While we wouldn’t go so far as to say that our relationship was fueled by hospital coffee, it definitely got us off to a good start. For context, it was Nick's first week of medical school and Julia was preparing for her Step 1 exam. Those of you who know Julia can appreciate that she had no intention of dating anyone during that time. But a mutual friend, Jessica Hoffman (Nick's diving friend and Julia's med school friend), was insistent that they meet and introduced them on the first day of Nick's medical school orientation. The following morning, Nick asked Julia out for a cup of coffee. Julia was studying in the library at the time, so we decided to venture to the hospital Starbucks for a study break turned first date. But when we got there, we were told they were out of coffee. Not shocking if you've ever been to the Duke Hospital Starbucks. We agreed on a backup plan and settled for the main cafeteria’s morning blend. As we sipped terrible coffee from small styrofoam cups, things just clicked. Pretty quickly, we were turning all of our study breaks into dates, strolling through Duke Gardens or in search of better coffee (and fancy cocktails) every chance we got. Appropriately, the first person in Julia's family to meet Nick was her grandmother, Gam-B, Christmas 2017. We already loved each other very much, but we knew that if Gam approved that would seal the deal. And she did -- with flying colors. Whenever Gam and Julia would talk on the phone after that day, she only ever wanted to hear about "Nicky". We miss her and our other family members who are no longer with us every day; we wish they could be here to celebrate this special moment. Thank you for taking the time to visit our website. We are so grateful to have each and every one of you in our lives, and we can't wait to see you in Charleston!