Jay (JJ, at the time) and Nicole met during the summer of 2011. She was a first-year camper at Christian Youth Conference, and he was finishing up his third year. We instantly hit it off, establishing a “camp fling” that would last a couple months into the off-season. But, long distance is tough when you’re fifteen, can’t drive, and are removed from the CYC setting. The “relationship” dissolved but the friendship always remained. It wasn’t until four years later, when both of us were single, that we started talking more frequently, and all those feelings from years before resurfaced. Jay sent Nicole two dozen cupcakes on her birthday that January, and we decided to go on a date to the Holyoke mall a week later. We left Holyoke as “boyfriend and girlfriend” and the rest is history!

We’ve always wanted to chop down our own Christmas tree. For years we’ve been trying to do it, but we always end up just picking up one at Home Depot because it’s so much quicker amongst the chaos of the holiday season. This year was different: Jay found a place about an hour away that was open for the season (it was early, mid-November, but we knew we would be busy every weekend until Christmas). We walked around for nearly two hours trying to find the perfect tree. All the good ones had been claimed the week before, so we had to trudge through the slush to find one that wasn’t too short, too bare, or too lopsided. Once we FINALLY found the best tree, Nicole agreed to hold the top of it while Jay got down to chop it. But before he started sawing, he told Nicole he had a question to ask. Through the happy tears, Nicole said “of course!” and our sisters, Heather and Lindsay, ran out from behind nearby trees. They had been secretly following us the entire time! It was so special to have them there to not only capture the excitement in photos and videos, but to share the moment with us. It was a complete surprise to Nicole and the best day of our lives so far!