We met at Carin's Coffee shop in Winchester, KY. John loves coffee and books, so it is fitting that the place we met included things we both enjoyed. We talked for a short time about Kentucky (Nicole just moved there six months earlier), our individual families, and books, of course. We decided to go out in the coming weeks, and we haven't looked back since.

We were headed to Bali, Indonesia in a few weeks. Nicole's passport expired in April of 2018 and the stipulations for going to Bali required a valid passport for six months after arriving in Bali. We had to travel to Atlanta, Georgia to get the passport expedited. We left early (3 a.m.) in a rainstorm to arrive to the appointment on time. We sat in a Passport building for over an hour before the receptionist notified us that we were in the wrong location. After arriving at the correct location and getting business handled, we headed back to Kentucky through a snow storm. After the long day of driving, dealing with difficult people, and little sleep, John decided now was the best time to ask Nicole to be his wife. And of course she said, "yes!"