Nia and Jeff both went to the University of Connecticut for their undergraduate studies. Although they both studied Biomedical Engineering, they did not meet each other until Nia was interviewing for her graduate studies internship placement. The current graduate intern class, in which Jeff was a part of, took the interviewees out to dinner at a Texas Roadhouse in Springfield, Massachusetts. By chance, Nia and Jeff sat across the table from each other. They were surrounded by other interns all getting to know the interviewees and enjoying their time out with one another. In typical getting to know each other fashion, small talk ensued. It was then from across the table that Nia vividly remember the first words Jeff ever spoke to her ... "Do you speak Greece?". This of course made Nia chuckle, and naturally what Jeff remembers from that encounter is the first time he heard Nia's hearty laughter! A few weeks later, fate matched Nia with the hospital in which Jeff worked. At first Nia and Jeff were friends, classmates, and co-workers. Throughout the years of getting to know each other and bonding over everything from Uconn, craft beer, similar passions and a general zest for life and adventure, their relationship grew into a romantic one!

Fast forward 7 years later, Jeff and Nia planned a vacation to Cyprus. Jeff knew Cyprus has a special place in Nia's heart, so he diligently did his research, bought a ring, and carefully packed/hid it in his carry-on all the way to Cyprus. Jeff planned a proposal, and a back-up proposal (just in case!).

Jeff and Nia love to hike together, so Jeff figured that he would propose on a hike he had planned in the beautiful Troodos Mountains of Cyprus. As they were driving up the winding mountain road to the trailhead, they started hearing a noise. At first it wasn't that noticeable, but as they kept creeping higher up the mountain the noise was steadily increasing. They still didn't know exactly what was going on, and looking around they kept asking themselves 'what is that noise?'. Curiously, they studied their surrounding and soon came to the realization that they were driving through a swarm of beetles! It literally sounded like a hail storm with the rate in which they were flying into the windshield! At that point Nia was uncontrollably laughing to a point where words could not be formed and tears were streaming down her face. She couldn't express her mix of emotions finding it both funny and scary at the same time. Feeling bad for Jeff knowing he was really looking forward to the adventure, onward and upward they drove hoping the beetle storm would clear as they pulled into the trailhead parking lot. It did not. Jeff lovingly leaned over to Nia and said 'let's just give it a try, maybe it will clear up. We can hike for 10 minutes and if it's still bad we can turn around'. Nia, feeling like she was on an episode of Fear Factor, gave herself a little pep talk, bravely exited the car, walked approximately 20 feet, was attacked by 84758923075389 kamikaze beetles, flailed and swatted at the beetles. As her patience quickly plummeted, she promptly turned around and ran back to the car for shelter faster than she ever had run before. They ended up driving down the mountain to where there were no beetles, and instead went on a small hike to a waterfall.

Finding little time on their Cyprus family vacation to sneak away on romantic adventures, Jeff and Nia made a plan to head to this lovely, romantic restaurant just the two of them. Using google maps, they planned a route from the hotel to the restaurant (a 1.5 mile quick bus ride to the castle followed by a 0.5 mile walk from there to the restaurant). Everything was going smoothly (although the walk wasn't necessarily through the nicest part of town..), and they finally made it to the restaurant! As they walked up to the door, they pulled on the handle only to come to the realization that the restaurant was closed! Nia, hungry and clueless of Jeff's plans to propose , quickly made a back-up plan at a cafe by the castle for dinner and together they scurried the 0.5 miles back.

The first day back in America, Jeff and Nia picked up their fur baby, Penny from being boarded. It was her birthday the day prior, so they wanted to do something special and planned to go on a hike up in New Hampshire. Since it was Penny's first 4000 foot mountain, they figured it was best to do a hike in which they knew the terrain could easily accommodate a dog. They chose to hike Mt. Eisenhower, which also happened to be the first 4000 footer Jeff and Nia hiked together! Unbeknownst to Nia, this was intentional. As they were driving towards the trailhead parking area, they came to a sign saying the road to the trailhead was closed. This is common in the White Mountains, so Nia suggested for them to hike Mt. Pierce instead, but Jeff was insistent that they hike Mt. Eisenhower. He then proceeded to drive all the way around the mountain to get to the other end of the road, hoping that it would be open so that they could get to the planned trailhead and hike Mt. Eisenhower. Finally, good fortune was on their side and the other end of the road was open! At the summit, Jeff asked another hiker to capture the moment. As they smiled for a photo, Jeff got down on one knee and asked Nia to marry him. Surprised and unable to form words Nia nodded yes. Jeff needing to make sure before he got up, asked 'was that a yes?', and through tears of joy and a happy cluster of emotions, Nia said YES!