Nicole moved to Huntersville, NC in September 2022 and met Doug immediately after. They quickly realized how well their last names' paired together and joked that they should sell their story to Hallmark. They officially started dating on October 23rd, 2022, where they marked the occasion with taking a day trip to Boone, NC. This was Nicole's first time seeing the mountains with fall leaves. Doug proposed to Nicole at Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska during their Alaskan Cruise on July 30th, 2024. They hiked to a secluded spot to admire the glacier and once Nicole got her *many* photos, she said, "alright, we can head out now." She then heard Doug abruptly say, "WAIT..." and mumble under his breath, "Gosh, I am so bad at this." He then proceeded to get down on one knee and put the ring on Nicole's finger. Nicole, of course, needed to hear the words come out of his mouth, so she said, "Do you have something you need to ask me?" Doug then said, "Will you marry me?" Nicole would like to note, for the record, that there were tears coming down Doug's face during the proposal, and he never cries.