We're Getting Married !

Nickolas & Kristen's story began on January 8th, 2018. As Kristen walked into one of her classes at school, she immediately noticed Nickolas sitting in the back laughing with friends. She decided to take her seat on the opposite side of the classroom. Minutes later, they all had to move to their assigned seats where their teacher paired Nickolas & Kristen right next to each other. Kristen's heart was racing thinking Nickolas was so cute (even with his Justin Bieber haircut) and Nickolas turned his head towards Kristen and said "Sup". As months went on, Nickolas and Kristen were paired together in cooking groups and developed a solid friendship. Nickolas was always witty and the "class clown" during 3rd period. Kristen started developing feelings towards Nickolas as the semester went on. Nickolas had invited Kristen out to the movies the summer after Nickolas graduated. (Kristen thought it was a date / Nickolas knew it was just "hanging out" ). Nickolas made it very clear days after that they were only friends and he was not looking to start anything right before his new life adventure. In August of 2018, they hung out one last time before Nickolas followed through with his commitment to join and ship out to serve in the United States Army . They had said goodbye and went their separate ways, being they were on 2 completely different endeavors in life.

After Nickolas shipped out to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for basic training. There was no sort of communication between Nickolas and Kristen for months. Once Nickolas graduated and was able to get his phone back, Kristen received a notification on her phone that Nickolas reached out to her. She was on her ride home from school & started tearing up. It was a very casual conversation, mostly catching up, but Nickolas was so excited to tell Kristen that he went to Church in basic training! Kristen was focusing on school and her new relationships, where they both stopped contact for several months as they were getting adjusted to their new lifestyles.

Kristen still had lingering feelings for Nickolas throughout her educational career & she tried her best to move on, knowing the possibility of them dating was slim to none. Some months have passed and she reached back out to Nickolas on March 12, 2020. Kristen video-called Nickolas and they spent hours on the phone talking; just like old time sake! They picked up right where they left off. Nickolas was so excited to hear from her and started to show some interest in her !! ( finally!!! ) Every single night for months, they would spend several hours on FaceTime talking about each other's days, their goals, and their families, and they both saw how easy it would be to incorporate their lives together. The only obstacle now was trying to make a long-distance relationship work, which they were both very hesitant to try. In August of 2020, Nickolas came home from New York, where he was being stationed & visited Kristen. Kristen knew "this was her time to shine". Kristen has been envisioning this day to connect for so long! She dolled herself up, put on the best outfit, and had every intention of impressing him. Nickolas showed up in sweatpants and a t-shirt. It is safe to say, that Kristen out-dressed Nickolas! They spent the night talking, watching movies and got excited to hang out and plan their next visit while they were still together. Nickolas was home for a very short amount of time and they both cherished every moment together. The hardest part is when Nickolas had to leave and go back to New York. They both took it hard, but Kristen needed to take it a step further and felt the need to uncontrollably leave puddles and wet spots on Nick's shirt every goodbye, as she was overwhelmed with emotions. Nick and Kristen continued to call and started getting into deeper topics and relationship conversations. Kristen was sitting on her bed & thought " Nick is such a great friend, but I'm willing to risk our friendship to give this romantic relationship a chance" and conveyed that to Nickolas. Shortly after, on September 17th, 2020, Nickolas was on FaceTime with Kristen and cordially talked for a while before Nick asked Kristen ... " Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Kristen was over the moon excited that the feeling was mutual. The relationship started as long distance and continued to be that way for the first year and a half with the ability to have 2-3 day visits in-between but on very rare occasions (usually just Christmas or a long weekend). They relied solely on communication, trust, and taking advantage of every opportunity they each had available.

When Nickolas officially got out of active duty, Kristen met him over at the house where they exchanged " Welcome Home / Christmas gifts " ... When it was Nick's turn, he pulled out a ring box and presented a 'Promise Ring'. He stated that this was a promise to continue being loyal and putting the relationship and each other first. Now they had the luxury of getting to experience the "regular couple things" ( Going grocery shopping, having dinner dates, etc). The things majority of couples don't even realize, when in their case, took 1.5 years to formally go out on a date or experience "late night drives" with one another.

Nickolas and Kristen shared the next few years making new memories, taking beautiful trips, and enjoying each other's presence. Growing deeper emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Nickolas and Kristen have had several talks about marriage, children, and what their ideal future would entail. They knew this relationship was serious and started to talk about the next steps. Nickolas and Kristen wanted to plan a far-away vacation for the very first time and chose to travel to Florida in October of 2024. Kristen has always loved being in Florida, being by sandy beaches and it was always her goal to take Nickolas down there to experience the ocean and weather for the first time. On October 5th, 2024, Nickolas and Kristen flew out to Florida to enjoy a little weekend getaway. They swam in the ocean, went shopping, experienced great restaurants, and relished in each other's company whilst creating so many new memories! On October 6th, 2024, Nickolas had planned to take Kristen out for a beautiful oceanfront, steak and seafood dinner. Nickolas then guided Kristen for a walk on the beach, right in front of their resort. Walking through the white, untouched sand... being the only ones on the beach. When it came time to walk back to the room, they needed to cross a wooden foot bridge that connected the beach and resort; As Kristen turned around to rinse her feet and shoes off from all the sand, she turned back around to see Nickolas down on 1 knee with a ring in his hand. He grabbed her other hand as she was in shock and Nick told Kristen how important she was to him and could not imagine his life without her anymore. After exchanging so many words, Nickolas finally put the ring on her finger and she jumped in his arms. They head back into their resort room where Nickolas sits Kristen down on the bed and explains everything that he had been planning for the past couple of months. He had described how he accomplished sneaking over to Kristen's house while she was at work, to ask both her father and mother for their blessing in marriage before heading on the vacation, the process of designing her custom engagement ring, to all the other little details that just meant the world to Kristen. As they were so excited to announce their engagement to friends & family, they kept it a secret, aside from their parents for just a couple of weeks to soak in that moment. The remainder of the time since they've been back and up until now, they have been doing extensive research and finding ways to celebrate with all of their loved ones! They are both so excited to bring you along on their journey as they embark on this new chapter of their lives together!