We're getting married!

If you ask Philip, he'll tell you he knew immediately. If you ask Bijou, she'll say she knew immediately but wasn't ready to admit it for a few months. Either way, both of them knew the moment they couldn't go hours without talking or texting one another. It all started on the trails of Obosomase, in Accra, Ghana. Bijou went on a hike with a group she liked, Philip went on the hike because he was dragged along to help a friend (shout out to Nannah!). He ate all of Bijou's carefully planned snacks, and Bijou thought he was just "another guy with muscles and nothing else". Boy, was she in for a surprise: during the hike, Philip had a deep discussion about LoTR, Chronicles of Narnia, and the symbolism behind the various texts. His inner nerd was showing and that was what it took to pique Bijou's interest. The day after the hike was the beginning of things to come, when they began text messaging that would last hours at a time or turn into phone calls that would run late into the night. 3 years later, after several failed attempts at proposing, Philip took Bijou to one of their favorite restaurants (Tomato) under the pretense of celebrating his birthday. On August 25, 2023, as they sat waiting for their dinner, Philip admitted to Bijou that he had spoken with her grandmother about his wish to marry Bijou. With Grandma's blessing, he got on one knee and proposed to Bijou while the waitress filmed the surprise proposal. It was finally official: they were engaged and could now share their joy with all their loved ones in one space.