The following events took place in the good ol’ town of Laramie, Wyoming. Go Pokes! Summer 2017 Nicole and Lexi Hageman decided to get two friendship bracelets. One week later, two DOZEN friendship bracelets were delivered (oops). With 22 bracelets to spare, Nicole and Lexi decided to share. September 2017 Nicole had recently turned 21 and was working the game-day morning shift behind the bar at Born in a Barn. Lexi, Tom Rupp, and a guy that Nicole didn’t know walk in and sit down at the bar. Lexi, Tom, and Nicole all had matching friendship bracelets, to which Lexi whispers to Nicole, “Hi, uh, do you think we should give Matt a friendship bracelet?” Nicole grabs her purse and pulls out 3 spares – “Here Matt, pick a color, any color.” Nicole didn’t really know who this Matt guy was, but a friend of Lexi and Tom’s was a friend of hers. May 2018 Nicole received a snapchat message from ‘Matt Loundagin’ asking about the final in Geologic Hazards and what to study... 1. Nicole didn’t even know this guy was in her class and 2. Matt reached out on a Friday and the test wasn’t until Monday. This conversation was brief because Nicole hardly knew Matt and wasn’t planning on studying until Sunday anyway. How the procrastination worked for Nicole, we still don’t know, but props to Matt for being studious. ;) August 2018 Nicole and Jessica Cole went over to Tom’s place to pre-game for the Cowboy Kickoff concert. While hanging out in the garage of Tom's house on Bradley St, some dude mysteriously walked through and into the house without saying hello to anyone. Nicole intriguingly asked Tom, “Who was that?” “Oh, that’s just my roommate Matt,” Tom said. Not sure why, but Nicole started crushing on Matt. Maybe it was the way he could care less about the people hanging out in his garage, or maybe it was the fact that she had never seen him around before - or so she thought. She didn’t realize that he was the same Matt from the bar a year before, and the same ‘Matt Loundagin’ on snapchat that was in her class last semester. She had a crush on a guy with a matching friendship bracelet – silly, right?

Fall 2018 With college coming to an end (for Nicole ;)) and a lot of friends already graduated, Nicole started hanging around her friends that were graduating with her in December (shoutout – Tom, Lexi, Kia, and Gunnar). Living only a couple blocks away, it was easy for Nicole to just stop by Tom’s house and hang out in between classes. Hanging out with Tom meant there was a chance she would get to see Matt. Throughout the semester, it became more known to everyone that Nicole was into Matt. It became more known to everyone… except Matt. Around November, Matt started to reciprocate the interest in Nicole. How did she know? One Sunday night, Matt reached out to Nicole and asked if she wanted to go bowling. If you know Nicole, you know she loves bowling – especially at the Laramie Lanes. December 2018 Nicole graduated on December 15, 2018 and had a job lined up in Colorado. Nicole wasn’t ready to leave Laramie quite yet, and fortunately for her – neither were her friends (including Matt). Nicole and Matt spent the next few nights at the Lanes with friends, enjoying their time together. When December 21st rolled around, it was time to head home to their families for the holidays. Come January, Nicole would be working a 14-day-on/7-day-off schedule and hoped she would get to see Matt during her off weeks. Given the circumstances, Nicole figured they would probably never be more than friends. Nicole and Matt continued to talk after returning to their hometowns (Casper, WY for Matt and Pueblo, CO for Nicole). They decided to get a group of friends together and meet in Denver for NYE. At midnight, they shared a New Year’s kiss, and then… Nicole left her phone in the bathroom without realizing it. The next morning, Matt helped Nicole find her phone at the bar they were at the night before. While drinking a couple Bloody Mary’s, Matt decided he would like to continue to help Nicole find her misplaced belongings, so he asked, "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Without even thinking about it, Nicole replied, “Sure.”

May 14, 2022 Matt was determined to finish school before taking the next steps with Nicole and she was aware of this. Little did she know, Matt would get down on one knee MINUTES after graduating with his Construction Management Degree at the University of Wyoming. Surrounded by family and friends in Laramie (where it all began), the moment could not have been more perfect, and Nicole could not have been more surprised.