Our story.
How it began.
Our story began in a classroom on North Campus of University of Michigan. We both started at the university in 2010 studying engineering. Apparently, we had been in classes together before, but we were put on a project together in the second semester senior year where we would first meet. After spending a lot of time together on the project, we developed a close friendship. After a few months, Nick asked Nicole out to dinner. Nicole remembers getting ready for the date - asking her roommates what to wear. Shortly after we started dating, we graduated with our Computer Science Engineering degrees and moved to different states. We had both accepted jobs before we even met each other - Nick moved down to Dallas for a job at IBM while Nicole moved out to Seattle for a job at Expedia.
How we fell in love.
Luckily, Nick couldn't stay away from Nicole long and ended up moving to Seattle nine months later. We started living together, skiing together, and even working together at Expedia. We became each other's best friends. Nick introduced Nicole to video gaming which we both still play together often. Nicole got Nick into traveling and sports. We played intramural flag football, kickball, and dodgeball with friends. We weren't outstanding but enjoyed it anyway - fantasy football was more of our sport, winning four championships between us. We road-tripped all over - Yellowstone, Whistler, Cannon Beach, Olympic Peninsula, and more. Our most extensive trip was our international vacation to London and Italy. With each day, we fell more and more in love with each other.
Whistler, BC
Yellowstone, WY
Deception Pass, WA
Rome, Italy
Capri, Italy
How he proposed.
"It all started on an August day in 2020. Nicole and I visited my parents in Michigan when I suggested visiting our alma mater, the University of Michigan, for a day trip. Little did Nicole know that I brought an engagement ring with me for our entire trip. We parked on campus and started our stroll around to see how much had changed. We reminisced on some of our favorite memories; attending another sold-out football game at the Big House, pulling another all-nighter to finish a Computer Science project, and countless nights of fun and questionable sobriety with our close friends and roommates. Then we walked towards the main diag.
The diag is one of the central hearts of the Michigan campus, where students congregate to relax, study, and share their love of different clubs and activities. Since this was mid Summer, the crowd wasn't as large, but you could still see a few dozen people spread out enjoying lunch and relaxing. Then, we walked towards the center of the diag, where a brass block "M" sits within the concrete. This was when I started my rehearsed speech on how important the university has been to both of us, especially for the start of our relationship, and how I thought it should be part of our next step together. Then, I got down on one knee and asked the most important question in my life. Lucky for me, Nicole was ecstatic and quick to say yes. After receiving a standing ovation from the crowd, we retreated from the Diag to explore the remainder of the campus and bask in our engagement happiness."
- Nick