I’ve just added a Photo Gallery of our pictures over the past year (actually since Jeanesse got her digital camera last Christmas). You can click on the tab at the top or in the right column to access it. No slideshow at the moment, but I’m hopeful I can add that before long. I’m hopeful that I’ve worked out all of the bugs. Leave me a comment if you notice any strange behavior.

–Rob

Its barely been 72 hours and we have heard from friends all over the US. Thanks for your support! This has turned out to be a busy week for us, well Jeanesse… She’s moving this weekend out of her apartment and in to a house where she’ll be housesitting for 6 months for missionaries wrapping up their time in Bangladesh. She’ll have room to spread out a bit, but will be living a little farther away.

Getting engaged has allowed us to really take the veil off the future, and stop playing the “what-if” game. We’re able to talk candidly about plans, and there’s a lot to talk about, aside from the wedding. She’ll be starting grad school, I’ll be graduating, looking for a job and our first place as a couple.

We had a great time Sunday night, as Jeanesse mentioned. I’m glad we ended up at the Washington Monument. It was a much better location than near the National Christmas Tree. It was pretty busy there, while we were the only ones (for a while) at the Washington Monument, and could see everything–downtown lights, the Capitol, the White House, Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials. Plus the monument is well-lit — very important for her first impression of the ring!

Thanks again for all of your emails, comments, and guestbook entries. We’re both grateful for your support. I had hoped to get a photo gallery up tonight, but am holding off until I can get it customized to the design of the site. Keep stopping by and we’ll let you know of wedding plans as they become available!

–Rob

Last night was one of the most delightful nights we have experienced as a couple…(this of course is only my opinion). We had been talking about trying to catch a Christmas concert at the Kennedy Center before my membership expired, and decided that this past weekend was the ONLY weekend that would work…to spare you the details of all of the scheduling drama…we ended up finding availability at last night’s performance. I had been looking forward to this “fun date night” for weeks, with an intensely full work schedule this was the focal point of my week! I worked Saturday night, so I went straight to bed once I arrived home Sunday morning so I wouldn’t be exhausted that evening. As I was getting ready that afternoon, Rob called to make sure I was aware that we were going to dine in a restaurant that required him to wear a coat, and that I should dress accordingly…I was thinking wow, he made dinner reservations, at a really nice place….he really put some thought into this…way to go honey! He picked me up at 4pm and we drove down to D.C. I had no idea where we were going and that was half the fun!! I LOVE SURPRISES!!!

We ended up in Georgetown at a place called 1789, which was one of the most exquisite fine dining experiences I’ve had ! Truthfully I was thinking - wow I know I told him I liked to go out for nice dinners every now and then but holy cow this is over the top, he has really outdone himself…I felt as though I should have a British accent and be some kind of head of state! Once we finished our dessert and coffee I was whisked away to the Kennedy Center where we enjoyed a NSO pops Christmas concert in box seats! Now how much better could this evening get? It was so lovely already with so much thoughtfulness on Rob’s part. It only gets better….

Afterward we walked by the White House, saw their more tasteful decorations, and then toured the display of Christmas trees around the very brightly lit “National Christmas Tree”…with a surprising amount of people at 9:30 on a Sunday night. Then Rob said, let’s go over to the Washington Monument so we can see the night lights of everything around us. It didn’t phase me as odd at all because it wasn’t that far away and we generally end up walking a lot whenever we go places. Besides having cold hands (which I later discovered was part of his plan) it was a very pleasant night, not too cold and not windy! The monument was so beautiful with all the lights shining on it, and the view of all the other monuments, the white house and other buildings was spectacular! It was at the base of this monument that Rob placed a ring on my finger, asked me to be his wife and I enthusiastically accepted!!

I really didn’t expect anything like that to happen right then and I wasn’t quite sure what I was seeing was real when he got down on one knee! He was so thoughtful and cognizant of so many details throughout the night…..did you know that he wanted me to have cold hands because he wanted to be sure that the ring would fit my finger!!! How cute is that? We have had such an exciting year together and I look forward to the multitude of adventures that await us in the years to come! Life is just so much more fun with Rob in it

Jeanesse doesn’t know it yet, but tonight’s the big night. She’s gotta know that its coming, its been over a year since we’ve met, friends who have met around the same time have already passed us up.

Tonight we are going down to Washington, DC for a Christmas concert at the Kennedy Center. That much she knows.

Beforehand though, we will dine at 1789, a top restaurant in Georgetown. The toughest part of the evening will be here (if not finding the place). We have reservations for when they open for dinner, 5:30. The concert is at 7:00. Fortunately the locations are within a mile, but we may feel a little rushed. Fortunately there’s complementary valet parking, so that may aid a quick get-away.

We will attend the concert, which is scheduled to last 2 hours. That means we should be out shortly after 9:00.

If all goes as planned we will proceed toward the White House, specifically the Christmas tree, just outside the gates. We saw it last year, only on New Year’s Day, and all the decorations had already been removed.

And there is where I will ask her to spend the rest of my life with me.

—–

I’ll let her know about this website shortly thereafter, and if all goes according to plan she’ll make a post with her thoughts on the night, and this will become our Wedding website. So tune in frequently. I will be adding more journal entries and functionality to the site shortly.

–Rob