Early in our pre-dating chats, I had told Juby how I was a good cook. I wanted to show it. After our third date, I invited her over to the house so I could treat her to a nice home cooked meal. I knew it was early, but my mom was going out with friends to a dinner, my brother usually didn't eat until later, and my dad knew how to stay out of the way. The plan was simple: have her come over while everyone was doing their own thing, we eat chicken fajitas with re-fried beans, and soon after, we're on our way to the corn maze. In hindsight, I should have communicated that plan to my family. Juby asked me who would be there. I said maybe everybody, but most likely us—just us. Technically... I didn't lie. Day of, I'm dressed better than most days. I'm prepping the chicken when my mom gets home from work. Of course she finds out. I don't have a poker face, especially when it comes to those I love. So not only was Joshua dating someone, he was bringing her over, today. Then, I'm prepping the oil for the beans, and she tells me she called her friends—she cancelled on them. Next, I'm throwing the chicken and veggies in the pan, and I see her take out more and more table mats, smile widest I've ever seen. I see my dad coming to help my mom. Jair says that he'll be at dinner on time with everyone. I nervously grind the beans, avoiding sweat from landing in them. Finally, I hear the doorbell. The dinner went fine, great in fact. She met my whole family on our 4th date. My family behaved. They didn't grill her, and there was plenty of laughing. I remember Juby asking my mom what she could help with as we cleaned up. I've never seen my mom like someone so fast. I think she was swooning more than me. We said our goodbyes and left for the maze. I apologized profusely afterwards. She laughed. We had fun. We went to Denny's after for a milkshake. I dropped her off. We kissed. Later she told me how nervous she was at the possibility of meeting the family. Juby said that she didn't really think it was weird until the date got closer and closer. In her words, "I was spiraling." She also told me how much she liked that day, told me how special it felt. I kept telling her how crazy my family is, the whole family. She laughed it off and told me how much she likes us all. I squinted my eyes wondering if she's crazy too. Oh well, I'm pretty crazy, so I suppose I'm just lucky I found someone to match that. I can't believe I get to marry this woman.

Some of you already know Josh and I picked out the ring together last summer, but the proposal was all his. Once the ring was ready and tucked away at his childhood home, I knew it wouldn’t be long. Unfortunately for my sister, who was sworn to secrecy, this meant weeks of me badgering her for clues. Josh didn’t get off easy either. He had to create a biweekly nail appointment schedule for me so I wouldn’t overanalyze any specific weekend. Then one day, I came across a post on the Monterey Bay subreddit titled “Need a good place to propose.” The very first line read something like, “I’m driving down from Sacramento with my girlfriend to propose,” and I immediately put my phone down. I didn’t know if it was Josh, but if it was and I read the whole thing, I knew I’d feel awful for ruining it. I told myself to forget it, which of course made me even more anxious, and then proceeded to not-so-subtly interrogate Josh until he went to bed. That weekend, we were supposed to go to a barbecue in Dixon, but Josh suddenly “changed plans” and suggested a weekend trip to Sonoma instead. I was intrigued, but I also figured the chances were low he had the ring with him—he hadn’t been to Dixon in a while, so I assumed it was still there. He rushed me out the door at 8am that Saturday morning, our bags and coffee in hand, and refused to stop for breakfast. Suspicious. When he took the exit toward Benicia instead of Sonoma, I knew something was afoot. I started asking questions, but he dodged every one and kept steering the conversation elsewhere, which only made me more curious. As we headed towards Highway 1, I looked at the overcast sky thinking I had dressed for a hot, sunny Sonoma day—definitely not for the misty 60-degree coast we ended up at. We pulled up to Asilomar Beach, and Josh told me we're going for a walk. In a sundress and sandals, I quickly rummaged his car trunk for a jacket, socks, and shoes, and we headed down the sandy trail. We stopped at a small gazebo overlooking the ocean, and he snapped a few photos of us with my phone before resting it against a bench and taking my hands in his. This was it. I'll admit I don’t even remember him getting down on one knee—I just remember this surreal, sparkling haze. Thankfully, he recorded it all. I do remember asking him how he had the ring (turns out he secretly picked it up earlier that week) and his smile when I said yes. We celebrated with some beach selfies and I wandered off to take a quick photo of the ring. Josh took a picture of me and the gazebo, then rushed me back to the car, saying we had lunch reservations. We drove to a pizza spot in Pacific Grove. As we pulled into the lot, Josh casually said, “Let’s go say hi to everyone.” And there were my parents with Junelle and Jhune in backseat of their car. I nearly teared up as they greeted us with hugs and congratulations—my heart felt so full. Just as I turned toward the restaurant, Josh asked me to wait. A minute later, a familiar green van pulled in, and his family meets mine for the first time. It was another perfect, happy moment. We had lunch together and spent the rest of the day at the wharf, walking, taking more pictures, and soaking everything in. There was one more surprise left—an ocean view stay in Monterey. Despite the cloudiness that day, the sunset was gorgeous. That evening, we recapped the day with a bottle of bubbly and a box of chocolates gifted from his mom, and I told him about the Reddit post. He grinned and asked if I’d seen the username. I hadn’t—but if I had, I would’ve known it was him all along. TLDR: Josh planned the perfect proposal by the ocean, surprised me with both of our families, and yes—I said yes. Now we’re planning a wedding and still dodging questions… mainly about how the wedding planning is going.