How We Met
In college, Derrick and I were set up by a mutual friend; Derrick knew him through the rugby team, and I knew him through living in the same dorm at San Diego State University. Despite it being canceled a couple of times (each time thinking this imaginary “Derrick” was standing me up), we ended up meeting at a rowdy rugby party. We decided to go skateboarding around campus the next day, where we talked about everything from life goals to favorite foods to our biggest pet peeves. It was apparent that he was someone who was going to make a big impact on my life. Throughout our four year dating relationship, we have been able grow as adults together. Derrick has truly been by my side through thick and thin – not only did he stand by me as I qualified for the Division 1 NCAA springboard diving competition, but he by my side when I was in the hospital with a broken neck. I am incredibly thankful for my friendship and love for Derrick, and I cannot wait to continue to grow our relationship as a married couple.
how they asked
For Christmas 2015, we took a three week long vacation to the beautiful country of the Philippines. I tried to keep the idea that he would propose out of my mind, only because we are on a pretty strict budget and I thought it would be at least a few more months before anything would happen. During the vacation, we mostly stayed near Manila, but we took a three day trip to the island of Boracay with his three brothers, his aunt, and his cousin. I figured that if he wanted to propose, this would be the place he would do it. The first night rolled around, and nothing happened. The second night rolled around, and again, nothing happened. I was pretty disappointed, but I let it roll off my back and figured that a proposal would not happen on this trip. On our last day, we had a pretty full schedule of island hopping, where you charter a boat and they actually take you to smaller islands around Boracay for different activities. Our fist stop was cliff jumping on a separate island. This beautiful island had man-made boards (kind of like you would imagine for a pirate ship) at different heights. The second stop was a coral reef just off of the main beach; we hopped in the water for some amazing snorkeling. As we got back in the boat, I said to Derrick, “It looks like we are heading back. Thank goodness because I’m wiped out. I think I’m going to take a nap.” Of course, Derrick knew we were not headed back to our hotel, but graciously he played along with me and agreed we were probably heading back to shore. And sure enough, we completely bypassed our main beach, and continued towards a more remote beach. When we got there, we sat at the end of the empty white sand beach and played in the water. I asked Derrick to take some cheesy couple pictures with me, when all of a sudden his family disappeared. Derrick started talking about how much he loves me and how much his life has bettered since we began our relationship over four years ago. That is when he lead me over to the sand sculpture, where his family was waiting for us. He placed me in front of the sculpture, and by the time I read it and turned around, he was on one knee asking me to be his wife. I was in such shock, and all I could do was collapse into his arms and say ‘yes’ in his ear.
