Jill Duggar is floating on cloud nine these days! Last month, the 19 Kids and Counting star announced her engagement to her fiancé, Derick Dillard.

The 22-year-old reality TV starlet recently met Dillard, 25, in person for the first time in Nepal, where he spent the later part of 2013 doing missionary. Since she isn’t allowed to be alone with Dillard until they are officially married her father, Jim Bob, accompanied her on the trip.

Of course, the cameras captured the memorable moment for the world to see on television. However, nothing compares to hearing the details of the heart-warming experience from the lady in love.

During a recent interview with People magazine, Jill gushed about the evolution of her relationship with Dillard and the interactions that led up to their engagement. She explained that they were introduced via email, and that they had the chance to get to know one another via Skype.

We talked a lot and started texting and emailing,” Jill explained. “And we Skyped a lot. I got to know some of his friends and family. And then, we met in person months later. I was in love with someone I had never met in person.”

She also revealed that she’d even met Dillard‘s mother before she had the opportunity to meet him. “I was nervous at our first meeting because I already knew how special she was to him,” says Dillard’s mom, Cathy. “I thought I could be talking to my future daughter-in-law. We hit it off and she was so easy to talk to. We had a great time.”

She even dished about the trip the to Nepal and what it was like to finally spend time with Dillard face-to-face.

“I traveled over 36 hours to meet him and we had a film crew filming and jet lag so it is a different dynamic than most people have,” Jill said. “He was so sweet! He greeted me with flowers and yeah, it was crazy because I had been preparing for this moment,” she gushed. “Everything just went really smoothly. [A] perfect moment. But it was really special. We enjoyed the first several days getting to spend time together and getting to see things together.”

The episode that chronicled the happy couple’s first meeting aired Tuesday, May 6 on TLC.

Image via 19 Kids and Counting, Facebook