Nicole was going with a group of college friends to watch the annual Capitol Fourth concert. Michael on the other hand was in DC that day with a different set of priorities in mind - namely, to watch some flyovers by a few of the coolest planes in the US military. Socializing was a secondary concern for him that day but he did hear that a friend from Front Royal was there to watch the concert with some Christendom friends. As the flyovers wrapped up, Michael made his way to join the group of college friends…you might guess where this is going…Michael and Nicole met, fell in love, and here we are! Except this was July 4th, 2019 and while Nicole and Michael did meet that day and on several other occasions over the following few years, God had different timing in mind for their story. It was only after Nicole moved back to the DMV area at the end of 2021 that they actually began to get to know each other. It wasn’t love at first sight, although both have admitted they did think about it at various points in those first few months but brushed it off. It was only after a year or so that it slowly began to dawn on Michael that he was going to parties and events and hoping Nicole would be there because he just really enjoyed spending time with her. And then he started to realize how much they had in common and how easy she was to talk to. Eventually Michael had made up his mind to ask her out, but needed an opportunity to see Nicole alone. He decided to try and make his own luck by biking to pickup volleyball in Old Town in hopes of Nicole offering to drive him home. And it worked! They stuck the bike in the back of her Jeep and off they went. Michael worked up the courage to ask her out and they set their first date for later that week. Their second date nearly fell apart when Michael’s phone died that morning and Nicole wondered why he was unresponsive while he panicked to find a way to communicate this to her. However, that night Nicole knew Michael must be interested in her because he chose the seat facing away from the UVA basketball game which was playing on the TV at the bar. Nicole claimed she wasn’t interested in college basketball but shortly thereafter Michael had his first clue that Nicole must be interested in him as well - UVA was playing their March Madness game in the middle of the work day. In their now frequent text conversations throughout the day, she started texting Michael about how she was watching right alongside him. Michael didn't quite know it yet but after this it was over for him… A couple weeks later, they were discussing their upcoming trips to Europe which were scheduled so that Michael came back from his two week trip the day Nicole left on hers. He almost too casually mentioned extending his trip and meeting up in Paris at the beginning of her trip. She was so caught off guard that she responded “oh yeah that would be cool”, thinking he couldn’t be serious. A few days later, Michael had looked into flights and thought it was possible if Nicole was open. This time she spoke up and said maybe they should define what “this” was first. NOW you know where this is headed...that night they became official and two months later, Michael joined up with the Feldman family (well mostly just Nicole) for a whirlwind 36 hours in Paris in late May. Skipping forward a bit…as they grew closer through all the ups and downs of life, they came to realize how much they love and trust each other. So on a slightly rainy day in May, Michael made plans to meet Nicole at St. Rita’s to pray after work. But what she didn't know is that he had a very special ring in his pocket…and what Michael didn't know is that there was a wedding rehearsal scheduled for the exact same time at the church. So after a little bit of improvisation and stalling (that wasn't at all suspicious to Nicole) Michael pulled out the ring and asked her to marry him and she said yes! So here we are and we can't wait to celebrate with you all in February!