Despite living on the same floor freshman year of college, Nick and Jessi never interacted much until a fateful night hike during spring break, 2015. Jessi had destroyed her knee on a hike earlier in the day, and was unable to keep up with the rest of the group. The other members of the trip tactfully abandoned Nick to keep an eye on her, and the two bonded as they stumbled over rocks and splashed through streams. After the trip, Nick captured her attention by stealing and dismantling her scooter, and the two began officially dating that summer. After battling through the rigorous chemical engineering courses at Mines, the two finally graduated and hit the job market in 2018. Nick took a job in upstate New York while Jessi, pursuing a career in pharmaceuticals, began grad school. For the rest of 2018, they flew back and forth to see each other for a few days a month, using Facetime to keep the spark alive in the meantime. Finally, in 2019, Jessi moved out to New York - to a job three hours away from Nick. The flights were replaced by drives down the Taconic highway in the rain, but they were persevered with the hope that Jessi would be able to move closer at the beginning of 2020. When Covid-19 hit, they were able to live together for a few months before Jessi moved to Virginia to begin her dream career. After another agonizing year of flights and late-night video calls, Nick was finally able to get a job and move to Virginia in 2021. Together again, they welcomed the newest member of their family - a puppy, Atlas. But the years of distance from their families and friends had taken their toll, and in 2022, they finally moved back to their home state of Colorado. In the spring of 2023, Nick finally took the hint and asked Jessi to marry him at Panorama Point in Golden Gate State Park. Jessi, relieved after eight years of dating short-distance and long, thankfully said yes.