9 years!

Happy Anniversary & Birthday!

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.

Happy 8 years!

Year One June 98- June 99

When you first meet someone it’s always an exciting time it took over 6 months of talking over the phone and internet before Jacky and I finally went on our first date. Looking back, as exciting as it was year 1 wasn’t easy. I had to keep it a secret from mum because she thought I was too young to date, and Jacky’s mum – well let’s just say that I wasn’t her favourite person. When I think back to this year I remember studying at the State Library, Bailey’s and milk, #Belair, the bracelet and falling in love.

Year Two June 99 – June 00
My year 12 formal, Jacky cutting his hair really short, Schoolies, the Olympics and Brisbane.

This was also the year that the Olympic Games came to Sydney. Mum made the dress that Olivia Newton John wore at the opening ceremony and Jacky and I bought tickets to watch the basketball. Homebush is a part of history and so are we, in the heart of Sydney Olympic Park is a place called Fig Grove where you will see a foot path made of individual red bricks. On these bricks are either the names of the athletes or messages. As a gift, Jacky bought me one of these bricks and cemented in our brick is the message Jacky Loves Emily 4 Eva. If you are ever in Homebush go have a look.

Year Three June 00 – June 01
For our one year anniversary Jacky bought me a gold diamond eternity band, about another year later I dropped the ring into the car’s air conditioning vent – I was devastated and I never expected to see the ring again especially when the car was later sold. It was somewhere in between that Jacky had the car taken apart without my knowledge, he kept it a secret for a long time. On our 3 year anniversary I received a little box and inside was my ring, you can only imagine how happy and how special I felt.

Year Four June 01 – June 02

Work, study, work, study, work! That pretty much summarised our year. At some point we decided that we wanted to travel the world and to do so comfortably we needed no less than $10,000 we gave ourselves 12 months to save. We worked our bums off!! With up to 4 jobs at any one time whilst still studying fulltime.

The job that I remember the most would be working at the Royal Easter Show. Jacky was a runner moving boxes and topping up stands with show bags whilst I worked at the big Candy World stand wearing a M&M jumper selling show bags to screaming kids. The hours were long (7:00am to 10:00pm) with 15 hr days for 2 weeks straight! Jacky would come home all sunburnt and I battled with blisters from standing for so long.

Year Five June 02 – June 03
I’d have to say that this was one of the happiest and most fulfilling period of time in our lives. After a lot of hard work and planning Jacky and I saved enough money to go on our First world trip together. In a 3 month period we went to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Toronto, Ottawa, New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong, China, Bangkok and Pattaya.

Travelling can get stressful especially when we leave our comfort zone to explore the unknown. We were tired, broke and had to carry around 3 months worth of luggage on our backs. This trip really allowed us to test how we interacted as a couple and surprisingly we passed with flying colours.

One of the coolest things happened during our stay in Vegas, the reception lady at the Aladdin Hotel thought that Jacky and I were honeymooners (because we were wearing matching rings at the time) she upgraded our room for the cheapest one to the second most expensive! For uni students who had no money – this felt like some one had just handed us a million dollar cheque, the lady’s name was Jill and her simple act of kindness I will remember for a life time.

Travelling opened our eyes to a whole new world; it was especially rewarding because we worked so hard and long to get there. It was in the middle of Time Square on New Years Eve at the stroke of midnight that I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I stood there and cried and cried and cried (bawling my eyes out for no particular reason); Jacky stood there with me just holding my hand.

Year Six June 03 –June 04
Graduation, full time work and Melbourne for the first time.

Year Seven June 04 – June 05
The year of our second big trip where we were suppose to go to Japan (Tokyo), Hong Kong, China, Bangkok, Malaysia, Phuket. We made it as far as China before the rest of the trip was cancelled due to the Tsunami.

Japan was excellent and by going there we finally fulfilled a life long dream (every Chinese person wants to see Japan at some stage!). Later in the same year we took my family for a driving holiday along Great Ocean Rd. The scenery was stunning and it was very reassuring to see how well Jacky got along with my family.

Reaching year 7 was a great feeling, we had dinner with our friends to celebrate, they even bought us a cake!

Year Eight June 05 – June 06
This has been without doubt the best year for us. Changes have happened very quickly and I think our relationship has reached another level. It’s also been a year of commitment, it’s one thing knowing that we’d probably spend the rest of our lives together but it’s another when you actually take steps to lock it in. We’re ecstatic about our new house and the whole process of building a home (from finding the place to fitting it out) is indescribable. Every hurdle that comes our way we tackle together, my weaknesses are his strengths and together we are an unbeatable force that always accomplishes what we set out to do.

Wishing you a very Happy Birthday and Anniversary.

Love you!


(I couldn't decide what cake to buy you...so I bought you many!)

It's Official!

Contracts have been exchanged, deposit given, strata report clear and loan approved! Jacky and I have just put a deposit on our first home =P

It’s a 9 year old town house with 2 levels, 3 bedrooms, double garage, 2.5 bathrooms, ensuite, walk in wardrobes, separate dining and kitchen, a lounge room with hardwood floors and a small back yard (just big enough to hold a BBQ party!)

Wow...... what an exciting (but scary) feeling!

Settlement is July 13th...I'm counting!