Pre-Dating Memories

As I sit down at the table/desk and get ready to wind down, I take a look at David who is sitting across from me. Like always, he is staring at his computer, studying for his upcoming test. He looks more anxious than usual. Med school has aged him a teensy bit. Because his wife has been binging on Gilmore Girls non-stop (thank you Netflix), he has earphones to drown the sound. He sounds out weird medical words that I cannot comprehend from time to time.  Oh med school, stop changing him so... Then in hits me. Tomorrow, the 22nd of October will be the three year mark of when we first started dating-- officially DTRed and became boyfriend and girlfriend.

When it all began.. Yellow Stone

Weather in Dallas has finally begun to tone down and it actually feels more like fall. I brought out some of my body lotions. Can a certain hint of smell make you so nostalgic? For me, a whiff of Victoria Secret's Amber Romance and I'm instantly taken back to Fall semester of 2011 at BYU. I'm smiling now, as I think back to the days before boyfriend and girlfriend.

These were some of my journal entires right before we started dating. As you can tell, I was an emotional rollercoaster.

09-17-2011

"David Eng, who would've thought? Ready to ruin a good friendship again? I wish I could control my feelings towards him. What are the chances. I feel as if we do have somthing. There IS something between us and we know but we both refuse to admit because we're afraid to ruin our friendship. But, can a boy and a girl REALLY remain as "just friends?" It will either be more than friends, or the friendship will come to an end. We do have something... right? Or, will this be another stupid crush?"

09-20-2011
"I'm not talking to David until he talks to me first. Jerk."

09-26-2011
"David makes me want to become a better person. I guess I do like him (at least today I do), so I will just go with it."

10-11-2011
"Invited David over for dinner. OMG!!! Am I going to get heartbroken? Or, will this all be worth it? He makes me want to become a better person."


10-12-2011
"Father in Heaven, why can't I just meet the right guy without having to play games, waste time, and break my heart? Why are you doing this to me?"

10-14-2011
"PLEASE MAKE A MOVE DAVID ENG!"


10-19-2011
"David makes me happy. So happy. I know I need to be honest and stop guarding my feelings by telling him to date other girls. I just need to be honest and stop talking opposite! Why do I suck at expressing my true feelings? Better yet, why can't he read between the lines??!! Men are so dumb! When I tell you to date someone, I want you to say, "no! I want to date you!" ERGGG

10-21-2011
"David and I have been ... progressing. A lot, I guess? We had dinner and of course, talked about dating. It was awkward at first since it was just us two but we gave each other back massages then he accidently asked if I thought "we" could date. As in friends. .. "Do you think we, I mean friends can date?" After a movie at his cousin's, we went over to his place. Then, he finally made the move. FINALLY! We decided to talk tomorrow. I'm scared... But it feels right."

10-22-2011 
"David and I decided to officially start dating. I'm excited for David and Diana and our future."

For those of you who don't know our story, click here.

Us, on 10-29-11 Church Halloween Party

Us, in Vegas. Side note- we went to Vegas for Thanksgiving (a month after we started dating), we fought every single day during this trip.. We'll have to go back to recreate memories.

Oh my, how the tables have  turned. I am still excited for David and Diana and our future. Three years. Holy cow!!

Thanks for reading a few random scratches of my thoughts. Tonight, I am grateful for a lot of things my Heavenly Father gave me. But mostly, for the past that David and I shared.

Learning how to become more dependent, away from Utah, my family and friends, has been a battle.
I still fight off challenges each day. But, there is one person that is in it with me. And, I'm really glad it is that Chinese dude sitting right across from me. Somethings never change.

Recap of Summer 2014

Can you believe it's September of 2014? Seriously, where has the time gone? The month of August felt like a Sunday of the week. We dreaded to see it come because it meant the end of summer. It came too quickly and ended too quickly. With that being said, let's take a look back on our summer.

Mr. and Mrs. Eng spent three weeks of their summer in Korea. (You can see their adventures if you scroll down Mrs. Eng's blog.) Then, Mrs. Eng resigned her job as a Preschool teacher, flew out to Utah to spend time with her immediate family. (If you are interested, you can see her adventures on the blog as well.) Mr.Eng spent his summer doing research while preparing for year two of med school at UTSW. It looked like they had a LONG summer ahead of us. But then, with a blink of an eye, they said hi to August.

 They first celebrated  their second year anniversary.  Mrs. Eng feels very lucky because her Chinese man knew exactly what she wanted. They feasted on lots of yummy Korean food on their special day! Mmm.. The following week,  Mr. Eng welcomed year two of med school. Mrs. Eng has yet to see him since.

Mrs. Eng spent the month of August lazying around in the sun. Mostly alone. All alone.. 

   Sometimes her neices were kind enough to join her.. Aren't they the cutest lovely littles ever?

Mrs. Eng looked for jobs here and there. She had to ask her Heavenly Father for a lot of guidance but it felt right leaving her job as a Preschool teacher. Leaving her job at the Preschool was a tough decision. Not a day goes by without her thinking of her little Preschoolers. But, she no longer has the strength or will to fight against the education system. Little do people know that teaching youngsters at an early age is so critical. But it is easily overlooked. And, she decided she will use her degree when she becomes a mother. But for now, she has waved her final goodbye to Early Childhood Education.

