Thankfully Part 2 isn’t near as dramatic as Part 1 (5 months of FaceTime and our first 10 days together).
“Home” Again
JULY 2016. Part #2 begins with me saying Namaste to South Asia & flying back to the US of A.
Tears of happiness were shed at the airport when I arrived and hugged the necks of my family members and friends. My immediate family and I relaxed on the beach for week. Next stop, Florida. This time, instead of Robby doing the flying, it was me. The roles were reversed as he waited for me at the airport with a bouquet of sunflowers. It was only our second time meeting in person and I was praying it would go better than the first.
Thankfully, it was wonderful. I even met the parents on day one –which was great! Over the next several days, we went to Disney World (as you can tell I am a lover of roller coasters–gritting my teeth in terror), walked along the beach, and had a dance party in the rain.
A Little Crazy
We then left the Sunshine State for an 18 hour drive to visit my family in the Midwest. There were a few pit stops along the way where I introduced Robby to relatives and friends. Next came a week of summer baseball games, ice cream, the lake, and he met my family for the first time. All went well!
Another Cross Country Road Trip + Teaching
AUGUST 2016. A month later, I drove 16 hours across the country to a state I had never set foot in. I needed to live near the guy I had spent hours on FaceTime with. Would I marry him someday?
I went back to teaching. This time it was a new method. Twenty-three precious kids and three grades in one. 
The next few months included picnics, hikes, hammocking, new friends and sweet roommates. We cooked dinners together and dated away. We loved being together in real life, not just through a screen.
1 Year
OCTOBER 2016. marked one year of knowing each other
Talk of rings
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2016. We had many conversations about marriage and we both knew we were in it for the long haul. I don’t think it was a certain moment. I remember asking my friend how she knew she was supposed to marry her hubs. She said there comes a point when you know enough about someone, his hopes, dreams, plans for life, and you just decide that you want to spend the rest of life with him. I realized there is usually not a clear voice or a crazy calling.
There’s just a moment –a moment when you realize you are better together than alone.
Well, that moment came!I just knew I wanted to marry the guy I met in the mountains.
He dropped hints of rings and I knew since I was engaged before that I did not want to look at rings together. I wanted him to pick out a ring so I sent him some pictures from Pinterest and I figured out what type of ring I liked. I wasn’t the kind of girl who ever really thought about styles of rings or planned out the entire wedding but I eventually figured out that I liked intricate designs, filigree, and gold.
It just so happened that my twin sister was serious with a guy as well. We were all together for Christmas and the twin and I both thought we might get engaged but we weren’t really sure when. Christmas came and went.
“Taking Pictures”
JANUARY 2017. Robby and I went back to the city we both lived in and teaching started back up. We wanted to go on a snowy adventure so Robby planned a trip for us in January. Before I left work on Friday, I told my coworkers I was super excited but a little nervous because I just had a feeling that this weekend was the weekend where he would pop the question.
So, off we went, to West Virginia with another couple who were dear friends of ours. We experienced snow tubbing and outdoor hot tubing with our wet hair encased by icicles. At one point during the second day, we all drove around looking for a place to “take pictures” on a beautiful resort property. The temps were definitely below zero with the wind chill and therefore it was miserably cold. The first place we stopped overlooked the mountains. It would have been beautiful except that I couldn’t really think about the beauty due to the wind rushing up from the cliff we were on. We went back to the car to look for another place and thankfully I added one more layer underneath my down jacket. The next place we saw was a stone archway that was the entrance into a condo area of the resort. I was talking to my friend and had a feeling the moment was coming. All of the sudden my friend and her husband walked on up the hill away from us.
Before I knew it, Robby was on his knee saying my full name and a bunch of wonderful things about me. I said, “yes” and found myself staring at the most beautiful ring I had ever seen.
Meanwhile, our friends started with the DSLR camera, which died from the cold. Then they went to one of their iPhones, which also died from the cold, and were then able to finish on another iPhone that lasted a while. Their poor fingers!
It had been…
- 1 year, 2 months, and 12 days after our first FaceTime conversation
- 9 months and 16 days after we met in person for the first time
- 4 months and 25 days after we began living in the same city
It was only fitting that 9 months after we met in the Himalayan mountains, he took me on a trip to the mountains of West Virginia to ask if I would adventure with him for the rest of his life.
As we drove home from “taking pictures,” Robby told me the news that my twin was also engaged. She beat me out of the womb by 2 minutes and into engagement by two hours. I couldn’t believe it. We called each other, recounted all the details, and loved that we were in this season together–even down to the same day.
I was able to be fully present for her big day and she was able to be there for mine.
We didn’t want a long engagement. Our philosophy was, when you know who you want to marry, just get married. So, we did!
Click here for part 3 of our love story: The Covenant. Our Eclectic Wedding in the Country.