Wedding day. Not ours: Nick's brother (Anthony) and Kate's friend (Kelli). We were both done with dating so, naturally, we met on the party bus and instantly fell in love. At the after-party in Kansas City's Power & Light District and tasked with drink orders, we, instead, talked and danced the entire time. We still owe Kate's parents a couple of rum and cokes. Our first date was coffee at the Roasterie the next morning before Kate flew back home to Chicago. As her flight drew closer, it became clearer that we knew this wasn't just special - this was it. Feeling great excitement and sadness at once, we prepared ourselves for long-distance, not knowing the next time we would see each other. It took over a month before our next meeting and finally, we were together in Chicago and we wasted no time with our first "I love you." We got in the swing of the long-distance relationship and were seeing each other every month for the next 8 months. Until...

Kate flew one-way to Kansas City and we drove back to Chicago. After 8 months long distance, Nick made the move. It was a happy move...until Monday morning when Kate woke up with a nasty flu. Nick got sick the next day. Our first week living together was spent in bed with 103 degree fevers, aches, chills, sweats, and binging Veep. We recovered and settled in together until...complications with our landlord. We had a month to find a new apartment. After frantically searching and viewing apartments, we chose a nice one-bedroom on a tree-lined street. We spent a weekend painting the new place and the next week we settled in to our new home, our first home that was truly ours.

With the idea of an innocent walk along Lake Michigan planted weeks in advance, the day to pop the question arrived. Kate had no idea. Neither did the weather, with chilly temps, gray skies, and wind. With a secret photographer on her way, Kate refused to go to the lake. Nick coaxed an agitated Kate to take their dog, Dilly, on a walk, but the timing was off and he needed to stall. Discarding every bad stall tactic, Nick was saved by a chance chat with the neighbor. The photographer was close, but how to get Kate back to the sidewalk to capture this beautiful moment forever? "Come with me. I think I left my water bottle in my car." A blatant lie. Nick rushed Kate back out of the front gate to the sidewalk. Nick heard a car pull up to the side of the road - hopefully it was the photographer! Nick spun Kate around, looked in her eyes, and asked "Kate, will you marry me?" Through streaming tears of joy, she said yes. They kissed, over and over, the moment one of joy, love, and relief. Dilly was confused. After the tears came the smiles and the laughter. One last surprise: Kate's parents were already driving in to Chicago to meet up for dinner. Finally, Kate and Nick were engaged and on to the next phase of their lives together.