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I don't know if you believe in God or miracles, but whether you do or not. You should pray, every night, over and over again in hopes that your dreams will come true one day. I didn't know God existed until this one fateful day... About 4 years ago I was going through one of the darkest times of my life. I had struggled from one bad relationship to another. I was looking for a way out of the current relationship I was in and was having a tough time finding the strength and means to end it. With only a single ounce of will left in me, I decided praying to GOD for answers was my last resort. I prayed every night for a way out of the relationship I was currently in and to help me find a good man once and for all that will answer all my prayers. I prayed for a sign from God. I asked God to send me the man of my dreams, the perfect guy. I described to god how I want the guy of my dreams to be, what he would look like, and what his personality would be like. He would be mixed asian, tall enough for me, cute, handsome, and have tattoos. He would have nice arms with muscles and have an athletic body. He would have nice eyes and a sweet smile. A manly man yet he would be a perfect gentleman with a respectful personality. A romantic guy, and a car guy. Something about guys that are into cars is a real turn on! I dreamt that he would have really nice parents and that my family would like him. Yes, I know that is a lot to ask for but one can only dream and pray that it will come true. For two straight months I prayed every night for a sign from God.

Eventually my relationship ended and I was finally free! I hit the restart button and moved back home and was starting to get my life back together. My mom once told me that your significant other's horoscope must match yours for a relationship to work in harmony. I didn't want to believe it at the time. As she compared my horoscope to every ex that I had dated, they were all not compatible for me. She said you can't fight fire with fire, it only makes the fire bigger. There needs to be balance. That's when I decided to create a POF account to find someone who is compatible with me. Online dating was something I had never tried before. I had always wondered what it would be like if maybe I get to pick the guy I like for once. Maybe then things would be different. As soon as I finished creating the account, I browsed around and didn't find a single guy on there attractive. I got an alert for my top 10 matches. I remember adding one of my top 10 matches to my favorites list, I thought he was pretty darn cute. Then suddenly he messages me out of the blue about meeting up over coffee . He lives in Puyallup, so far from Seattle, I thought to myself. That's about a 1 hour drive. Having anxiety about every little thing, I freaked out and decided to just ignore his message. I was too shy to reply back and couldn't imagine myself meeting up, so I didn't proceed. It wasn't too soon after that my ex tried to win me back and I decided to give him another chance. I decided to not touch POF and try to make our relationship work. A few months went by and it wasn't working out. I was ready for a way out of the relationship and I began praying to God for help.

A month later I was modeling at Hot Import Nights down in Portland Oregon. I was working at the modeling booth and going about my day when I noticed a guy walk by that had a very familiar face. I couldn't put my finger on where I had seen him though. Then it hit me, he was the guy from POF, the guy that messaged me for coffee! Everything suddenly went in slow motion as he continued to walk past me. I thought to myself "WOW...he is SoOoOoO cute!". I was freaking out! I couldn't believe what was happening. Was this the sign? Was God answering my prayers? It dawned on me right then and there that this was the sign I had been praying night after night for. I was in shock as he walked away and I never saw him again that day. After that day I couldn't stop thinking about him. He was the sign god sent to me, I felt it in my heart and soul, it was beyond anything I had felt before. I decided then and there that I had to act on my feelings. I worked up the courage and broke up with my ex and left for good. Once that was over and done with I logged back into POF to try to find the message from the guy to grab coffee but I couldn't find it! I didn't realize that POF deletes messages that are over a month old! Then I remembered that I had added him to my favorites so I checked that and found the message! I found his profile and messaged him. We exchanged a few messages for a little while and then finally decided on our first date! The Puyallup fair! We met up at the Renton Landing parking garage. When I arrived he was already there waiting for me. I parked and he walked over to greet me. When I opened the door the first thing I saw was his black and white Nike cortez shoes. I slowly looked up and was really digging his style. He was wearing black jeans and a black leather jacket. Then our eyes finally met and it was love at first sight! Time felt like it stopped and everything felt like it was in slow motion......again!

