Jacob & Nicole met in August of 2019 at orientation on their first day of graduate school at the University of Florida and barely spoke to each other for the first few months. Jacob told Nicole he liked her shoes a few days later- she should've known he was finding an excuse to talk to her since she was wearing her extremely dirty Chuck Taylors from college. At the Geology Department's annual chili cookoff, Jacob told Nicole he liked her Dark Side of the Moon t-shirt. They sang American Pie with some friends by the fire- one of them being their Officiant, Daniel! Both Jacob & Nicole had few friends in Florida at the time and with a mutual love for nature, they began biking and setting up their hammocks on the Hawthorne Trail together. When they found out they had similar tastes in music, they started getting together to paint and watch the virtual Dead and Company shows at the start of the pandemic. Nicole had no idea Jacob had been secretly interested in her until June, 2020. In June, Jacob invited Nicole over for a group movie night to watch Knives Out. As someone who almost exclusively watches psychological/horror movies, Nicole was SO excited. They stayed up all night watching documentaries and couldn't get enough of each other's company. Their first trip together was Daytona Beach (July 2020) and their second was a week-long cabin and camping trip in the Smoky Mountains (August 2020) where they fell in love. They forgot to add a label to things and eventually realized they were official without discussing it, so their dating anniversary became Jacob's favorite number, August 23rd. They got engaged in Amsterdam on August 4th, 2024 when Jacob surprised Nicole with a picnic in Vondelpark. Nicole happy-cried for the whole 2-hour picnic while Dutch people came and congratulated them. Best day ever!