How We Met

June of 2005 was when it all happened. I was attending college at this time and sitting in my crappy little apartment one night, praying. I said "God, could you let me marry a Japanese man? I really want to and they're really cute. The only Japanese guys I know attend Chico State, but they don't really speak English, and I don't think they are very particular on white girls. So will you let me meet an Americanized one?"
I had never before tried internet dating. That evening in June of 2005, I didn't even know what I was doing really when I signed onto the computer. I stumbled across a few dating sites online, but didn't really know what they were. I hadn't even heard very much about "internet dating", let alone did I know what it was. On this particular site, one is first asked to fill out a profile and to download a photo of oneself to go with it. After this has been completed and submitted, that profile is matched up with other profiles that are common with one another. I have always been challenged with computers, so I didn't know how to download a photo, nor did I own a digital camera. Because I wasn't a paying subscriber to this particular dating website, I was unable to initiate a conversation with someone who wanted to speak with me. I had to wait until a subscriber initiated a conversation with me in order to speak with them. Not long after, a guy talked to me named Kevin. He was nice and we became friends, but nothing more really. There was no talk of romance or whatnot. He had posted a photo of himself on the site, but with all due respect, his photo did NOT do him justice at all. I stopped looking for "him" on the internet (whoever "he" was) for a few months because I wasn't having any real luck. In January of 2006, I signed back onto that website, just for fun. Kevin was there. He initiated the conversation, saying "Hi!" I said "Hey! I remember you! Do you remember me?" Kevin said "Ya! How have you been?" So we talked for awhile. We eventually exchanged numbers and talked on the phone. After talking on the phone several times, I started to fall for Kevin. I flew down to meet him on March 15, 2006. Luckily, my best friend (Morgan) lives in his area too, so I could conveniently stay at her house after we hung out with Kevin. He was going to pick me up from the airport, so when I got off the plane I had to look for a Japanese guy. I didn't know what he looked like really, so I had a cell phone with me just in case. First, I saw a big fat Asian guy walking my way. Unsure if it was him, I averted my eyes from this guy and hoped to God that it wasn't Kevin. Luckily, the guy passed and I was safe. I called Kevin on my phone and said "Hey I'm here!" He said "Okay, I'm right outside. Just come out and I'll be here." I exited the sliding doors of the building and Kevin was standing there. There were lots of people around, but I knew it was him. He smiled and walked over to me. We hugged and I said "You're so cute!"

Proposal

On Friday night of September 8, 2007, I said to Kevin "Hey, do we have plans for this weekend?" Smiling, he replied "Well, I was thinking we could go to Las Brisas for lunch tomorrow." You see, Las Brisas is the very first cafe Kevin and I ever went to. It is located in Laguna Beach, practically right on the beach and totally romantic. I had been harassing Kevin for months about proposing to me (preferably at the beach or something) but his responses were always rather vague. They were always something like "It will happen someday" or "Just wait" or a close approximation. When Kevin suggested that we go to Las Brisas, I thought silently to myself "He thinks he's so smooth! He's going to propose to me and thinks I haven't a clue! Okay, I should act surprised when he does it. Practice the ‘surprised face’...." The next day when we went to Las Brisas for lunch, it was really crowded. We had to wait forever to be seated, when Kevin finally said "Oh this is stupid. Let's go to the beach." I innocently said "Sure, that sounds fun" as if I suspected nothing. I thought for sure he was going to propose to me on the beach. When we got to the beach, it was SO crowded as well. There were kids running. There were beach balls flying. It wasn't romantic at all, but I thought silently again "Okay, Kevin knows I want to be proposed to at the beach. I'll get my ‘surprised face’ ready."
After awhile, when Kevin still hadn't proposed, he said "Hey let's leave. There are too many people here."
He was right. The beach was way too crowded, and being hit in the face with a beach ball wasn't exactly our idea of "romantic". We left and got into his car. We were driving for a few minutes before I began crying. Kevin said "Liv, what's wrong?" I said "No, I can't say. I'm so stupid and you'll laugh at me." Kevin said "Oh Liv, I always laugh at you and it never bothered you before. Please tell me?" I said "Fine. I thought you were going to propose to me today." Sure enough, he started laughing at me. "In time" he said. "It will come in time."
We stopped at his mom's house for dinner. When we were about to leave, he said "Let's go to Seal Beach. It's nearby and it's really nice." Innocently and with an expression as if I expected nothing, I said "Oh okay, that will be fun." In my mind, I was screaming "Aaaugh! This is it! He's going to propose! And he thinks I don't know! He thinks he's so smooth! Okay........be calm and practice your surprised look....."
Kevin took me to a beach that I had never been to before. It was dark. No one was around. I walked down to the water, but when I only took a few steps from the car, Kevin was still fooling around with something inside of his car. I thought nothing of it. I walked down to the water and he followed shortly after. We stood looking up at the stars from the water's edge. After a few minutes of standing there in silence, I figured that nothing was going to happen. I accepted the fact that this just wasn't the right time and was a little sad.
Kevin said "Liv, you really mean a lot to me." I looked at him and said "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me Kev." He said "Okay, here it goes..."
At that moment, Kevin dropped down to one knee in front of me. Holding out something in the darkness, he said "Will you marry me?"
I was smiling......and almost laughing because I couldn't tell if he was joking with me or not. I couldn't see what was in his hand since it was so dark. Grinning, I said "Are you being serious?" Kevin started laughing too and replied "Yes! Will you be my wife?! Why do you think I'm down here with a ring?!" I hesitated a moment, and then after I had realized that he wasn't kidding, I dropped to my knees as well and began to cry. "Kev, I would love to marry you!"
He slid the ring onto my finger. I could see its shimmer beneath the faint light of the night sky. It was beautiful.
Kevin asked "So...that's a yes?"
"Yes yes!" I said, as I threw my arms around him.
We were both kneeling there in the sand , holding onto each other so tightly. At that moment, I looked up to the stars. They seemed so far away....I mean, farther than usual. Also, I couldn't focus on them, for they were like long streaks through the residue of my tears.
Kevin asked "Shall we?"
Sniffling, I said "Ya" and we walked back to the car.
Throughout the car ride home, I had to continuously pinch myself and ask him "Am I dreaming?" because my dreams have always been very vivid. He laughed at me each time and said "No, it really happened!" I said "I can't believe you actually did this!" and cried again............but this time, they were happy tears.

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