He had the most gorgeous brown eyes, he literally took my breath away! I couldn't believe it, it was the guy I saw at the car show in Portland. It really was him! I couldn't stop smiling as he smiled back at me. We greeted each other with a hug and he pulled out a beautiful bouquet of flowers and said "These are for you." I felt like I was floating away! I couldn't believe the man of my dreams was standing right in front of me! We chatted for a bit then walked to his car to put the flowers inside. He opened the passenger door and sitting on the seat was a little lucky bamboo plant waiting for me. He told me that flowers don't last long but this bamboo plant will. It was so sweet and the cutest thing! After that we went and got some boba tea and headed to the fair for what would end up being the best first date of our entire lives! Everything felt perfect and I knew from that moment on that my life would never be the same again. I never knew that horoscopes being compatible actually is true. I'm a Sagitaurius and my top 3 compatible horoscope matches are Aries, Aquarius and Leo. Justin is an Aquarius. I'm still shocked today of how things work. There isn't anyone who could be more perfect for me. I now do believe in god because he answered my prayers. God never ceases to amaze me. He sent me my prince and I can't believe there really is a happily ever after.

My side of the story may sound a little sad at first but it has a happy ending, I promise. My hope is that it not only explains how Shirley and I met but it also tells a story of overcoming ones fears and anxieties. I hope this story can inspire and encourage those that read it and can potentially change your life. To start I’ll rewind time back to the 90’s, during my teenage years. Growing up in Puyallup, without smart phones and high speed internet, it was rough! Just kidding! It was actually a great time and a much simpler time. There was nothing better than getting home from school, going outside, and playing sports with friends. Baseball, basketball, football, you name it, we played it. We wouldn’t stop until you couldn’t see the ball anymore so we were forced to stop for the night, but there was always tomorrow. Socially I was always accepted in all the circles at school. I got along with everyone but I was pretty shy around girls so I didn’t really date much. This continued through junior high and high school unfortunately. Once high school ended I lost touch with a lot of my friends since there really wasn’t social media to stay in touch. Everyone went their separate ways and life went on. At this time, the year 2000 was just around the corner and the internet was just beginning to grow. I was just transitioning from being really active with sports to really active with computers and videogames. For the next 10-15 years I would work some jobs trying to get into the tech industry, go to school a few times, and travel further and further down the rabbit hole of being a computer and videogame nerd. I was content to spend my time behind a computer screen playing games with my online friends more so than leaving the house to go interact with people in the real world. It was just much easier and more entertaining to do on many levels. Unfortunately, a side effect of doing this meant my dating life was basically nonexistent.

As time went on I slowly began seeing my friends having relationships and getting married. Seeing all their fun couple posts on social media and wondering to myself, “why can’t I have that?”. So I broke down how I ended up being single and realized that tech job industry + gaming all the time + not being that socially active = basically zero chance of finding a relationship. I did have my car however, and it was a Miata so I did have that going for me! MIATA isn’t only a name, it also stands for something. Miata Is Always The Answer! I feel like it’s fitting that the Miata, in a way, brought Shirley and myself together. I’ve always been into cars while I was growing up so when I originally got the Miata I knew I wanted to modify it. I would look at car parts and other modifications constantly. Over the first 10-15 years of owning it I had two major body modification changes done. Both were done at car shops however because I just didn’t have the skills or confidence to do it myself. Both times ended up okay but it never felt like my own creation and definitely not that satisfying knowing all I really did was buy parts and pay someone to install them. This last time however I decided things would be different. I had a game plan in my mind and the internet at my disposal for information. So I decided to go for it. I would do everything I could by myself. I would cut the panels, install the aero, and vinyl wrap the car. Let me tell you, it was very satisfying when I was finished. Then again we’re never finished, as true car guys would say.

After I was satisfied with the outcome I wanted to show people what I had done. So I started going to some car meets. I got so many compliments and props from random strangers that it gave me a big confidence boost. I joined a Mazda car club and met a lot of good people and made many friends. One day some members decided to go to a car show and show their cars. This was pretty new to me but I went along and had a blast. It opened up a whole new world to me that I didn’t really know existed. Over the next few years I would continue to go to shows, continue to modify the Miata, and begin winning trophies at shows. I mainly would win the Mazda category. The end result was me coming out of my shell I had built up over the years. I was ready for some changes and ready to try my luck with the ladies again. Unfortunately however I still didn’t go to many places where single people hang out at. That just wasn’t my cup of tea. So I decided I’d give online dating apps a chance. I tried out Plenty of Fish because it was pretty neutral as far as dating apps go and seemed like it might work. I went on a couple of one day dates that never panned out but at least things were moving in the right direction. One day I came upon a profile that seemed okay. The picture showed an asian lady, probably in her early thirties I would say by the looks, but the picture was too good so I had an instant red flag. I figured, “well this picture looks like a stock photo from a Target picture frame, it’s probably a dude just watch”, but I sent my little copy/pasted invite for coffee anyways. Sure enough I never heard back so I figured it was a fake profile.

