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August 14, 2022
Long Island, NY
#HAPPHALIMEVERAFTER

Stacey & Shawn

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Shawn Halim

and

Stacey Chou

#HAPPHALIMEVERAFTER

August 14, 2022

Long Island, NY

How We Got Together (Stacey's Version)

3.12.19

Flash back to 2018 when we were preparing to lead worship at Urbana 18. A lot of people had told me, "You might find your future husband there!" I did NOT want to be just another statistic, so I turned on my guy blinders. When we had our dress rehearsals, my fellow team member Jenn asked me, "Have you noticed that Shawn has been giving you A LOT of attention??" I agreed but wasn't sure if it was romantic or not. Shortly afterwards, Jenn decided to broach the subject to Shawn, simply asking him what he thought of me. Shawn adamantly denied any interest (even though Jenn didn't ask) but apparently "thought [I] was cute" and "[I] might not be interested in dating [him]" for various reasons. Jenn relayed the info to me, and while we both found it curious since it was clear he had given this prior thought, I promptly forgot about it all until Urbana. Shawn was still showing me attention, so I decided to test it out: If I showed him some attention too and he backed off, perhaps it was just platonic, but if he reciprocated, perhaps he was interested. Jenn and I both noticed that he didn't seem to be backing off, so Jenn once again asked Shawn what he thought of me. He kept saying what he had said before. We thought he might be downplaying it because he didn't want to put himself out there, so Jenn decided to talk to him one more time, and also tell him she could see me potentially being interested. His response: "Oh really??" He messaged me after the conference and we began FaceTiming and texting several times a week. As I got to know him better my interest grew too. He initiated a "DTR" a few weeks later, took me to Disneyland (coincidentally my ideal first date), bought me a gift from his vacation in Japan, initiated another conversation a few weeks after that expressing his interest, and after some more processing, asked me to be his girlfriend! So, whatever Shawn says, I think we can all agree that he started it! ;)

How We Got Together (Shawn's Version)

3.12.19

I met Stacey in 2018 when we were on the Urbana Worship Team and I picked her and a few other team members up from LAX. I got to know her as the year went on through the time we spent rehearsing for the conference. She was fun to hang out with and easy to talk to, and I found that I bonded with her most as a FRIEND, not a romantic interest. Towards the end of 2018, one of the other team members, Jenn, cornered me and incepted me, planting the idea in my head that Stacey and I could be a thing. (Because, as the ironic process theory in psychology presents, when we are told not to think about the pink elephant, all we will do is think about the pink elephant.) (Yes, Stacey is a pink elephant.) While I was ruminating about all of this, at Urbana in December Stacey started doing things that came off as "flirty": putting her head on my shoulder, asking for massages, etc. thus complicating my feelings and bias and causing me to wonder all the more if something could actually happen. I decided that I'd give it a few more weeks after the conference - perhaps the feeling would wear off once we were on opposite coasts. Turns out that it didn't. After a lot of texting, FaceTime calls, and numerous episodes of "Kim's Convenience," I decided to step up and initiate the infamous "DTR." And after a few weeks of processing, we both decided that we would both give the long-distance relationship a shot and the rest is history! In conclusion, I think it is clear that the facts point to this being all Stacey's fault. The end.

How He Proposed

9.12.21

Around Stacey's birthday in July, Shawn had already been cooking up a plan for a proposal. Stacey was going to come to LA in September for Shawn's birthday, so the plan was to enlist a friend to help Stacey plan a "surprise birthday party" for Shawn. Shawn asked his friend Monica to help coordinate the surprise and the plan was put into motion. Stacey was really excited about the surprise birthday party because, as most people know, she really likes planning. After several failed attempts at securing a venue for the proposal, Shawn eventually landed on the LA County Arboretum, a botanical garden in Arcadia, for the proposal, and his church for the engagement party, and secured September 12 as the proposal date - the day of their 2 1/2 year anniversary. In the meantime, Monica told Stacey that she had secured the Arboretum as Shawn's surprise birthday party venue and Stacey created a Facebook event and many details, inviting about 50 people to Shawn's "birthday party." As Stacey was doing this, Shawn simultaneously contacted all the people Stacey invited, telling everyone to disregard all the details Stacey provided and giving them the actual plan. On the day of, Shawn and Stacey went to Sugarfish for an early birthday celebration for Shawn. In the meantime, Monica and a few other friends (including some of Stacey's closest friends from the East Coast) secretly set up for the proposal at the Arboretum while some other friends set up for the afterparty at the church. Monica called Shawn during the dinner, asking if he and Stacey wanted to meet up to say hello at the Arboretum. After dinner, Stacey and Shawn went to the Arboretum where Stacey ended up being the one surprised by the proposal and her friends! And then, when Shawn made an excuse to go back to the church to pick up his laptop, Stacey got surprised again with all of the people that she invited to Shawn's "birthday party"! You can watch the full proposal video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVLz7-vBGlu/

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