We met at Portside Distillery in Cleveland, OH at a mutual friends birthday party. Read below to see what we both thought of that night!

Celeste asked me to go with her up to Cleveland to this small birthday get together and I couldn't think of anything better to do on a cold January night. When we got there, we were one of the first ones. I ordered a drink and sat down at a table in the center of the small party room. I was having a good time and thought it was just a normal night out. Then a group of 5 or so men came barging into the room and instantly starting changing the energy in the place, but in a good way. One of the guys caught my eye instantly. I remembered he was wearing a gray zip up hoodie and for some reason, there was something about him that was different. He went on to go sit with his friends at another table, but I kept looking over there, hoping he would come over to talk to me. I went to the ladies room and there I ran into Kelsey. She asked me if I was having fun and if anyone was catching my eye. I laughed but then said, you know what yes, there is this gray sweatshirt guy that I thought was cute. She goes, oh thats Bill Nixon! He actually said to me earlier that he thought you were really cute! She went on telling me how genuine of a guy he was and to not break his heart and so I promised her I wouldn't. We went back out to our table and continued on with the night. Then, I noticed Kelsey texting, I looked over and gray sweatshirt guy aka Bill was also texting, immediately, I knew she was texting him. Next thing I knew, Bill came over, sat down at my table and starting talking to us, but more specifically me. We eventually sat next to each other the rest of the night and got lost in conversation. I remember thinking how easy it was to talk to him and like I'd known him forever, plus how he has the most kind eyes. We exchanged numbers and went out on our first date a week later and well, the rest is history!

I almost didn't go to the birthday party that night. I had a test the following week and I was worrying about that, per usual. I remember my best friend Dave calling me up and convincing me to go just for a little bit. Him and I walked into the back party room at Portside and I immediately saw her sitting at the head of one of the tables. That girl's cute, I thought. As we sat at a table with the entire crew, "Los Seites Mejores Amigos", I remember leaning over to Kelsey and asking who she was and she filled me in on Chelsea. As the night went on I kept sneaking peeks over her way, wondering if she had noticed me. A couple of hours later, and a few IPA's down, I got a text from Kelsey telling me to come over. Over where? I scanned the room and saw Kelsey sitting right next to Chelsea. I finished my beer and made my way over to start talking to them. Ironically, there was an open seat right next to Chelsea. We started talking. Little did I know I was talking to my future wife.

One of our favorite things to do together when the weather is nice is go bike riding, specifically around downtown Cleveland. I knew I didn't want Chelsea to expect or know what was coming. The weekend before we took a trip down to Hocking Hills to hike. I knew that would have been too obvious, and later on my suspicion was confirmed on the car ride home. . . Chelsea was being very quiet. . . "What's wrong," I asked? "I know we've been talking about getting engaged soon and I really thought it would happen this weekend, in such a beautiful place," Chelsea responded. (I actually thought about proposing this weekend, but unfortunately, her ring was not done in time). Fast forward to the following weekend, Memorial Day weekend, I suggested a bike ride around Cleveland and to go watch the airshow. We both had family parties the following days and I thought it would be the perfect time. We parked our car in Tremont and made the short ride over to the "Cleveland" sign. I suggested we stop to take a picture. Chelsea was of course all for it as she is always taking pictures. No one was around, so Chelsea struggled to balance the iphone on our bike packs. While she was doing this, I fumbled to get the ring out of my bike pack, hoping she wouldn't see. She set a 10 second timer and ran over to the sign and me to get the picture. I knew I didn't have much time, so I got down on one knee and said, "Chelsea, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" Chelsea started crying and said yes! From there we spent the rest of the afternoon in bliss and enjoying the moment together. -Bill