What an amazing weekend it has been. I appreciate all the congratulatory emails that I have received over the past weekend. It really is nice that all of you are on this amazing ride with me. As Jenni and I have decided to continue our lives together, we have decided that ultimately we'll merge the blogs too. Jenni is probably a better writer than me, which kind of sucks since I bill myself as a professional writer, plus Im not an expert on statistics either. In fact there is a lot of things that Jennifer does better than me, perhaps that is one of the reasons why i chose her as she will help me improve myself. One thing that Jennifer is attracted to me is the size of my heart. I have a lot of love to give. So here is the blog where she posted today.

12 FEBRUARY 2010
I said yes....


Arriving in Bahrain was quite a blur. I arrived to Heathrow at about 8AM London time and found my gate. After finding my gate, I went to the bathroom and took my time changing my clothes and trying to make myself feel as pretty as I could. I had a feeling that once i arrived in Bahrain there would be little time or inferior facilities. (i was right).

So I changed my clothes, put on a little makeup, and went to my gate and boarded the plane. Its all quite a blur really.... I think i got on the plane, was fed yet another meal, and managed to organize some thoughts for my dissertation but mostly spent my time counting down the hours.I think the total amount of time that had lapsed from takeoff in RDU to landing in BAH was about 25 hours, but it sure felt like 100. I kept pausing my movie on the plane and checking the time left until arrival. I was quite anxious.

I arrive. I get off the plane. I go through Immigrations/Customs and get my visa. I go through some sort of security and then onto baggage claim. Its really all a blur. So i get my bags, I swear my bags are literally among the first 10 off the plane. I'm so fortunate that way. So I grab a man to cart my bags out of the airport and i begin to exit looking for rick. I go out the gates and I start to round the corner. I start looking around for him and then I spot him. There he is. Oh my goodness... the handsomest man I have ever seen, holding gorgeous flowers is waiting for me, BEAMING from ear to ear. I am so not disappointed... I slow down and the rest of this is quite a dream. I approach him. Time really has stood still. There are noises around me, and i notice two of his coworkers, holding a video camera and a still camera, and I think about what is going on and I sort of catch on, but its all happening so fast and so slowly which i know makes no sense, but this is the honest truth. Its sort of like that movie Big Fish, where the guy sees the girl and has to walk through the popcorn. This is exactly how i envisioned the way the time would behave once I caught sight of him. MY perception was right and once I see him. I cannot take my eyes off of his. I feel like the entire world is watching me, us. But I do not notice them. Not really. Our eyes lock and I don't think our gaze ever unlocked.... I am melting and my knees are growing quite weak.

He hands me the flowers and before we can even say a word, he DROPS TO HIS KNEE. and this crowd of people all watching, they all gasp. Its like someone was holding a cue card to evoke this sort of unanimous reaction, but for these next few seconds, I am the center of the entire Universe. I suppose this is how it is supposed to feel, and I was not afraid about what was coming next. Jenni. will you marry me?? I'm literally speechless, which is quite a sight to see. I must be smiling so big because i am so happy, and I know that I know that I know, he is the one. The moment I saw him, any doubt that I had was removed. Our eyes are locked and I say yes. I said yes! Applause and cheers abound, and he stands up and did something he said he wouldn't do. He broke the law and kissed me. Now I can honestly say I never kissed my fiance until we got engaged. How romantic. And our eyes, our gaze. It was still locked. We really were not going to look away from each other. I couldn't look away. I was in amazement and awe of what I was seeing, him. For the very first time. Was I crazy? Am i? Probably. But one thing that is for sure... He is the one. I am so surprised and a little embarrassed because I really am not the one for being caught offguard, but the embarrassment is a good kind that I know I will remember forever.

So I really have no memory of this other than that because I was so jetlagged and in such a daze, but here I am 36 hours later, and I'm still sure that I have made the right decision. And the beauty of it all. It was caught on tape. His camera crew video taped it, and he was wearing a microphone so whatever words I managed to utter out of my mouth were captured. I sure can't wait to see it.

50 kisses and fancy ball later - where I meet so many people that absolutely adore him - I am still trying to gain my bearings, and I love this man. Everyone else seems to love him too which only further confirms what I already knew to be true and it is quite obvious to me by watching the way they all interact with him. I really enjoy watching him interact with his peers and friends. They are quite some people, and many of them took the time to speak to me, tell me how amazing he is, and give us well wishes. The rest of my life is up in the air, but one thing is certain. I will be loved. I will be cherished. And I will be taken care of. My life is going to be one adventure. That is for sure.