Our story involves patience and distance! Although we’re from the same area -- Nick grew up in Virginia Beach and Katie grew up in Norfolk -- our paths never crossed. Katie’s sister, Claire, met Nick when they both attended JMU, and they stayed in touch even after graduating from college. Years after all of us were out of college, and Nick was living in Philadelphia and Katie in San Francisco, everyone was back in Hampton Roads for Christmas. Nick and Claire decided to meet up, and Katie tagged along. All had a good time and we repeated the same meeting over the next two Christmas breaks. On the THIRD time around, Nick finally asked Katie out for a drink (without Claire’s supervision!), and we agreed that we wanted to stay in touch.

There was only one problem: we wouldn't be living on the same coast anytime soon. Nick was in the middle of his master's program at Drexel in Philly, and Katie was in San Francisco, teaching middle school and exploring the West Coast. So for a year and a half, we called, texted, Facetimed, and used every other millennial trick to help us navigate the three-hour time difference and the distance. We used our vacation days traveling to each other's bi-coastal cities, and exploring places in-between like Nashville, Colorado, and Chicago.

As Nick approached graduation from his master's program, we started making plans to live in the same city. Katie's wonderfully energetic attitude (known in her family as a bulldozer) overcame Nick's love for the East Coast (known in his family as stubbornness), and so on a romantic champagne-filled 2017 NYE, Nick happily agreed (was forced kicking and screaming), to move to California (which was currently on fire). In August 2018, Katie flew to Philly, we loaded up Nick's 2008 Mazda, Patty, and drove across the country to our new apartment in San Francisco. Patty's air conditioning was broken, so the cross country trip was scenic (hot), with midday stops at a history museum, Salt Lake City's Temple Square, and a reservoir in a Nevada desert (check our pictures!). On August 9, we woke up in Lake Tahoe, swam in the lake, and then drove the rest of the way to our SF apartment that we now call home.

It was our first day in Hawaii, and we got up early to hike on Haleakalā, a dormant volcano. After hiking in thick fog, we reached an overlook, and the fog began to burn off. While Katie was preoccupied with taking photos, Nick was setting up his phone to, seemingly, take a timed photo. He was actually setting up a video to capture our proposal! After a bumbled proposal, an almost forgotten "Yes!", and a wonderful picture from a hiker, we blissfuly spent the rest of our Hawaiian vacation as newly engaged love birds (local species known as nēnēs).

On July 25, 2020, we got married with our immediate family, socially distanced and outside. It was nice to have something to celebrate, but we missed our friends and extended family. Now we're excited to have a wedding celebration where we can actually hug our friends and families, eat together, and then get down on the dance floor.