It was a tale as old as time. Boy meets girl at work and says hi. She says hi back and then they go their separate ways cause they had jobs to do. Nick and Allison met while working at Live Oak Elementary. She was a Math Intervention teacher and he was a Special Education Assistant. They were cordial with each other. They would say hi in passing and would give a smile to one another or a look of tiredness after dealing with students all day or all week. They started talking a little more later into the school year when they both ended up having the same lunch times with the 5th and 6th grade teachers.Then came The Challenge. Nick was starting a little fitness challenge to end the 2023 year strong. Allison was one of the teachers he suckered (I mean convinced) to participate and be part of the accountability group. However, she had a health issue and had to stop for a couple of weeks. One day she didn’t show up to school and he texted her to see if she was okay. This was the start of the transition from work colleagues to work friends. They started talking more and getting to know each other. As they talked more at school, they learned that they both really like the show New Girl and talked about how Nick really was Nick Miller. Nick made the joke that she was Jessica Day since she was a teacher (except she wasn’t as annoying and singsongy as Jessica Day.) As the school year was coming to an end, they had become really good work friends. However, Nick just assumed that they were work friends and that when summer came about, they would go their separate ways. But to his surprise, that didn’t happen. She invited him on some group hikes, he invited her to group hikes, and she even invited him to game night with her friends. They had become friends, not just work friends. Allison ended up working at a different school the next year, but they still talked often and hung out when they could on weekends. Nick started to develop feelings for her, but thought there was no way she would like him back. He found out that she liked him too and just like that the rocket took off. They have basically been together every day since they started dating almost a year and a half ago. They talked every day and despite working in two different cities at two different jobs, spent as much time together as possible. For them, everything felt natural. 1 day together felt like 1 hour. 6 months together seemed as if they had been together for 10 years. They couldn’t get enough of each other. One day Nick bought a ring, got her parents blessing to propose to her and started making plans. He came up with the perfect idea to propose. One of their favorite activities, a hike. He found a beautiful local hike that provided a great background to propose. He got together a backpack to pack a tripod to capture the moment and as a vessel to hide the ring. In order to make her not suspicious of bringing a backpack to a short hike, he told her he was going to bring snacks for her. All during the hike, he was looking for the place he was going to propose. Finally, he found it. She asked to take a picture together and Nick said he was prepared for that and took out the tripod (clue 1 something was happening). After he set up the tripod, he had her turn away from him to take some “candid” pictures so that he could grab the ring (clue 2). He then said that he made it a video and they could just do different poses at once instead of having to keep going back to the camera for a new picture (clue 3). Finally, he mustered up the courage, got down on one knee, and said those five magic words and one word answer that led us to the story you are reading. Nick- (on one knee holding a box with a ring inside it) “Allison, Will You Marry Me?” Allison- shocked in disbelief Nick- still on one knee Allison- “YES!” *Big hugs, lots of jumping, smiling, kisses* *Fade to black* *Roll credits* Season 1- Boyfriend and Girlfriend. Ends on a high note Season 2- Husband and Wife. Coming Soon!