Nicole and Joey first saw each other in the summer of 2020. Joey was working as a coffee roaster and barista at Lofty, a coffee shop that Nicole would frequent with her dad Terry and stepmom Kellie on the weekends. After a while, Terry said to Nicole, "How about that guy at the coffee shop? He's your type." She replied, "Yeah I know, I'm workin on it." The next trip to Lofty, Nicole decided to go up and “order for the family” and she briefly exchanged words with Joey about the album that was playing: Alice in Chains, Unplugged. With the confidence of having spoken to him for the first time and the reassurance of his good taste in music, Nicole did what any young person would do: found and followed him on Instagram. And he followed back. She debated messaging him for a while, with so many questions…Would it be weird? Is he even single? Is he married? What if he’s gay?! (Good point Celene. For the record, she didn’t think so, but you never know). After a few pep talks from her brother Ian and best friends, she said screw it and sent the message: “Hey I’m not sure if you’re seeing anyone but if not I’d like to get a drink with you sometime.” She sat there and stared at the phone, questioning every decision she’s ever made. About 30 minutes later when Joey got off work, he replied, “I’m not seeing anyone and I’d love to get a drink with you.” Awww! They agreed to meet up on Monday afternoon at a bar close to Lofty called Home & Away (RIP). Funny enough, Home & Away used to be called D Street Bar & Grill, the same place that her brother Ian and his wife Lexi went on their first date. They hit it off immediately and talked over tasty beers for 4 hours. As Nicole was walking back to her car, she texted her best friend Liz, “I don’t wanna be dramatic but I just had a first date with my husband”. Turns out she was right :) And as they say…the rest is history.