Mahal Kita!

Thought I'd stop by and say Mahal Kita, Gabriel!

He surprised me! (:

On April 18, 2011 Gabriel surprised me to dinner for our 2 year "Datesary". He had it all planned out. He called my cousin Mir into tricking me. He asked my cousin to ask me to plan a "dinner" date. Mir and I were supposed to go to Cheesecake Factory, but that was not the case. All along Mir and I weren't going to dinner at all. Gabriel instead took me to dinner at HT Grill where he and I went on our first date. We call it "Datesary" because it's been 2 years since we went on our first date. I was very surprised last night! I was happy and excited!!! I am very blessed and thankful to have Gabriel in my life. He is such a romantic and full of surprises! muah!

Happy 2 Year Datesary!!!

It's Official!

Gabriel and I are now "engaged to be engaged". We are going to plan to get married in the near future. I am very happy, excited, and filled with joy because I am ready to take this step with my mahal. We have so much to look forward to in planning for our future. We also know that our family and friends are going to support and guide us in this exciting time.

4/10/11

As of today, we are officially engaged to be engaged! :)

I am so excited for what the future has in store for us!

I love you Maria, with all my heart!

Our Hopes and Dreams

For the past few months, Gabriel and I have been talking about our future together. We are very excited for what the future holds. He and I are trying not to rush it so much because if we do then we are going to be very overwhelmed. We talk about getting married and having a family. Little kids running around the house calling us "mommy" and "daddy" brings a smile on my face. All these thoughts are wonderful and we both know that there are so much more to do before we can actually have what we want. I want Gabriel to know that I am 100% supporting him in any decisions he makes about us. I also want him to know that I trust him in everything that he does with his life, our lives together, and for the future. I can't wait to make memories of the future because I know Gabriel and I can accomplish any challenges that he and I go through. We both are loving and very caring for each other.

You, Me, and Spaghetti & Meatballs

I can't help but smile and giggle every time I come across this picture. Gabriel made this for me way back when in 2006 or 2007 because the picture bothered him every time he saw my profile picture on myspace. I know the picture looked odd with just myself in the picture because it had so much blank space. Gabriel drew himself as a stick figure holding a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs next to my school girl outfit. Gabriel had me laughing when he sent this to me. And if you are wondering why he is holding a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, it is because he wanted to take me out to dinner for some pasta. The funny thing about it is; we didn't even have spaghetti and meatballs on our first date. We had chicken piccata! We didn't go out to eat spaghetti and meatballs until it was probably our 4 monthsary! And as you look at the picture, you will probably notice that it says "strawberry short cake" and "jolly bean giant". He used to call me strawberry short cake because I am short and I called him Jolly Bean Giant since he is a Giant!

Meant To Be

Looking at my relationship with Gabriel, I can honestly say that I am very blessed to know him. He gives me the courage, motivation, and inspiration to live each day with a smile on my face. I love him dearly!

....But here is something you might not know about our relationship in the past. Our relationship almost did not happen. I don't like looking back at that moment, but at the same time it makes me smile because the quote by Richard Bach's, "If you love someone, you've got to set them free. If they come back to you, it was meant to be" is true. There was a moment in our relationship when Gabriel had to let me go. It was very hard for me to accept that he did not want to be a part of my life anymore. I remember that evening as if it were yesterday. It was late in the evening and I knew that I wanted to speak to Gabriel. I called him up because I wanted someone's lending ears, and I chose him to be that person because I knew that he would listen to me and help with advice, but little did I know that Gabriel was not in the mood anymore to be the person he once was with me. I don't recall exactly what the conversation was about. All I can remember was the sadness I felt in my heart. He had told me that he didn't want to do this anymore. And that it felt like nothing was happening and therefore we should end the "relationship". He also said that he wasn't going to be there for me anymore. He said good bye and the next thing I knew, all I heard was the dial tone. After it was all said and done, I couldn't believe what I had heard over the phone. Tears came running down my cheeks and I felt like I lost my best friend [even though we only had a "phone" relationship]. I felt heartbroken all over again and didn't want to have feelings for someone anymore! I also felt angry and kept telling myself that maybe it was the best thing to let me go. I had to tell myself that Gabriel and I wasn't meant to be together. Gabriel and I didn't talk for a month. I missed him so much. I wanted to call him, but I knew that he wasn't going to answer the phone. I also waited for his calls and myspace/text messages, but there was nothing. I felt the month of March 2009 was not complete because I knew I wanted, needed, and missed Gabriel.

Moreover, March 2009 went by pretty quickly and now it was April (09). I still thought about Gabriel and how much I missed him. I remember talking to my cousin Christian about Gabriel. I asked Christian if I should send Gabriel a text message. I actually asked for Christian's advice and to my surprise I listened to him. And so I picked up my cellphone and sent Gabriel a message and I did not have to wait long for Gabriel to reply back because in that instant he replied back. Gabriel and I started having a conversation through text messaging. He and I text message each other until 2 am in the morning. He sent me a message asking me if I wanted to go out to dinner with him on saturday (April 18, 2009: I will never forget that date!). When I received the text message, I have to tell you that I stared at the text message for a good one minute. I had to think about what my answer was going to be. I finally replied back with a "yes, let's have dinner. " And from that moment on it was history. We had our first date on April 18, 2009. Gabriel and I have been together ever since.

In conclusion, it is true that when you love someone so deeply and things don't seem to work out, you have to let them go in order to see if you both can work things out on your own, and if you both are meant to be together it will happen and both of you will come back to each other. I am thankful to God that Gabriel and I are meant to be together. We realized a lot of things while we were apart from each other. We missed each other and knew that we wanted to be together.

The VERY FIRST pictures of Gabriel & Maria

These are the very first pictures of Gabriel and I. These pictures were taken on April 25, 2009. It was my nephew's birthday party held at my house.

This picture was taken outside in the backyard with my family. Alyssa (my niece), Myself, Gabriel, Michael (my brother), Melissa (my niece), Gabby(sister in law), and Mark (cousin)

This one also is basically almost the same picture except my other niece Angelynne is in it. Angelynne knew Gabe already before anybody else in the family because she had talked to Gabe on "myspace" a while back circa 2006. :)

Gabriel, Myself, and Alyssa.