Nico and I have different memories of how we first noticed each other 👀 His story goes that one day he saw me sitting in the back (in my usual spot) of our church small group and thought to himself "I wish I could date her". But Nico wanted to do things right, so he said nothing to me for a couple of weeks, and focused on establishing himself at a new church (Redeemer) in Austin 🪑 My first memory of Nico is a little more embarrassing. I was sleep deprived, and over-caffeinated. I also remember being at the McBees' small group, having spent the whole night in the other room and just noticed the new guy as I was walking out the door. I wanted to be welcoming as people at Redeemer tend to be, so I loudly ambushed him with "Are you new!?" He stared at me a long moment... "Yes..." No smile. Totally deadpan. I asked "My name is Jerushah! What is your name?!" "Nico..." he responded. Still totally emotionless. I yelled back "Your name is Nicole?!" because I know how to make a first impression. "No." Was his only response. I yelled "Oh well my last name is Nickell, so we'll be great friends!" and I walked away. He says that in his head he said "Okay!". In my head I said "You have to stop drinking so much coffee..." 🥴☕

There was a few months between Nico and I meeting and our first date. We were both cautious, and were observing each other from a distance, both a little unsure whether the other was really what we were looking for 🔎 Finally, following a miscommunication that makes me laugh and makes Nico embarrassed, we agreed to just pull the trigger and go on a real date. He was chill, analytically creating a list of interview questions for me. I was less calm. My biggest fear at that time was that if I went on this date, I would end up marrying him. My mother was the one who calmly reminded me, that that would not necessarily be a bad thing 🖤 On our first date, I taught Nico how to drive an automatic car (that's right. I said automatic), laughing every time he yelled "I don't know what to do with my hands!" We went to Merit Coffee (my choice) and he grilled me with questions that only Nico could ask. After we left, I knew I had been talking to someone really remarkable. I texted my mom and said "pray for me. I think I'm in trouble." 🙃

It was not long into our relationship that we both knew we would get married. We counted weeks of our relationships, then months, feeling like we had been together much longer. We were with each other through intense school schedules (and even more intense self doubt), work obligations that seemed to eat up the whole calendar and family heartache that might have been too much for someone other than Nico. Sometimes we would meet in parking lots and take late night walks when there wasn't time for anything else. We had arguments and hard discussions and loved each other more when we could resolve them 🙌 Nico asked me to marry him on my birthday so I would "have a reason to celebrate in the future". He knows me. He took me to a nice restaurant, wearing a new shirt and a hair cut. Then he sent me home. He said my present wasn't ready yet (shocker). He woke me up after midnight, on my birthday, with a puzzle he had create using the book Every Moment Holy. He gave a short speech. I cried a lot. He also gave me a phone holder for my car. True story 💯