We meet in Mason City, IA in the late summer of 2012... Nick was living in Mason City working for The Anderson's Railcar division in Manly, IA. In the meantime Kim was attending college at The Original La'James. We were both living in the same appartment building on South Yorktown Pike, located on the East side of Mason City, IA. Our schedules didn't match up well at first with Kim being a full time student, who was also working part time... And Nick was working full time & spent his free time at the gym. But on one faithful day our paths crossed. Kim was running out to grab a sweater out of her car when she opened the front apartment door & there sat Nick waiting to meet up with a friend. In quick passing we exchanged neighborly greetings & went about our business. Kim was about to go for a quick walk around the neighborhood when she got a call from her mother... During that call she mentioned to her mother this new neighbor she had just met, how nice he was, & how she'd be interested in asking him to join her on a walk. Quickly Kendra, Kim's mother, reminded her to be careful around strangers. Kim brushed off the conversation & stepped back outside where Nick had been waiting for friends but was now gone. Some time would go on as we continued to be ships passing in the night. Eventually our paths crossed again, this time both arriving home at the same time. It's here where the exchanging of names and stories began... Here is also the part where Kim was returning to her appointment & the laundry way door handle fell off in her hand & embarrassment ensued for her lol. Nick, being the outgoing guy he is came back around to the front side of the building from his upper level when he noticed Kim hadn't crossed through the laundry room to the back side of the appartment where the two both had their appartments. It was here where the playful banter begins...

It didn't take Kim & her then roommate Katie long to notice that much of the appartment building were close friends and would hangout over the weekend. Katie returned to New Hampton for much of her weekends while Kim stayed at the appartments. It wasn't long until the neighbors began knocking at the door to invite her over. But Kim remembered her mothers words & ignored the knocks. For awhile that is... Eventually as Kim and Nick's paths crossed more it wasn't unusual to find them together at a neighbors. One evening Kim & Katie decided it was their time to invite the neighbors over and long story short this is where Kim cleverly got Nick's phone number although if you ask Nick it was no secret she was interested in him. Weekends together as friends passed & on December 5th 2012 we began dating... 2 years into the relationship Nick's work moved him to Kansas City, Missouri. During this time Nick & Kim dated long distance for a few months. They both recall the exhausting 5 hour drive to visit when possible. At this time Kim was about to graduate from Massage Therapy school. Once she graduated & passed her boards she quickly realized life wouldn't be the same having a long distance relationship. Nick was helping flip a new location for his company around to "the green" when he started to notice the same thing. March 2014 we moved in together at the Cordillera Ranch Appartment in Kansas City, Missouri. Here we learned how to merge our two lifestyles together into one. Spring 2016 you could say things got pretty serious and together we adopted our fur baby Rocco who quickly became a member of the family. Late summer 2016 our other fur baby, Sophie, was adopted through the same rescue shelter. As our new family and commitments grew so did our love. Summer 2019 another opportunity arrised we made the move to Holland, Ohio. On Wednesday, December 18th 2019, Nick and Kim went to the Toledo Zoo to see the Christmas light display. During this 17°F adventure Nick stopped at a tree and asked to get a picture together. As we began to pose for the picture, Nick asked "what was across the way." When Kim looked back for the photo, Nick was down on a knee and proposed. The rest is history 💕