We’re going on a quest for a ring!

They would never have guessed, but signing the acceptance letter to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was the most life changing decision for both Nikki and James. Assigned to Nason dorm freshman year, the two were destined to meet. As James tells it, he first saw Nikki from his window on her way back from the dining hall and recognized her from a welcome week event. Nikki first bumped into James on the stairs, she was on her way out to dinner as he was entering the dorm, guitar case in hand. The two were wearing concert t-shirts for the same band, it was meant to be! In the next two years, the pair became friends and shared many late night AIM chats. James decided it was time to see where this could go and offered to help Nikki study for Physics 2. The bond blossomed and the two decided to make it official in 2010...Remember, Remember the Fifth of November. After years of dating in school, the pair both took their first jobs in different states, Nikki settling in Reston, Virginia, and James in bustling Boston, Massachusetts. Many plane and bus rides later, as fate would have it, James was placed on a project that brought him to Virginia for a few months. The company James was working with made him an offer he couldn't refuse: a great job and a chance to be closer to Nikki! He accepted and moved to Virginia in 2015. Together again, they enjoyed countless weekend trips and adventures throughout the years leading up to one memorable visit back to Troy for Big Red Freakout, a hockey event at RPI. Many may remember February 1 as the Polar Vortex of 2019 with a wind chill to take your nose off, but for Nikki and James, it was the warmest day of their lives. While strolling around the RPI campus, James took his gloves off (to Nikki's utterance of 'Why are your gloves off, it's freezing out here?!') and got down on one knee. In shock, Nikki asked if she needed to take her gloves off too and responded with a polite, 'Yes, thank you!!' ...and the rest is to be written.