Travel Tips

Yosemite is about 300 miles from where we live... so it was a long drive, 4-5 hr drive... we left LA in the morning at around 6:30 am... she was sleeping in the car while i drove and contemplated my plan for the day... thinking of where to propose... yosemite is a park with beautiful landmarks... more than 1 choice... plenty of romantic places... the weather was perfect... sunny with little clouds! what a nice day to enjoy the outdoors!

we got to the entrance of the park at around 10 ish... we came from the south entrance, so mariposa grove was our first stop... mariposa grove is a section of the park where giant sequoias live... they are amazing trees! up to thousands years old! they're huge, humongous! one tree was surrounded by 3 others and they named them bachelor and 3 graces... another one was called fallen monarch, that tree fell 300 years ago and it's still not completely decayed yet... amazing! we hiked around for about 4 miles looking at giant sequoias...

after mariposa grove we drove up north into the valley... yosemite valley is a BEAUTIFUL place... el capitan is covered up by the trees... we then stopped at a meadow around a picnic area... i'm mesmerized by the majestic el capitan in front of me! all throughout this time i'm still looking for the perfect place to propose! by this time it was around 1ish already and we were getting hungry!

i finally decided to go to mirror lake to propose... so from there we proceeded to mirror lake... parked our car around curry village... we had to bring 2 bags... a bagpack and a carry on... the bagpack was filled with our food! the carry on was filled with the blanket for picnic and of course the scrapbook and the ring! she wanted to carry the carry on, since i look like a girl carrying it, and i wouldn't let her... i think by this time she sensed something suspicious already... so we took a shuttle to the closest stop to mirror lake... we had to hike in for over 2 miles to mirror lake... of course i had to make her work, hiking and looking for the perfect romantic spot! it was almost 3 by then... and we were getting really really hungry... i just couldn't find the right spot yet...

mirror lake gets drier every year... and it gets smaller... there are meadows in the middle and i saw some people laying around there... so we went and look for a trail to go down there... after a long hike, we finally found the right spot! with mirror lake in front of us and half dome in the background in front of us, we dediced to have our picnic spot there... everything was perfect, the weather, the scenery, the moment, the privacy... tons of steller's jay around!

so while taking out the blanket for us to sit on to have a picnic, i took out the scrapbook and gave it to her... i said i had a present for her... and she opened it up... the first pages were empty, the last 4 pages contained the engagement pages... at first i was going to make a complete scrapbook of our journey together... but i decided to make them together, thinking it would be more meaningful and romantic... so i only created 4 pages of the engagement part... then i got on my knees with the ring on my hand and asked will you marry me? everything that i wanted to say was in the scapbook... by this time my FI was beaming with joy and awe... her jaw was on the floor! she was smiling like an angel and said OF COURSE!!!! is that my ring?

we then ate our lunch there having a picnic... steller's jays were around... a lot of them... pretty little blue jays... and one blue jay was standing around on the branches right on top of us... my FI looked up and said, don't even think about it... and sure enough it did you know what... we even got blessings from above! LOL after picnic we took some more pictures of mirror lake... perfect reflection off of the water... dreamy...

it was like something out of a movie... the setting, the ring! awesome! one of the best days of my life... after that we were tired and head back home... long drive to go... overall it was a romantic day for us... perfect in every way...

these are texts that are inside of the 4 pages in the scrapbook:

I love you with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind
and with all my strength.

1 Cor 13 : 13
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of
these is love.

1 Cor 13 : 4 - 7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it
is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always
hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

You add colors to my life!

I might not be the greatest person you've met. I might be annoying and
insensitive at times. The true intention of my heart is to give you my
all, making you the happiest person on earth. Will you fill these pages
of our lives together? Will you spend the rest of eternity with me?
Will you be my soul mate, my partner, my best friend, my better half?
Will you be my wife?

the first 2 pages contained pictures of m&m s and candles... the last 2 pages contained pictures of me, 4 of the same pictures... 3 in black and white, 1 in colors... 4 pictures holding a sign... i added the text with photoshop... 1 picture says "Will", the colored picture says "You", 1 says "Marry", and the last says "Me?" That's where "You add colors to my life!" came in... and of course a picture of the ring...

that's the detail of the scrapbook...

special thanks to Anna who helped in designing and laying out words... and to Albert and Charlina who helped in taking pictures of the ring...