We were introduced in the lobby of our old church building! Nicole was preparing for VBS and was there late one Sunday after church, when she walked out into the lobby she saw Karyl, our pastor’s wife and asked her while she was still there. Karyl said she was waiting for Jim and they had the following conversation Karyl: wait, have you met Matt?!?” Nicole: no Karyl: oh my gosh, you have to meet Matt, he is just your type! Nicole: oh, I have a type? Karyl: He is handsome, he is funny and he has a great beard. Nicole: okay.. well that does sound like a nice type. Matt walked out with Pastor Jim, they were introduced and chatted briefly, they walked out together, Matt tried to get in the wrong car and they parted ways. And the rest is history!

Matt called Nicole on 11/11 to ask her on an official date for their anniversary, came to her house all dressed up in khaki pants (and shoes!) and took her out for tacos with a plan to take a walk on the beach after. Nearing the end of dinner, Nicole took a bite of Matt’s taco and within a few minutes, realized she was having a very serious allergic reaction. Soooo, Matt very quickly drove to her to the ER. Where she spent 6 hours apologizing and he spent 6 hours being reassuring, at one point Nicole said “sorry if you were going to propose to me and I ruined it.” Matt drove her home, and as they were walking inside. He said some very sweet things and that he had to do one more thing before ‘our day was over.’ He stopped, got down on one knee and proposed at 11:57pm, exactly 3 minutes to spare. Nicole said “Matt that’s not funny.” And tried to pull him back up. He pulled out a ring and said “Nicole I’m not joking.” At which point, Nicole again said “Matt that’s not funny” And also got down on the ground. He put the ring on her finger and she stared at it, quite shocked, for a very long time, before Matt said “um, are you going to answer my question?” She said Yes.