About a month went by and the last car show I planned to attend that season was coming up. It was Hot Import Nights Portland. Our team drove down together and had a good weekend. I won hottest Mazda and just had a good time. Little did I know someone saw me at the show that I did not know existed yet! I got back home and a few days later I receive a message on Plenty of Fish from the stock Target picture frame lady. Her first communication stated that she wasn’t the person in the picture and that she was sorry and then linked her instagram profile stating that it was really her. So now I’m thinking I’m being catfished. That’s like three red flags at least now! I decide to look at the instagram profile and I am in shock! It’s a modeling instagram page and the lady is stunningly beautiful. So now I know this isn’t real. But, something tells me to continue to play along, so we continue talking.....through email? She wanted to get to know eachother through email of all things. Again I went along with it. At first I was confused by wanting to communicate through emails but after I thought about it I realized that you can really take your time to think about everything you want to say. So with time I began to appreciate them more and more. Each day I would wake up and be happy and excited when I saw I had a new email from her. We began to get to know eachother more and more as the weeks went on. Everything I learned in those weeks made me more and more intrigued. I just had to meet her.

The Puyallup Fair had been going on that month and there were only a few weeks left. So I asked her to go and she agreed. We decided to meet at the Renton Landing parking lot roof. The funny thing is, is that I still didn’t really think she was real until she pulled up in her car and opened the door. But she was real, and she was right there, and she was every bit as beautiful as I had hoped. That day was one of the best days of my life and easily the best date of my life, and that is how I met the love of my life. Over time I have picked up a few mantras that helped push me to better myself in all aspects of my life, including relationships. It sounds cliche, but "YOLO"! You only live once. It's very true, we are physically only here on this planet one time so make the most of it. Another that I like to live by is, "Live life without regrets". When a situation arises, almost any situation, think about your choices and what the outcomes might be. Ask yourself if you might regret a choice before you act. I try to do this more and more and it has helped me make better choices in life. Finally, "you miss all the shots you don't take". If you don't try, there's no way you can succeed. These three mantras have helped shape me and I urge others to think about them and try to apply them to their own lives.

I knew I wanted to marry Shirley after our first date. That sounds crazy, right? Well everything beyond that day would determine if I was actually going to propose someday or not. The pros and cons, ups and downs of our relationship would all culminate into a decision that would be made down the road. Fast forward three years and well, the pros outweighed the cons and I had made my decision. The only thing I knew Shirley wanted was to have family and friends there when I did propose. You see, we had already talked about marriage and had pretty much decided to get married someday, so a proposal was the next step. She knew it would be soon but that’s all she knew. I needed to pick the right time and way to propose however. There were many opportunity dates to propose that year. Valentines day, our anniversary day, at Disneyland when we went that year, and her birthday. I considered all of them but there was a key factor in deciding which date would win, family and friends. I wanted to incorporate it with a special day and figured her birthday would work great. It would be a surprise birthday party and proposal in one! The funny party is, is that her birthday was the latest date that year of the dates I considered. So, each special occasion that year Shirley kept thinking “is he going to propose today”?, and it wouldn’t happen. Anyways, I needed some planners so I reached out to her sister Julie, and one of our good friends, Liz for help. Thank you both for all the help again! My original plan was to take Shirley to the space needle, then dinner after. Before we went to dinner, I would say I forgot something and we would have to go back home really quick. Then we would arrive home and everyone would be there and surprise her and I would propose. After some deliberation we decided it would be best to blindfold her and not tell her where we were going all day.

One thing most people don’t know is that when we first started dating every date was a surprise. I never told her what we were going to do but I had planned out each date ahead of time. Shirley had mentioned prior that she really liked that I did that so that played right into making the day a total surprise with the blindfold idea. I talked to all our friends and family about the plan and everyone was on board. The final plan was take Shirley to the space needle, everyone arrives at the house and gets ready, we come home, I run in and get positioned, everyone surprises Shirley as she enters the house and removes the blindfold, queue music (K-Ci & JoJo – All My Life) she likes that song, and then she is led to me, I get down on one knee and I propose. For the most part it went off without a hitch! She said yes! She cried way more than I expected so I guess my plan worked! Our family and friends were there and got to celebrate this special occasion with us and once again we hope you all can join us in our celebration. Even with our current world situation we feel it should not hold our love for one another back any longer than it already has. We will all move on and grow from all that has happened this year. Let this wedding be one of the many shining moments that brighten and light the way