It was Ryan and Nicole's spring semester of college in 2017. It was just another typical Friday night where both of them decided to go out with their friends. Although this night, they soon realized, was not just going to be an ordinary night like they were so easily accustomed to. This night, of all nights, was going to change their lives for better, forever. Ryan was with his friends and Nicole was with hers. Somehow later that night, fate found the two friend groups huddled up in a circle mingling away. Fortunately for Ryan's sake, he knew some of Nicole's friends which gave him just enough confidence to make the first introduction to the breathtakingly beautiful girl who stood there to his right, or so he thought. Unbeknownst to them, there was a boy who kept trying to flirt with Nicole; however, his approach was rude and insulting. It turns out this boy was the ultimate wing-man to Ryan who at this point, has yet had the courage to make an introduction to the girl that would one day be the his wife and the love of his life. The boy looked at Nicole after being frustrated with his lack of success in receiving any attention from Nicole, and asked if Ryan was her boyfriend. At this point, Nicole grabbed Ryan's shoulder and proclaimed, "Yes, this is my boyfriend". Ryan, being the good sport that he is, played along with this idea. The boy went on to ask both of them how long they had been dating--ironically enough they both shouted in unison "6 months". The rest of the night Ryan and Nicole hit it off. They shared their first meal together at Cookout. The very next day Ryan asked her on their first date.

Ryan and Nicole took a fall break trip to Boca Raton. Ryan had their entire itinerary planned to a T, full of fun activities and delicious meals. On this particular evening, Ryan made dinner reservations at The Rusty Pelican in Key Biscayne. The couple pulled up and parked at 5 o'clock when Ryan "realized" that the reservation was not actually until 6 o'clock. Ryan apologized profusely, but had an idea to go to a nearby park while they wait. He insisted on calling an Uber because he refused to give up his parking spot. The Uber arrived quickly and drove them to the secluded beach front park. When Ryan asked if it would be easy to get another Uber back to the restaurant from the park, the Uber informed them that it was highly unlikely due to the area they were in, but he offered to wait around while they explored. Nicole, who was beginning to get sketched out by the situation, walked quickly with Ryan to the beach. The Uber driver followed behind with a wagon that he pulled out of his truck. The man began taking pictures of the sunset with a professional camera and making small talk with Ryan and Nicole about his hobby of scenic photography. Ryan asked the man to take a picture of them on their phone--at this point, Nicole was certain that they were going to be kidnapped. The man took a few pictures on their phone and then offered to take some on his camera. He took a few pictures and then asked the couple to move down to some large rocks in the water off of the shoreline. He explained that he wanted to try the long exposure setting on his camera and told the two how to stand for his photo. He emphasized the importance of the two remaining completely still for 10 seconds, otherwise the shot would be ruined. He asked Nicole to stand on the far end of the rock looking out into the water and to smile. Ryan was somewhere on the rock behind her, but not close enough to be touching. As the man began counting down from 10, thoughts were racing through Nicole's mind some of which being "Wow, this man is waist deep in the ocean, we are going to have to leave him a big tip" and "What is this picture even going to look like? Ryan's not even close to me. We are definitely not going to want to show this photo to anybody." When his countdown was finished, he exclaimed "I got it, Nicole! It's incredible!!" Ryan then tapped Nicole to turn around. Nicole turned around, but when she went to look at Ryan, all she saw was the sunset behind him. She looked down and found Ryan down on one knee professing his love to her and asking to spend the rest of his life with her. While shocked and overwhelmed with emotions, Nicole's response was immediate, YES.