Joy was born in Baguio City, Philippines, on August 26, 1989 to Noli and Perlita Balangue, with an older sister -- Mia Balangue, born 1 year, 6 months, and 8 days before Joy herself.

When she was 8 years old, the family moved to Singapore, and Joy spent about 4 years at Hong Kah Primary School in Bukit Batok before moving to Milpitas, CA, USA.

In Milpitas, she attended Russell Middle School and Milpitas High School before attending San Jose State University. She is currently a student of Liberal Studies, preparing to be a teacher (just like mama).

She loves long walks on the beach, lovely picnics on summer days, and... oh. She doesn't need this part anymore.

At Christmastime, 2008, Tim and Joy went on the ferris wheel at Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose.

That was it. She knew from then on that he was going to propose on the ferris wheel. (How cool IS this girl?)

Fast forward, Christmastime 2009. It was after her MATH 106 final. Easy peasy, AND she didn't have to turn in the worksheets from the final chapter! But that wasn't all. The icing on the cake was that Tim was there, waiting for her outside the classroom in which she had been taking her final.

They decided to have dinner at Johnny Rockets, one of their favorite restaurants in downtown San Jose (Joy recommends the egg salad sandwich and the butterfingers malt shake, her favorite combination).

After dinner, a little walk around the downtown Christmas in the Park was arranged. (By the way, it was really cool this year... it seems that they've been making it bigger and better every year!)

Of course, this couple was not going to pass up a ride on the ferris wheel. So, after walking to the end of the carnival part of the Christmas in the Park and back, they bought the tickets! (Well, Tim did)

In the ferris wheel cab in front of them sat four annoying high school boys... but all of a sudden, everything became quiet as Tim said, "Well let me give you your early Christmas present!" and handed her...

A piece of paper.

Pause. Rewind.
A little while before (one of them says Christmas 2008, the other says one of the anniversaries), the two of them had decided to make something for the other as a gift. Joy made Tim a little coupon book for favors, some of which were for free massages, a free dinner, etc.

Fast forward.

Joy stared at the piece of paper she held in her hand, and groaned. In her head, she's thinking, "Aw, Tim! You want a massage right nowwww?"

Of course, she was thinking of the wrong coupon.
She'd forgotten that she had included a coupon for something that he'd always dreamed of (Hey, corny... but that's what relationships are for, right?), and that was the coupon that she was holding in her hand.

And right at that moment...

(Okay, if the fact that he had been waiting for her after her final was the icing on the cake, this part was the cherry on top.)

"Joy, will you marry me?"

And there it was, in its pretty ring box. A diamond solitaire in all its glory.

Now if you all know Joy (which... you all probably do), there hasn't really been any time wherein she has not found anything to say. In this Tim was successful, as she was speechless.

And yet...

As Tim slipped the ring onto her finger, she found her voice. (though there might have been a whispered, "Don't drop it!")

"Wait! I didn't say yes!"

"Yes, yes you did."

"Oh, okay. Well, yes. I do. I will!"

Later on, Tim confessed that he didn't know until a second before he pulled it off that he was going to propose on the ferris wheel. (Please refer to the second paragraph.) He had originally planned to bring her to the mountains that night, having realized that there was going to be a meteor shower. Unfortunately (or is it fortunately?), the sky had been overcast, and it would not have been easy to see the meteors had he gone ahead with his original plan.

Ah well, c'est la vie!

It was still the best proposal in the world.