Welcome to our forever.

"You guys will go on a date at Chili's and I'll be your server!" said Kate, now a Maid of Honor, back in May 2017. Nicole & Kate were walking around Georgetown chatting about her friend Ian when the idea sparked. Nicole laughed, said sure; Kate immediately texted Ian the same thing and he also agreed. Neither of us thought it would come to anything serious, but Ian planned to visit DC over July 4th. On July 2nd, Ian picked Nicole up and we went to Chili's. Kate's excitement as she led us to our table was off the charts; she grinned as she took our order (with admittedly less excitement when we ordered tableside guac). Conversation flowed endlessly. We chatted about our homes, our families, our friends, and so many different interests and random thoughts that--before we knew it--we had finished our meal and even stopped noticing Kate pointing us out to her coworkers. It was an instant connection in Chili's, and we knew we stumbled into something special in a place we never would have expected.

In the midst of the pandemic and after 3 years together, Nicole and Ian decided it was the perfect time to start a family.... with a dog! After some deliberation and a lot of Google searches, we found the cutest little 2-pound muffin from a small family farm in Iowa. He looked like a tiny bear cub, and so we named him Misha ("bear cub" in Russian). Since the day we met, we could not love him more, whether he is zooming around the place or trying to eat sticks or snuggling up through a movie. Misha has been the rascal we hoped he would be, and has made our sweet little family whole.

Ian popped the question on October 14, 2022, after 5 years of dating and only 3 years of Nicole dropping ring hints (not so subtly...). On a trip back to Old Town Alexandria, we braved northern VA traffic only to find our AirBnB was double-booked! With no place to stay and a photographer on the way for the proposal, it is safe to say Ian was a little stressed. Miraculously, we found a place up the street, dropped off our stuff, and went on a walk by the water just in time for sunset. Hand in hand, we felt the stress melt away in lieu of the joy of being in our favorite city together. As the sun reflected over the Potomac, Ian got on one knee and Nicole said yes! We took some photos, called family and friends, and headed up to Old Town Books. After dazedly buying too many things, we shared a pizza at Red Rocks, and capped off the night watching our favorite movie, When Harry Met Sally. Through it all, it could not have been a more perfect day.