June 18, 2008

David proposed to me today.

After arriving downtown to meet him for lunch, we began walking around and decided to stop inside the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

Since we often visit old churches, I wasn’t suspicious when we walked in and stood in front of the alter gazing at the artwork, the colors and the religious essence that surrounded the dark room. Holding my hand tight, he looked at me and said, Maria you know I love you. And I stared at him and said, I know you do….and I do too.

He then said, There was a lot of preparation and planning involved in the building of this church (David enjoys giving me history lessons) he then said, just like there was a lot of preparation and planning that went into this day.

My eyes enlarged.

As he began dropping down to one knee I began to panic and tried grabbing his shoulders, for I had envisioned this moment, but was never prepared to experience it.

He opened a black box with a bright diamond sitting squarely in its center.  I could barely see through my tears when he asked, Will you marry me?

And after the longest second of my life

I said yes.

As we kissed and embraced I could hear a wave of emotion in the room of people praying and watching. He then said this was the first proposal held at this church and everyone was here to witness. He pointed to the director praying to my left, the nuns watching on the sidelines and most surprising of all…he pointed to my family and friends smiling from the church balcony, sharing and recording every moment of this very special day.

I knew I was going to marry him the moment we met. 

Besides being dark, handsome and charismatic…he had an endearing energy that was humbly different than people I have met before.  We talked about traveling, we dreamt about family and we agreed on what kind of ideal love was needed in a unified marriage. Since our union, we’ve traveled cross country and to Hawaii, we’ve engaged with family activities, we’ve fought, we’ve forgiven but most of all, we have flourished.

I love David and I cant wait to be his wife.

I was emailed the letter he sent out to local friends when preparing for today and almost cried again after reading it:
—

Hello all,

For those who can make it, it is going to be at 10:45 am, in the Cathedral in Sacramento today (Wednesday) June 18th, 2008. Maria and I will come in around that time and I will lead her to the front of the church and then pop the question. She does not know anything is planned.

For those attending, you can park right next to the church, they have a parking garage in the alley way. Make time to get around. Everyone will enter and go up the steps on the left. You will have the best view in the house.

For those who cannot attend, Please feel free to contact, text, call, email her around 12 (noon) because she will be excited.

For those who can’t make it, I have attached pictures of the ring.

After talking with Mrs. Kang she introduced me to Michael Greene, a well known jeweler who has done work for many celebrities.

We talked about what I envisioned; Mike then took two months traveling all over the US. The day came when he called me and said “David, I want you to come in and look at something, I think you may like it.” See, a diamond takes millions of years to grow deep within the earth. The heat
and pressure forge them into the hardest known substance on Earth. They take even longer to reach the surface where they are found. When I look at it, I know that I came along way to get where it is now and is going to be. The name diamond derives from the ancient Greek (adamas)
“invincible”, “untamed”.

Upon getting to his office and after his secretary provided me with a glass of water, Mike came out and sat with me at the viewing table. He smiled than pulled out the gem and sat it before me. Needless to say I was stunned and I was speechless, not unlike the first time I met Maria.

 I don’t like diamonds, never have, but this one diamond made me see why they are valued. To me, it’s not the price; it was the journey to find perfection that Michael took, the same journey I took to find Maria. It took time and effort, detail and persistence, patience and wisdom.

When a man knows what he is holding in his hand, it’s as clear in his mind as it is flawless in his dreams.

Thank you,
David

Journal Pictures June 17, 2008

Isn’t this cool?! This is a keychain we created for ten dollars – it etched our faces into the glass!

Out with my sister Thursday night at Avalon!

We lllloooovve dancing together

It’s always fun

Hosting Chloe’s first concert (at 12) on Saturday. She will be competing in New York in July.

With my mommy!!! She’s my best friend.

my other best friend (I have to mention that Steph, Boryna and Brian are also very, very close friends.) See y’all soon ~

This is my Ring!

He asked me a long time ago what I wanted – and at first I said a round
cut, because it’s considered the most perfect cut…but after some
poking around, I confessed that I always loved the shape of a heart.
Everyone thinks this is totally me!

And
this is how it looks like on my finger! I’m not really a materialistic
person, but I’ve always longed for a beautiful ring one day. Besides
being amazing – it really symbolizes the care and attention David gave
to seek it…just as he does every day with us. Thank you hunny!