Mr. Eng and Mrs. Eng then had visitors. They gorged on Dallas hamburgers and Korean BBQ. Then, Mr. Eng spent exactly one day of August playing video games. Mrs. Eng has a question for her readers, "do men ever stop playing video games?"

Mrs. Eng captures this picture at 2:30 AM!!

                                 

Mr. and Mrs. Eng reached a huge accomplishment! They proudly finished watching all EIGHT seasons of Psych. It was a very long process and took a lot of patience. But, together, as a team, they did it!

During her unemployment period, Mrs. Eng was very blessed to have the time to watch tons of You-tube vidoes, play tons of Tetris (she may or may not have bought lives on FB), and read a few books.
 She truly enjoyed her summer/unemployment period. But she was starting to feel a bit unproductive. Plus, her already thin wallet became thinner. Thank goodness she welcomed the month of September with a new job. Mr and Mrs.Eng both are excited to start a new chapter in their lives. Yay to second year of med school and a new job!! They are currently lovEng life! 

XOXO, the Engs

Hopeful because of Him

My Chinese man starts "year two" of med school next week. And yours truly is currently unemployed (more about that later)! Scared, yes. We barely survived year one. And with year two right around the corner, we needed to rethink and reprioritze. Phew. Sigh. Unknown and unclear future, you scare us. What better way is there to prepare for the unknown, upcoming challenges for year two than the Lord's House?

A trip to the temple leaves you feeling overwhelemed with a mixture of feelings. We step out and we feel grateful, humbled, determined. Sometimes we feel burdened, and our hearts heavy with guilt. But, most of all, we feel hopeful. Hopeful because we have Him to lead us and guide us. Hopeful because we have Him as our example. And, hopeful because He is in our lives and with Him, we know everything and anything can be possible.

Year two, bring it on!

One Year Old Bucket List

During my flight back to Texas, I decided to declutter my "Evernote" app when I saw our list we created in a spur of the moment a year ago. Once I read through it, I couldn't help laughing. Were we on something? You decide.

Despite how silly and unrealistic our list may be, my heart was  full of gratitude. Grateful that my eternal companion is David Eng. And grateful for that long journey ahead of us

This list needs some serious revision... We will have an updated list in a year. But, for the meantime, can you guess whose is whose?

 DD's BUCKET LIST

David and Diana, will face their future together, forever. 

1. Visit China- The Great Wall and the one palace the last empress (Dowager?) built.
2. Go skinny-dipping.
3. Effiel Tower. 
4. Knit a baby blanket for all of our (future children).
5. Visit Sea World and get spalshed by Free Willy in the very front seat.
6. Purchase something from Tiffany & CO
7. Visit the Empire State Building. Day before, we must watch James and the Giant Peach. And when we walk into the building, we will blast on Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind."
8. Travel to every continent
9. Visit Cancun. Stay in the same hotel as we did on our honeymoon. Without kids. Give them to Grace for a week.
10. Purchase every book written by Pearl S. Buck. They must be published by the same company and must be the same size. And all must be paperback. Same with books by Louisa May Alcott.
11. Visit a bakery and taste all different flavors of cupcakes.
12. In twenty years, invite all our friends from the Asian Ward and cook Korean food.
13. Pig out on $100.00 steak!
14. Swim at a nude beach in Espaina (Spain).
15. Go on a Safari.
16. Visit London bridge and film our own version of "If Only."
17. Go to Austrailia. Snorkel in a coral reef and find Nemo. Capture him and raise him in a bowl. Then, feed him to a kangaroo. 
18. Play with a panda bear.
19. Go to HP Land and get "drunk" from butterbeer.
20. Plant a garden that will produce all of our green veggies. Oh, and sunflowers!
21. Learn how to ski.
22. Both would like to publish a book. David, a fantasay novel. Diana, TBD.
23. Meet Joseph Gordon Leavitt. Then, run away with him. 
24. Learn Korean.
25. Learn Chinese. Chinese, as in some of the few characters.
26. Visit Bali
27. Visit a third world country. David will provide medical service, and Diana will teach the youngsters.
28. Learn how to ride a horse.
29. Figure out who was a more influential writer, Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky.
30. Go to the Amazon rainforest. 

Red Fish, Blue Lake, Yellowstone

With much prayer and consideration, I have decided to leave my job as a Preschool teacher. (Please keep me in your prayers.) To clear some thoughts, I flew out to Utah to visit my family (thanks, mom and dad for the ticket).

Now, we are vacationing in Yellowstone! We've been many times but it's going a lot smoother now that we're older and more mature (I think). We traveled along Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, fishing, hiking (sorta), and eating!

We filleted the lake trout and ate it for dinner. Nom nom

 We made spicy soup using the trout we caught!

 Then, Bambi joined us for dinner..

 Five Chois trailing along Yellowstone..

 At Old Faithful, again. We've been here numerous times but the scenery always takes my breath away.. 

Living in the grand old FLAT southern state, we don't get the chance to connect to nature. Living in Utah, everyone's back door is a trail way to nature. It's something I always took for granted. Driving through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah, God's beautiful creations stood out to me more than ever. Sigh. Once again, I felt bittersweet at the fact that these states will always be a temporary place for me. Thus, I took every minute to soak up all the nature. During my BYU days, I always complained about Utah and its boredom. "The minute I graduate, I'm out of here," I would often say.  If I had known then, I would've been more appreciative. In a few days, I will return back to Tejas. I love both places very very much. But, it's never easy saying goodbye to your home state. I will miss these Rockies oh so much.