Niklas came to Houston, Texas as an exchange student from his Masters program in Germany and Vanessa was starting her first year as a PhD student at Rice. It was just the perfect timing and the two met on a soccer field playing a game they both love. After their first meet, fate had them bound to spend more time together and the two ended up on a trip to Big Bend National Park. After bonding while talking for hours under the stars it was only a matter of time before their futures started to entangle!

Niklas had been spending some months trying to find the perfect place to propose, but with both being very busy grad students the timing never lined up perfectly until the perfect weekend in March. The couple took a drive to Port Aransas in the Spring to celebrate family birthdays! Niklas knew that Vanessa wanted her family nearby to celebrate with her loved ones. After spending the day looking for "a good place to take a picture" Niklas was worried again the timing wouldn't work out. Finally, as the end of the night came to a close Niklas decided to propose on the balcony of Vanessa's family beach home on the most beautiful night and everyone celebrated with wine! We are so excited to celebrate with all of you and can't wait to see everyone in San Antonio, Texas!

'The first year is the hardest' they say. But after tackling quarantine together, this year has just flown past us. In the midst of building a house (and realizing how much work that is), adding a second dog to the family, and finishing up our PhDs we realized how lucky we are to have each other. And we can't wait to celebrate that with you!