May 2010. Shelby was 17, Nic was 19/20. We were both working at the Northfield Target. Nic asked Shelby if she’d like to go to Boston’s (restaurant) after we were done with work. Shelby was very excited and remembers texting her mom that a boy asked her out!! Shelby remembers that date fondly..we shared a brownie and ice cream. Nic was singing Bulletproof by La Roux. For the next two years we had an…interesting friendship to say the least. We both fell hard in our own ways and being so young it was scary to experience a connection like that. We lost touch after Nic got a new job, and Shelby moved away for college. Nic tried to rekindle the relationship a time or two, but Shelby was very protective of her heart at that time and may have had a few choice words for him. We lost touch until 2021…

July 19th, 2021. The day Shelby’s childhood dog, Sonya, crossed the rainbow bridge. The day that Nic decided to add Shelby back on Facebook. Lucky Nic - he had an “easy” conversation starter! Nic knew Sonya from our friendship 10 years prior. He started off the conversation by expressing his condolences and remembering Sonya. By the end of the day, Nic had once again asked Shelby out for dinner. This time, Shelby said yes. That dinner consisted of a lot of catching up (it was about 10 years since we last spoke!). We both learned a lot, experienced a lot, and had matured. Shelby was hard headed and demanded we be “just friends” until September. A girl has to make sure a man has actually matured! Labor Day came around and Shelby let the relationship transition from “just friends” to “in a relationship”. Since then, Nic bought a house. Shelby and her two fur kiddos moved in and became “our fur kiddos”. We’ve gone on many camping trips to MN State Parks, traveled to San Diego, Joshua Tree National Park, Las Vegas, Zion and Bryce Canyon National parks. Nic got Shelby into soccer, attending many MNUFC home games together. And this is only the beginning!