurants that were there.

Of course the first thing on our agenda was to find a place to eat. We went off to one of the little side streets and found this great place that was packed with a lot of Koreans. We ate some good food and I am still stuffed 8 hours later! After lunch we got some ice cream and stopped in a few shops just to look. There was also some kind of little parade going on, too. We then went to check out Gwangbok, which is an underground shopping center (nothing too impressive, just a lot of little shops selling random things like paintings, electronics, clothes, etc.) By this time, we were pretty tired, so we headed home on the subway.

We plan to explore other areas of Busan- like the beaches, aquarium, and temple- but just going to the one shopping area was exhausting enough.

I'm not a big-city girl, so I am glad we don't live in Busan. I like our little city. Big cities are just nice and fun to visit.

Here's a few shots from our adventure today: