Nicholas and I met in our biology class in the second semester of our freshmen year of college. He is originally from Philadelphia, PA and I am from Columbus, GA, and somehow we both ended up at Point University in West Point, GA. He came to Point on a football scholarship and I came on a volleyball scholarship. We had already known of each other through mutual friends, but never spoke until we had a class together. I'm assuming Nicholas didn't know how to start a conversation with me, so instead, he decided to throw a piece of paper at me during class. So then, of course, me being Hadley, it was war.

That very day we decided to hang out after class. One day of hanging out after class turned into every day until we were basically inseparable. We started officially dating on February 11th, 2018 (if that's what you want to call it). We were hanging out with friends when Nicholas makes the statement, "Yeah that's my girl." So I reply back saying, "You never asked me to be your girlfriend." And of course, Nicholas says, "I thought it was understood." So this is the day we call our anniversary date. To this day we still kid and say "Nah, we're just friends."

The next four years were full of late-night study sessions, lake dates, spades nights, and a lot of memories. We weren't just boyfriend and girlfriend. Nicholas became my best friend, and I don't say that lightly. He always kept me laughing, had my back, and was a shoulder to cry on. We push each other to be the best versions of ourselves. We held each other accountable and continuously challenged each other in our faith. God became the center of our relationship and He is the reason we've made it this far.

Nicholas and I started talking seriously about getting married during our senior year of college. (I knew from the first date that he was the one.) Whenever we talked about it, he would ask about how I wanted to be proposed to or where. I always told him that I never cared as long as our families were nearby to celebrate with us. On January 1, 2022, our immediate families gathered together to go to "Fantasy in Lights" at Callaway Gardens. My grandmother told everyone to dress nice so we could take a family picture at the Chapel once we got there. Nicholas was the one behind the camera taking the picture when "the camera decided not to work." He then came over to where I was standing for the picture, pulls me out in front of everyone, and proposes. It was everything I could have ever asked for and more and the easiest "yes" I've ever said (or a blubbering "yeah").

October 15th can't get here fast enough. Family means the world to Nicholas and me, and we cannot wait to celebrate with both our God-given family and those that became family along the way.

Some cute things I wanted to include in our story: Nicholas and I both had the same number, him in football and I in volleyball (unplanned). Both of our last names begin with a P which means we literally graduated together. He walked the stage followed directly by me. It was meant to be (: