We’re getting married!!

How we met: Long story short: We met at work! Long story long: We met working at Vanderbilt Medical Center within the rehabilitation department. Nick is a physical therapist and Ereann is an occupational therapist. They worked in collaboration with one another a couple times within the first couple of months of Ereann starting work at Vanderbilt but ultimately became friends right before the Covid-19 pandemic began. They began hanging out with a group of co-workers to do fun activities like Taco Tuesday and making homemade pretzels. They both quickly realized that there might be something special about one another. Fast forward a couple months of group hangouts, Nick finally asked Ereann if she wanted to do something with just them two. He suggested going on a run after work one day (Ereann loves running, Nick just wanted an excuse to hang out with Ereann). They went for a run and then ended up talking for hours over beer afterwards. Soon after this, they went on their first official date at a local brewery and Mexican restaurant called Rose Pepper. They instantly bonded over their love for trying new breweries, beating each other in board games, their faith, exploring new places, and hiking. They spent a lot of time getting to know each other at the beginning of the pandemic since none of their friends wanted to hang out with hospital workers. Nick had just bought a fixer-upper house before they started dating and they spent all of their free time fixing it up during the first several months of their relationship. This bonded them quickly as they learned how to navigate communicating and having fun with each other in stressful environments.

Nick had the perfect day planned. It started with him bringing Ereann her favorite cronuts. Then they spent the day with friends in the pouring rain at the Tennessee Titan’s game. Nick had been scheming to ask Ereann that night at the Christmas lights at Cheekwood Botantical Garden. He was calm and collected all day so Ereann had no idea. They strolled the gardens looking at all the lights under a large umbrella together. Then when they got to the mansion on the property Nick told Ereann that they needed to go check out the side yard of the mansion. As they stepped over a “private party only” sign, Ereann said “I don’t think we are allowed to be back here.” As she said it the second time, Nick responded that he had an important question to ask her. She then noticed the pathway of lights leading to the lit up backdrop with a chandelier and all of sudden it dawned on her what was happening and that this was going to be the best night ever!! Ereann’s family was hiding amongst the trees to capture the moment and then to spend the rest of the evening all celebrating together amongst the Christmas lights reveling in the excitement of the engagement.