How I met my husband

Kids I am going to tell you an incredible story, the story of how I met my husband #iykyk

The beginning of forever! My guy is big on romantic gestures. He surprised me with a visit back home and organized a surprise proposal. I could not stop smiling for days. The best "YES" I have ever said.

I was in seventh, eighth, and tenth heaven!

Tevan and I are celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary today. So I thought it would be fitting to share the story about how I met my husband. We've been together for sixteen years and I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I've known my husband for half my life. Indeed, time jets by without any notice.

Celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary with a delicious dinner at the Four Seasons, Amman.

Allow me to take you back to the year 2006 and a small town called Ipoh in Malaysia where our love story begins. Like any other sixteen -year- old my days were filled with school and extra classes in preparation for the impending national exams. It was just a regular day for me consisting of school and chemistry tuition which I dreaded attending. To be honest, I hated being in the science stream but it was the preferred option at that time and I just wanted to fit in. so I chose to stick it out. Hence the additional lessons helped me cope.

Ipoh Mali | High School Sweethearts

Anyway, like any other day, I went to class took my seat, and noticed that there was a new face in my class. There were only about 5 of us in the class so it is kinda hard to miss. Little did I know that this guy was going to be my future husband. Unfortunately, it wasn't love at first sight or anything remotely close to it. We didn't speak much to each other but over time we slowly got acquainted; I learned that his name was Tevan and he had just returned from the Royal Military College and he now goes to St Michael's. So that was it and truthfully, we never really got along as he used to annoy me by constantly teasing me. Trust me he was very creative with his nonsense and still is by the way. I am sure those who know him can attest to this.

Just two kids in love | Burj Khalifa, Dubai | 2020

A few months down the road, I decided to stop going for tuition- not because I became a pro or anything but because that is a story for another day. Naturally, we lost contact and went on with our lives. Several months later, I attended an inter-school debate competition and of course, I bumped into Tevan at the event. We waved at each other and exchanged hellos. That night, I received a text from him, and then the rest was history, The local library and Ipoh Parade were our go-to rendezvous point. All you Ipoh Mali's know what I mean *wink*

Back then, Hotlink offered a midnight super savers plan where you can speak from 12 am to 6 am for just RM2. We would religiously subscribe to this plan on a daily basis and speak till the wee hours of the morning. LOL. It is funny how fate works huh? How a chance encounter led to a lifetime of love. Of course, neither of us knew this at that time.

We managed to keep our relationship going all through college. We went to different colleges in Kuala Lumpur and we used to take the train back to our hometown every week which was a perfect way to spend some quality time together. After graduation, I landed a job in Kuala Lumpur and he got a job in Ipoh. That was the beginning of our long-distance relationship. It was not too bad because we still made it a point to meet every fortnight.

A few months in, Tevan was offered a job with better prospects which required him to move to a different country. He was going to be based in Turkmenistan and that was the very time that I ever heard about this country. I was overwhelmed with emotions, scared, and also excited for him because he was really keen on this job. I still remember bawling my eyes out at the airport when he left for the first time and trust me when I say it does not get easier with time.

Life has a way of testing you to see exactly what you can handle. Tevan was posted to a remote place in the middle of the desert with a sporadic internet connection at best. We sometimes go without speaking to each other for days on end. He comes back every six months once for two weeks and the routine resumes all over again for the next six months. I remember counting down the days to his return the moment he leaves. During this time we endured our fair share of struggles and heartbreaks. There were days when I felt really lonely and empty. Long story short, we had a huge fallout in 2016 and decided to call it quits after being in a relationship for ten years. The long distance got the better of us.

I must say that at that point everything that could go wrong in my life went wrong. Let's just say that it was really a dark time and a lot of tears were shed. But life goes on so I picked up the pieces with the support of a few of my very good friends who were there for me every step of the way.

One night, my family and I had just returned home after attending a wedding in Penang. I went to take a shower as soon as I got home. A few minutes later there was a knock on my door and my sister told me that Tevan is here. I just froze and said, "where here"? to which she replied, "he is downstairs.... come quickly". I could not believe my ears. My heart was racing and my mind was all over the place. It took me a minute to pull myself together.

I went downstairs and there he was standing with the biggest bouquet of roses that I've seen - 99 stalks to be exact. It simply means I will love you forever! A cocktail of emotions ran through me - disbelief, surprise, excitement, hurt, and happiness. I had not seen him for over 9 months and heard from him for two months but there he is standing right in front of me, with eyes full of love and earnestness asking that we give our relationship a second chance.

99 roses and 1 special guy. Thank you for never giving up on us my love.

Right then and there, I knew that he is the one for me. Whatever confusion I had just flew out of the window. I just needed to see him and everything was right again. I found myself a keeper and I am never going to let him go. (in a non -creepy way of course. LOL)

My baby even sang me a song at our proposal! My superstar! *heart eyes* Always your number 1 fan.

Just moments after we got married. A little PDA hurt nobody <3

We got married in November of the following year and still were in a long-distance relationship for another two years. During that period, I used to visit him every now and then or we would meet up in a different country. The silver lining was that we had quite a few honeymoons. Lol. I remember the time when our holiday in Paris came to an end and he had to return to Turkey for work and I had to go back to Malaysia as I was working then. We had to say our goodbyes at the airport and boy it was just awful. I was crying so badly to a point that my tear ducts were empty. It was then that we decided that we should look into living together.

He kept the destination of our honeymoon a secret and only revealed it on our wedding night | Maldives | 2017

Long drives, crisp air and that feeling of wind in your face | En route to Penang Island

TBT to a time where follow me was a trend | Eifel Tower, Paris | 2018

In February 2020, I resigned from my job and moved to Turkey. The timing could not have been more perfect because in March 2020 the whole world was plagued by the pandemic that demanded for social isolation. We spent five months of uninterrupted quality time with each other during this time and we will forever cherish this memory.

Managed to squeeze in a ski trip before the whole world came to a screeching halt | Kartepe Mountain, Turkey | March 2020

I am so glad and thankful that I gave us a second chance because it truly is my best decision yet. I still don't know why he came back though - I can be quite a psycho. HAHA.

Anyway, here I am sixteen years later, happily married, penning down my absolute favourite story while recounting all our happy memories. In hindsight, who would have thought that chemistry would work out so perfectly for me *wink*

Made a pit stop at Tuz Golu (Salt Lake) on the way to Cappadocia, Turkey.

Note to my dearest husband: I will always love you and we have been through so much together and so much without each other. Life is beautiful and hard, The only thing I know for sure is I want to go through it all with you! I will always love you!

So how did you meet your better half? Let me know in the comments below!

Till next time. Toodles.