We're getting married!

It was the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic - Amber was working the front lines as an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Nick was making his way through his first year of law school at the University of Maryland. Both NEO natives, they'd somehow found themselves in Baltimore, charting their own journeys through unfamiliar territory. Nick was relegated to his apartment in online classes and decided to look for a connection on OkCupid. While swiping through the app, he discovered a seemingly-perfect girl from Cleveland. She was absolutely brilliant, gorgeous, and funny - ticking every box of who he was looking for in Baltimore. He knew he had to send her a message - only to then wait an entire week (maybe more) to finally get a response. Amber had just adopted a cat, Gretel, on Halloween, but decided her life could possibly have room for one more. She created an OkCupid profile and sifted through many messages before finding Nick's introduction - wow, a nice-looking Cleveland man who came from a science background and would listen to her talk about her new cat. They started chatting back and forth, moving to text messages fairly quickly so Amber could send a barrage of pictures of Gretel. They quickly fell into a routine of talking on the phone for hours every night, but still did not meet - Amber was wary of new people and their germs. Nick did end up getting COVID-19 a month into talking after a fateful Trader Joe's run (and this did give Amber the ick a little bit). But the holidays soon came and Amber and Nick still kept up their nightly phone call ritual, even when at their parents' houses just miles apart in Cleveland. Things escalated to a video date on New Year's Eve (they couldn't meet up due to the hustle and bustle of the holidays) and, eventually, an in-person date at Nick's apartment on January 16, 2021. They ordered Chinese food, watched improv comedy, and drank way too many tequila sunrises courtesy of Nick's home bar. Amber refused to stay the night to sleep off the drinks and stumbled home at 4:30 in the morning, and Nick wondered whether he'd see her again. This was the start of their love story. They have so much in common but complement each other in other ways - extroverted Nick handles the social calendar while introverted Amber coordinates the household projects - and it just works. Five years and two apartments later, Amber and Nick couldn't be more content with the life they are building with each other (and Gretel) and are so excited to take this next step of marriage. We can't wait to celebrate with you!