Nick and Sophia always like to joke that as University of Portland athletes — Nick in Baseball and Sophia in Track & Field — it was only a matter of time before they met. The athletic program tends to bring everyone together. They first crossed paths freshman year and knew of each other (a.k.a. followed each other on Snapchat and Instagram like true acquaintances). It wasn’t until sophomore year that they ended up in the same class — and Nick finally mustered the courage to talk to Sophia. One day after class, he asked her on a date. Their first date was at Grilled Cheese Grill in downtown Portland, with playoff baseball in the background (on Sophia’s phone, of course), and they bonded over their shared love of skiing — especially the mutual fandom of Chris Benchetler, their favorite backcountry skier. Although the date was a success in many ways, Sophia likes to say she was “not quite ready for all that Nick Nygard had to offer.” Shortly after, the world shut down for COVID-19, and everyone headed home for what became Zoom University. After two years of remote learning, life finally started returning to normal. Heading into senior year, class was back in person. During winter break, Nick caught Sophia’s attention again — this time with an Instagram post featuring him and his skis (the famous Chris Benchetler's). Sophia, the funny gal she is, commented: “@chrisbenchetler sponsor?” He texted her immediately and said, "You owe me a date." And the rest is history. They went on a "second first date" at Moloko in Portland, talked for three hours, and officially started dating that March — right before graduation (great timing, right?). Flash forward to now: We spend our weekends skiing whenever the weather allows, Nick proposed at Timberline Lodge, and our dog, Chetler, is named after none other than Chris Benchetler himself. It’s been an incredible adventure — and we can’t wait to celebrate our love (and our love of the mountains) with all of you!