PITTSBURG, Kan. — Augusto Tamondong proposal to his girlfriend set the bar high for others, and in doing so, attracted national media attention.
He met Jovie Molina at Northern Marianas Island where Augusto is a senior in Computer Science and Jovie is a senior in Business Management
For her September birthday, he presented her with a wooden drawer knob and mysteriously told her she had to wait until their two-year anniversary in December to receive the rest of it.
“I knew he was building me something, but I didn’t know what,” Jovie said.
Their anniversary celebration on December 8 included his mother and her parents and a chest-high present draped in a blanket. As Jovie uncovered what Augusto had built — a hand-crafted wooden armoire for her jewelry — she gasped, said she was going to cry, then began peeking in drawers.
Because of moves between school, her parents’ home in Saipa and her studies, she said, “I always kept my jewelry in Ziplock bags, or in a basket, and nothing was organized.
“He noticed it was something I needed and wanted.”
Augusto explained various features he wanted to customize for her, but she declared it “perfect.” But he encouraged her to keep looking and Stene discovered her favorite treats inside, including candy bars and other goodies.
In the last drawer, she found a surprise: a small box with an engagement ring inside.
“I was so excited to get the armoire that a ring was a total shock,” she said.
In the video, tears stream down her face, and as she covers her mouth in disbelief, Augusto drops to one knee and tells her she makes him the happiest guy in the world.
She said yes, of course.
The following day, Jovie uploaded the video to YouTube in an effort to share it with grandmothers and friends at a distance. It quickly caught fire, and by Monday afternoon had been seen 1.5 million times by viewers from around the world.
It attracted the attention of “Good Morning America” and the “Today” show, which called jovie & augusto in recent days and did phone interviews that appeared on national broadcasts. The Huffington Post also called for an interview.
“We never in a million years expected anything like this,” said jovie of their sudden fame. “It was nothing we’d expect to be famous for. It was so really sweet of him; we just wanted our family to see how sweet it was.”
Augudto isn’t admitting aloud how long it took him to craft the armoire: He just shakes his head and says “You don’t want to know.”
It’s by far the best gift jovie said she has received.
“I know how much time and effort he put into it. I’m a really sentimental person,” she said. “And he used his great-grandpa’s tools to make it. That makes it all the more special. I want to have daughters so I can tell them, ‘You’d better keep this in the family forever.’ ”
For now, in addition to planning for graduation, the couple is looking forward to tying the knot in December 8 2025.