While Nerissa had heard about Michael through one of her Nashville roommates, the two actually first met while sitting next to each other at Kol Nidre services. Super romantic, right? A few weeks later, Nerissa and her roommates threw a Halloween party, where Nerissa was dressed as Buzz Lightyear and Michael was dressed as himself. After a grueling game of True American, the two chatted and exchanged phone numbers. They had their first date the following week. Nerissa and Michael were so tired from teaching all day that they opted to get Thai takeout and bring it back to Michael's couch instead of sitting at a restaurant. They later found out that Michael's roommate live-tweeted the entire date and read the following gem- "They got Thai. Ethnic food is always a bad idea on a first date. #fyi".

Nerissa taught in Nashville for another year and moved back to Cleveland, and a year later, Michael followed. After a year of living in Cleveland, the pair went back to Nashville for winter break, and on New Year's Day, they went to go meet some friends for brunch. The restaurant Michael selected was conveniently across from the same Thai place where they had their first date. He proposed right on the sidewalk in front of their first date spot...with all of their friends cheering from across the street.