An Unforgettable Birthday

The series of events that took place during my 28th birthday was surely a memorable one. Dear sprang not just one but three surprises for me.

Surprise 1: Dear caught me unaware by coming over to my place when the clock striked 00:00, and celebrated my birthday with me with a pretty small heart-shaped cake. This is unlike previous years where we celebrated only towards the end of the day. I was next presented with an unusual present – the creation of this website. This is something I have never ever thought Dear would take the initiative to do, for he is really a private person. I still remember vividly we had a conversation a few years back and he shared that he would prefer things to be done privately and not shared in public, and hence probably explained why the proposal was a private one. So could you imagine the surprised look on my face that night? =P Anyway, the start of this website shall symbolize the active start of our marriage preparation plans!

Surprise 2: Jeff celebrated my birthday with me for the second time, this time at night with my family. Here’s when he surprised me with another present – A really pretty Coach tote bag. I really appreciate the fact that Jeff noticed that I have been searching for a tote bag for quite a long while. Also, knowing how fussy I can be when it comes to bags, Dear took pains to look for one that is to my liking, in terms of design, size and colour. Thanks, baby! Made the effort

Surprise 3: Jeff brought me to Blue Lobster Seafood Restaurant the next day. Pretty good ambience and fresh seafood served.

Everything was so well-planned and well-concealed. Thanks, Dear! These incidences of happiness shall be retained as beautiful memories in my hippocampus.

PS: Of course, the wonderful home-prepared steamboat dinner with my family (plus presents from them too!) and surprises from my colleagues added to the wonderful memories to my 28th birthday.

Foreword

Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness.

I decided to begin this private space with this quote, as I find that it aptly and amply describes why 2 people who fall in love can choose to come together, settle down, spend much of their lives entwined in each others' ups & downs and still live happily ever after.

Happiness, to me, is not a destination; neither can it ever be a goal that one sets out to achieve. Having met the one that I love relatively early in my life, I have been fortunate to be enlightened to the fact that happiness is the experience of being able to trek the road of life, kinks & bumps et al, with the hand of your loved one tightly clasped in yours...

This personalized blog was created for 2 reasons. Without any qualms, 2009 will be a big year for us. Or rather, I should say it is a mammoth year for us. At the turn of the year, I set for myself some resolutions which I said I was hell-bent on achieving during the course of the year. And #1 on that list was to shake off my lethargy, overcome the inertia and start to be more pro-active in our marriage preparation plans. With that in mind, I decided to create a space here that would bring more organization and commitment on my part, a space where we could set key milestones, compare prices & settings, and more importantly, to document our feelings & experiences during the course of our stairway to haven.

Which leads us to the 2nd reason - a private space that would serve as a memento for us many years down the road, when we could reminisce our matrimonial union process. Ultimately, my vision is for this blog to serve us beyond the preparational period, throughout our lifetime as a married couple.

So, here it is, a site dedicated to...us.