Our story looks a little something like this... August 2014 Rob meets Amy in the laundry room while volunteering with Mercy Ships. He loves her smile. She loves that he knows how to do his own laundry. October 4, 2014 First date: Rob plans the most incredible "choose your own adventure" date while the ship is docked in Cape Town... complete with a 'Parkrun' through a winery, strawberry picking, a local market, a picnic, a rugby game, sun-downers at Chapman's Peak, milkshakes AND frozen yogurt. It didn't even matter that his friend, Marv, third-wheeled for the last 6 hours of the date... October 28, 2014 Rob asks Amy to be his girlfriend while eating street food by a dilapidated building on the streets of Tamatave, Madagascar. Classic romance novel material right there! March 2015 Rob and Amy leave the ship in Madagascar and travel around South Africa for a few weeks. Amy meets Jo (Rob's sister) and Rob meets Sarah (Amy's sister) for the first time on this trip. The sisters' opinions are very important, but thankfully we both pass the test! April - May 2015 Distance makes the heart grow fonder (SA to NC). Summer 2015 Rob spends the summer in NC! He is introduced to Amy's family, the NC Tar Heels, Trader Joe's, and Cook-Out milkshakes... the important things in life. Fall 2015 - Summer 2016 Distance makes the heart grow fonder, but also we are very ready to be in the same place (Vancouver Island to NC; SA to NC). August 2016 Amy moves to Durban, South Africa. Rob and Amy live in the same city, and it is the greatest. December 2016 Rob and his parents come to NC for Christmas and New Year's! May 2017 Rob asks Amy's dad for his blessing to marry her. He starts the conversation by saying, "So I've never done this before..." May 16, 2017 Rob takes Amy on a trip down the 'Wild Coast' of South Africa to a stunning place called Mtentu. He proposes at sunset on a cliff by a waterfall, overlooking the river as it flows into the ocean. It is a very good day.

Amy: Rob had been wanting to take me to a place in South Africa's Transkei called Mtentu since he traveled there a year ago, and we were finally able to coordinate the trip. The first day we arrived, Rob suggested a sunset hike and wine to kick off our trip. We hiked a few kms (look at me using the metric system!), reached a waterfall, and carried on to an overlook with a phenomenal view of the river opening into the sea and a nature reserve to our right. Rob opened the wine he'd brought called My Best Friend- one we've often shared in our few years together. Sitting there chatting and drinking in the surroundings, I have to say Rob didn't seem the least bit nervous. Always cool and collected, that guy. He said he had a gift for me and presented a first-edition copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I'm a big fan of the HP books but never held a first edition! He directed me to a page he bookmarked, his "favorite chapter", titled "The Unbreakable Vow". At that moment I started to catch on to what was happening... then Rob drew my attention to the bookmark: a piece of leather tied to a ring he'd carved out of a lala palm nut. And where do you think he sourced that nut? From a pile of elephant dung, of course! On the ring he carved some impressive hieroglyphics that told "our story", which ended with him asking me to be his wife. I loved the creativity and sentiment he'd put into the ring but was secretly hoping there was another one hidden somewhere! He asked me to try on the ring, and it didn't fit; that's when he took out a little box with another ring, "Why don't you see if this one fits?" It fit perfectly. The man did good. He brought out a bottle of champagne from his Mary Poppins bag and also his Bible to read a Scripture to me. As the sun set, we celebrated... and then got to spend the next 3 days exploring Mtentu! I love how the proposal demonstrated how well Rob knows me. I don't think he could have planned it any better.

Rob: It all started with my strategic move to take the longest, most grueling & manly route to Mtentu. This served a dual purpose of growing Amy's opinion of me and also dulling her logical sequential abilities. Next, I acted super chilled for the next 4 hours while I tried to figure out how to manipulate God's incredible creation for my benefit and gain!! This is where the real skills come in! I took her to the highest point on the highest hill and let her heart melt at the magnitude of God's beautiful creation, and as her heart reached its melting point, I whipped out my book of 'witchcraft and wizardry' and cast the "Unbreakable Vow" spell on her. It is a tricky spell, one that requires a melted heart, a Lala palm nut, a bottle of My Best Friend, a wild sunset, 2 waterfalls, an ocean, a river, mangroves and a search for Scripture. But my book of 'witchcraft and misery' was by my side (and I learnt to read in year 11, which helps) to lead me and guide me. It worked, SHE SAID YES!! She says she is marrying me for my passport, grammer and money. But between you and me, it's the spell!! THE END

Shout outs to some of our key players: God- our Creator, Savior, Father, & King The Humphrey fam The van Vuuren fam The best sisters ever: Jo & Sarah The many friends who journeyed with us while we navigated the newness of a relationship, then loooong distance, the "What do you think he meant when he said this?" questions, and the decisions to live in the same city and finally to get married!

Countries visited together: 5 Islands explored together: 7 Flights between U.S. and S.A.: Lost count? Months before Amy could pronounce van Vuuren: 8 Months before Amy's family could pronounce it: > 36 Rings Rob gave Amy during the proposal: 2