Nov 12, 2009
Engagement :: Robbie & Lily - Knoxville - Atlanta - China - Engagement!
Robbie Underwood and Li Meng are engaged! And whoa: This couple has an amazing story!
When I spoke with Robbie on the phone he told me about how he and Lily met. I knew that I was going to love photographing the two of them because they have such a special and very unique relationship.
Here is the story of how they met in Robbie's words ...
The Lord works in mysterious ways...that is the story of Lily and I. What we thought was a chance meeting was really God's plan for 2 lives that were a world apart. I had been considering taking a trip somewhere in the world, and with the 2008 Olympics coming to China later in that year, it seemed like the place to go. I had heard about all the amazing travel stories from my brother, family, coworkers, and friends...so I decided that I needed to stretch out beyond my barriers to see what the rest of the world was like for myself. I was looking around on Facebook one day and saw an app for 'Find New Friends'. It let you choose by country so I thought that would be the best way to meet someone from China and find out what it was really like there, where to go, what to see. I clicked on about 20 or 30 different people who looked interesting, including one girl named Li Meng. It was February 19, 2008 when she added me as a friend on Facebook and our story began.
We chatted a few times to start, but she never really seemed to have time for me. She was a workaholic....when I say workaholic, it's more than what we here think of workaholic....she was working almost 20 or more hours a day, 7 days a week. She was always too busy to chat with me, I would ask her questions about her life there...her answers were always "work, work, work". I had all but given up trying to chat with her, until one night when I sitting at home she asked if she could see me in my webcam. I was suprised she asked, but I agreed. I honestly cant remember too many days after that we were not on webcam chatting about every part of life in China or the US. Without a doubt the strength of our relationship was built talking to each other about our likes, dislikes, ups, downs, families, friends, work...we talked about anything and everything...talking was all we had. It only took a couple of months for us to find out that we were made for each other. We didn't know at the time how to make it work or how to be together, but God had a plan for us.
I decided to go visit her in China later that year...we counted down the days together starting at 139. It seemed forever, but the day finally came to leave....I dont remember being more scared in my life. I honestly didnt know if she would be at the airport to meet me or not. When the plane landed in China it was overcast and rainy, and I think I was the most scared I had ever been in my life. "What am I doing in a communist country?" "What if she is not real?" "What if she is not here to meet me?"....all those things and more went through my mind as I walked through the airport, but as I came through customs I heard my name being shouted. As I looked through the crowd....there she was...Piao Liang....Chinese for beautiful...I held her for the first time in my life there in the airport in Beijing and spent the most amazing 3 weeks of my life with her...exploring China, visting her family, and talking with her...we were a perfect fit. 
