Nicholas had been pestering Justin for months (yes months...) to be his boyfriend. On his last day in Bloomington after graduating from Indiana University and after a long process of pining and wooing, Nicholas finally got Justin to agree to be his... for always. Justin couldn't have made a better decision in his life.

Our first date was had during an impromptu visit by Justin to Nicholas' hometown in Wisconsin. We rode bicycles along the interurban trail up to Cedarburg and laughed and held hands as we walked through the boutiquey downtown. We shared a wine tasting at Cedar Creek Winery and settled on a bottle of Pinot Grigio to share by the riverside but not before Nicholas was sure to get a baguette from the local bakery. We sat for the longest time while Justin murmured "This is wonderful." After hearing him say that Nicholas immediately began to sing along to "They Say it's Wonderful" from Annie Get Your Gun. And so that became our song.

During a Facetime viewing party of the Superbowl complete with cauliflower wings and a Founders IPA the first mention of an engagement occurred. Nicholas happened to slip up and offhand say "when we're married" and Justin immediately began to grin. Not knowing what he had said, Nicholas got confused but after realizing, he and Justin had a good long talk about where things were headed. Justin alluded to the fact that he was planning on asking for Nicholas' ring size next they saw each other and Nicholas started to cry. The next time Justin was in town the two of them went to a jeweler and got their measurements taken. The rest of the plans were to remain secret.

A year later Nicholas and Justin find themselves on the road to Mackinac Island in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. However, both of them know that this day will be quite different from a year ago seeing as they both have rings carved of wood in their pockets. We celebrated our anniversary by going to Mass at St. Anne's Catholic church on the island and then renting bicycles (how appropriate). Both Nicholas and Justin knew that Justin was going to go first. As we rode around the island Justin was secretly scouting out the perfect place to "pop the question." As we passed a clearing with a gorgeous view of the Mackinac Bridge Justin asked to pull over to take some photos. He set up a tripod and pretended that the camera wasn't working but secretly set up a video recording of the moment. He boldly got down on one knee and asked Nicholas to marry him (which of course he accepted!) In the moment Nicholas was so caught off guard but as they were riding away he became very emotional at the reality of marrying his best friend in the whole world. Later that day Nicholas found a park bench for the two of them to sit at and gave Justin his anniversary present (a scrapbook Nicholas had been working on for nearly a year). It contained all of the pictures Justin had been dying to see and all of the phrases the two like to say to one another. Justin became emotional on the spot and on the last page of the book Justin found his ring which Nicholas took and bent down as well. Both incredibly magical moments. Justin's ring is made of a recycled bourbon barrel with an inlay of a double wrapped piano string and is engraved "Yours Always," how Nicholas signs every letter. Nicholas' ring is recycled ebony and white oak with an inlay of sand from Lake Superior to honor his love of the Midwest and the natural world.

Justin and Nicholas spent their would have been wedding day exploring Saugatuck, MI. While they wish everything could've gone to plan for their wedding this year they chose to prioritize the health and safety of their loved ones and instead spent the day together honoring the occasion with food, beverage, and quality time together.