we're getting married!!

Our story begins in 2019 at Colorado State University Pueblo, where—strangely enough—we were both enrolled in the same Business Communications class. It was a bit of a fluke considering Catie was a biology major and had no business being in a business class (pun intended). Despite sitting in the same classroom, we didn’t actually realize we were classmates until a mutual friend introduced us. That introduction came under unusual circumstances. Catie was working on a group project with said mutual friend when she mentioned that one of her friends, Nico, was stranded at the Denver airport and might have to Uber all the way to Pueblo—a two-hour (and expensive) ride. Burnt out from group work and up for an adventure, Catie offered to drive to pick up this complete stranger. Nico ended up Ubering part of the way to Castle Rock, where Catie and her friend met him in a Starbucks parking lot—in the middle of a downpour, no less. After safely making it back to Pueblo, Nico offered to take Catie to dinner as a thank-you. They went to her favorite restaurant, Three Margaritas, and… the rest is history.

After five amazing years together, we both knew it was about time to make things official! We had talked about getting engaged for a while—about rings, timelines, and even how cute it would be to have our engagement photos taken in Mexico during an upcoming trip with Nico’s family in December 2024. That meant one thing: Nico had a deadline. The Monday before we were set to leave for Mexico, Nico was acting a little… off. He was clearly nervous, and Catie had a feeling something big was about to happen. When he asked if she wanted to take their dog, Maylyn, for a walk, she happily agreed—suspecting this might be the walk. They took their usual neighborhood route, but the walk came and went without a proposal. Catie started thinking maybe she had imagined the whole thing. But once they got back, they headed to the backyard to play with Maylyn a little longer. As they were about to go inside, Nico paused and said, “Oh wait—one more thing.” Then, right there in their backyard, with Maylyn sitting between them, Nico dropped to one knee and asked Catie to marry him. Even though she saw it coming, the tears came instantly—and of course, she said yes! Just days later, they were in Mexico, celebrating the beginning of forever with Nico’s family.