Our Holiday Away...

I mentioned a bit earlier on that Jacky and I were going on a short break to Ettalong staying at the Ettalong beach resort. The place was goregous and the weather remained picture perfect, this was exactly what we needed after a crazy couple of months.

Here are a few of our snapshots.

The resort is new, the rooms were modern, well equipped, clean and the service by the friendly staff was impeccable! Ettalong beach wasn't the best so we would drive to Avoca or Terrigal 30-40 mins away.

Breakfast: Living at the resort meant that we had breakfast available 24hrs a day. My favourite had to be the pancakes with freshly whipped cream, maple syrup and icing sugar.

This is where we sat for breakfast every morning overlooking Ettalong beach

Tuesday, October 31st

The day started off with a sleep in, followed by a swim in the pool and Lunch at Thien Thai. The restaurant was really cute and looked exactly like some of the ones that I saw in Pattaya Thailand, the walls were lined with bamboo and little fairy lights hung at the very top. It could be the weather but everyone in Ettalong is always super friendly.

We had the Tom Yum Goong, beef pad see-ew and the chicken chilli basil with rice.

Upon my return to the hotel Jacky informed me that he had booked me into a 60 minute full body massage at Jhalu Day Spa for a bit of pampering. Jacky's always been really good with stuff like this, I guess it was just him being his usual sweet self. Because of the mortgage, going out to nicer restaurants had been cut back substantially (to my dismay) but because we were on holidays Jacky booked the Letterbox Restaurant for dinner (the place had won multiple awards and did not disappoint).

Chargrilled beef sirloin w garlic tiger prawns on rosemary and sea salt potatoes, snake beans and a pink peppercorn sauce

Crisp skin Tasmanian salmon on a cauliflower and potato mash w fresh asparagus and a lemon thyme beurre blanc

A complimentary raspberry & passionfruit sorbet served before dessert

Toblerone cheesecake with vanilla bean ice cream and a cherry compote

The restaurant itself was extremely cosy with dim lighting and soft music playing in the background. The staff were polite and eager to give suggestions, Jacky and I sunk into the corner absorbing the atmosphere and listened to the soft chatter floating around the room.

After dinner we took a walk along the beach with our shoes off and hair blowing in the wind...we felt like two 16 year old kids falling in love for the first time again. It's hard to believe that it's almost been 8.5 years.

We got back to the hotel at about 11:30pm and Jacky suggested that we take a photo by the pool while it was empty (especially because we hadn't taken a photo of us for quite some time). The pool looked goregous and I thought that it would be a great idea.

We took 3 attempts at taking this photo. The first one is of me standing there looking a little annoyed because Jacky was taking so long trying to get the camera settings right. It was late and I was cold.

Attempt 2...still a bit fuzzy (keep in mind we weren't using flash, so Jacky suggested we take one more and told me to keep very very still.

On the 3rd attempt just before the camera was about to snap the shot Jacky grabbed my hand and dropped to one knee. My first reaction was OMG he moved! Then I saw him pulling out a little box and I exclaimed with shock "OMG What are you doing?!?!".

To be honest I was in such shock that I don't remember what he said to me, all I know was that he started with "I had a whole speech prepared but...." I also know that besides saying "yes" I said something back to him but I have absolutely no recollection of what it was.

Back in the hotel room Jacky presented me with a little photo album with photos that told 'Our story' the photos represented 'when it all began' to 'what lies ahead'. He explained that I was suppose to come back to a hotel room filled with candles, rose petals and roses after my massage. Somehow the florist stuffed up and didn't tell him that they couldn't source any roses till he got there....the result wasn't bad for a plan B.

He also revealed that my parents had been in on this the whole time. For the last few years Jacky had progressively saved some money with my Mum who would then transfer the money to my uncle in HK who owns a Diamond shop. After saving enough money, Jacky asked my uncle to begin searching for a stone that met the certain specifications that Jacky wanted in colour, carat, cut, clarity and grading. He also only wanted a stone that was GIA (America) or HRD (Belgium) certified (who would have thought he knew so much about diamonds!).

The Ring

The ring was exactly what I wanted, simple and timeless. I had joked to Jacky years ago that if he ever wanted to ask me to marry him I wanted a ring in this style, he never forgot.

I wasn't sure if I would post a photo because the picture doesn't do the ring any justice, but I know you're all curious so here it is...........all 1.13 carat of goodness.

I realise now that even after the proposal I was acting quite strangely, whilst I knew we'd eventually get married, the whole thing didn't seem real and I was having trouble processing what had just happened in my head. It wasn't till the drive home (around 5:30pm the next day) that it hit me! After 8.5 years we’re getting Married!!

From that moment on I became so overwhelmed that I just started crying and crying (the full ugly cry) even the woman who was in the car in front looked in her rear view mirror to see what was happening. At this stage we're looking at some time in March 2008.

Thank you Jacky for all your efforts and all your dedication, for capturing the moment and loving me the way you do.

I love you.