In which Tim and Kim get engaged (to each other)...

It gives me great joy to announce my engagement to Kimberly Dykwell, my girlfriend of the past year. I proposed to her yesterday evening, at the restaurant in Santo Domingo where we had our first date, and I was very pleased that she said yes. I can't wait to begin our life together! Knowing and loving her has been the most exciting and wonderful experience of my life, and I am so thankful to God for all that He has done to bring us together. I am very blessed.

Kim, like me, is a Peace Corps volunteer here in the Dominican Republic. We met a few months after I arrived, and began our relationship in December 2008. She lived about seven hours away from me at the time, so we were only able to see each other a few times a month. She extended her service, though, and was able to move to a town about 30 minutes away from my community, where she has been living for the past four months. It has been so neat to share the Peace Corps experience with her. We have shared so many memorable experiences, like walks on gorgeous beaches, funny cross cultural experiences, killing tarantulas with machetes, and so much more.

I've known that I wanted to spend my life with her since pretty much the second date, but getting a proposal arranged was logistically complicated. I had to arrange for the purchase of a ring in America, get it safely shipped here, think of a creative way to propose, all while concealing it from the person who I spend a large amount of my time with. Not easy, but it all worked out. I prepared a photo album for Kim, which contained a poem about the story of our relationship and relevant photos. I carved a hole in the final page, where I stuck the ring. She read the book, turned the page, saw the ring, and exclaimed "WHAT??". I got down on one knee, told her how much I loved her, and asked if she would like to spend her life with me. She said yes!

We are so excited about this time in our lives. We finish our Peace Corps service in about two months, and will be returning to the US. We will announce an official date for the wedding as soon as we get home, if not earlier. We are so happy that during our trip in June Kim was able to meet so many of my friends and family, and that I was able to meet hers. We look forward to seeing many of you this summer, and sharing our joy with you! Thanks for the love and support.