Nina and Jason’s story starts in late 2019! After playing on the same intramural flag football team for a couple of months, Jason successfully convinced Nina to come out with everyone to celebrate Jason’s birthday. A monumental occasion after months of continued no’s from Nina (she had a small puppy at home). Unbeknownst to both, that would be the start of a beautiful love story. Over the following months, Jason and Nina would play the game of “Do they like me?”. The culmination was a failed Christmas party and a crushed Jason. After failing to hit it off with his *other* crush at the time, Nina planted a sneaky sneaky seed, telling Jason, “Maybe you should give her a couple of months to figure things out and clear your head.” (🎵“What if I told you I’m the Mastermind? And now you’re mine.”🎵) Which, of course, Jason let fly right over his head and missed the hidden meaning of the statement - a recurring theme; stay tuned! As Jason was heading home for the holidays, they left it as a “let's grab a coffee when you get back.” We never got coffee.

January rolls around, and Jason, Nina, and a friend decide to watch the timely demise of Nina’s Green Bay Packers at a local bar. Nina, once again, in her sneaky ways, took this opportunity to invite Jason to come over and “pet her dog” since Nina knew Jason was missing his own. Jason took this for exactly face value and nothing more, even after Nina asked Jason to bring a bottle of wine and come over at 7:30 pm (***Nina’s dinner time***). Jason ate a nice chicken dinner before going to Nina’s and arrived to find that he TOTALLY missed the point of the evening: A FIRST DATE! Nina cooked a nice steak dinner and everything! *FacePalm* Needless to say, Jason very much enjoyed a second dinner, love from Nina’s dog, and a funny, embarrassing first date.

Don’t worry; this is not where the story ends! Jason and Nina proceeded to hang out for almost a week straight after that, and by the end of it, Jason was getting a phone call from his dad on the way home from Nina’s apartment, wondering why he hadn’t told him he had a girlfriend! Jason, confused about how his Dad knew despite having JUST left Nina’s apartment where he had posed the question, found out Nina had posted the infamous “In a Relationship” status on Facebook before he arrived home. Nina was a bit eager.

The first month of dating went by like a blur, with many fond memories and firsts. And then, on one fateful March day, Jason and Nina went into a production of Disney’s “Lion King” at the Morris Performing Arts Center, a show that Jason had just proudly built with the stagehand union a week prior. The world was getting slightly weird, but they were excited about enjoying an incredible Broadway show in South Bend. The world had spiraled into a mess they could hardly recognize when they left. As they went to say hi to friends at the stage door after the show, they quickly learned that Tom Hanks had contracted COVID and was on lockdown in Australia; the entire Utah Jazz team was in lockdown in a stadium because a player tested positive, the NBA had shut down, and there were talks of the same for Lion King. Just like that, a month into dating, Jason and Nina became quarantine buddies!

The next year and a half to two years would be incredibly challenging yet incredibly rewarding! Since Jason wasn’t going to barber shops during lockdown, Nina learned how to cut Jason’s hair. Jason helped Nina relocate to a new apartment, one that was closer (a block away) to Jason. They went on many walks around South Bend and hikes in various new trails in the Michiana area. There were lots of TV show binge-watching sessions, movie rewatches, and board games played. Unfortunately, during this time, they also went through the devastating loss of Nina’s dog, Indi, who was suffering from an incurable form of epilepsy. This crushed Nina & Jason but led to the eventual spur-of-the-moment adoption of their cat Zoey, because Walter was very lonely and needy without his best buddy, Indi. During this time, Jason and Nina also took a few road trips back to Pennsylvania to visit family with drugged screaming kittens, and Nina introduced Jason to the West Coast for the first time! Both Nina and Jason got to meet each other's immediate family, and an introduction to aunts, uncles, and cousins would come later on. Despite all these happenings and much more, there was still one test that Jason hadn’t passed… LIVING with Nina. The final step before Nina would allow him to propose.

In 2022, Jason and Nina purchased their first home here in South Bend! A monumental occasion after submitting ten (our lucky number) different offers before getting their “Yes”! A month later, they combined their lives into one beautiful home, two cats and all! Soon, that number would grow to two cats and one DOG as Jason and Nina decided they were ready to adopt again. They happily brought home Miss Riley Jean from Kalamazoo, and finally, it was time for Jason to ask the important question he had been waiting to ask!

Through some sneaky investigative work, including ordering a ring sizing kit to Nina’s apartment before their move to the house, Jason took his Great Grandmother's ring to be modified to fit Nina’s finger. He got a great big case for it with a shiny light and was ready to ask the question. Through the efforts of many and the great help of Paul Hernandez, Jason asked Nina to marry him at the annual YLND (Young Leaders of Notre Dame) Holiday Trivia party. Thinking Jason was pranking her due to the size of the ring box, Nina was surprised to find that an actual ring was inside. She excitedly said yes, and the rest has been history.

We look forward to sharing our day with you. Despite our families being on opposite coasts and other countries, we look forward to getting everyone together under one roof and celebrating the love we have been fostering together over the years!

Much love,

N & J