A love story

Seven years ago today, I boarded a plane in Atlanta and headed to Moscow, Russia, all by myself. I had a good reason to go - the guy I'd been dating for 6 years was there. At the time, Matt had already been there for a year and he had 6 more months to go. He was there with Campus Outreach - a Christian ministry that works with college students. My parents gave me a plane ticket to go see him the Christmas before, and I was beyond excited about it!

Getting off the plane in Russia, lost! Thankfully Matt was waiting on me! 

He had roses for me! I was so happy to see him!

Later that afternoon, he told me he was going to take me on a walk to a beautiful overlook of the city. We started walking, and he was acting really funny. Nervous. And he was talking a lot about love. We finally got to the overlook, but it was crowded, cold, and foggy, so you couldn't see the city. He suggested we walk down a path in the snow. He says that I must have known something was up because I agreed to follow him! Suddenly, he dropped to one knee, pulled out a ring, and asked me to marry him!!!

One of the best moments of my life!

After continuing on the path in the snow and getting lost, we finally made our way back and he took me out to eat at a fancy restaurant called the Biblioteca - The Library!

He tried to order us a glass of champagne in Russian, but it turned out he ordered a bottle - a $130 bottle! But we were in love and didn't care!  

The ring was special to me because it was my grandmother's who I'm named after, Hattie Miller Pierce. My mom had already given it to him and he'd had it put in a new setting and a friend of ours, Jenna, wore it over there when she went to visit!

We did a lot of touring around the city…

Lenin's tomb

The couple walking behind us, Michael and Amber, were on Matt's Campus Outreach team over there. They have their own love story - they started dating and got engaged while they were over there, they got married a few months after we did, and they are expecting their third child in a few months!

On my last night there, Matt's Russian friends threw an engagement party for us!

They tend to eat healthier at parties over there:)

Leaving my new fiance over there, knowing I wouldn't see him again for another 6 months, was VERY hard! But I had a wedding to plan, and eight months later, on November 27, 2004 I became Mrs. Miller Dart! And the rest is history:)