Much like all of life's greatest love stories, ours began at a house party. It was early 2009 in Richmond, Virginia, and we each found ourselves at the apartment of a mutual friend. Ever the charmer, Nick's chose his first words to Hilary carefully on that serendipitous night: "Hilary? Like Hillary Clinton?!" No, Nick, not like Hillary Clinton. Luckily for Nick, Hilary chose not to let the worst icebreaker in modern history deter her from striking up a friendship. That friendship continued to grow over the coming months, watered by a mutual love of Lord of the Rings, Scrubs, pho, reading, and an endless supply of bizarre inside jokes (or is it BA-ZAAR!?). Sorry, you had to be there to get that last bit.

Like two ships passing in the night (or like Jim and Pam from The Office), we spent the next two years becoming best friends, supporting each other through the good and the bad, but never taking the chance to find out if we could be something more than friends. Then in 2010, it seemed like we'd never have that chance, as Nick left Richmond to live at home after graduating from VCU. But one fateful weekend changed that. Nick was visiting Richmond for a few days, and the two of us decided to go on a completely spontaneous adventure to New York City…to see a Lord of the Rings symphony. That weekend, we wandered the streets of NYC in search of the best slice of pizza, slept on the teeniest couch in all of Queens, and almost met Justin Guarini. Somewhere between all that, something finally clicked between us. A week later, we spent our first Halloween together as a couple, and we can pretty much guarantee that was the first time Han Solo ever kissed Jesse from Team Rocket. Less than a month after that, the stars aligned once more, and Nick was offered a job in Richmond.

Five years, two dogs, two masters degrees and dozens of Settlers of Catan games later, here we are! The only thing left to do is to tie the knot, spend a week in the mountains, and start the rest of our lives together :)