Like a true modern-day romance, we met through mutual friends on Xbox. We spent a lot of time hanging out in group parties until we finally got the chance to start hanging out alone. We bonded while playing games like Power Wash Simulator while getting to know each other. Within a short amount of time, our nerd love blossomed and we began video calling and texting constantly. I (Nikki) began asking Jess more specific questions about her feelings on relationships and soon after some conversations about whether or not a long distance relationship would work out, I worked up the courage to ask Jess out. I will add that I was up all night thinking about it and I called her around 6:30 in the morning because I just needed to make it official.

We started officially dating on August 18, 2022. In October of that year, I drove to Ontario, Canada to meet Jess for the first time in person. From then on, our relationship grew. We knew we loved each other before we even started dating and marriage was soon talked about after spending some time traveling back and forth to see each other. Eventually, we decided to get married in Canada on August 11th, 2023. We had a small ceremony with our Canadian friends and family, with my parents flying out to be there as well. Others in my family watched via a Facebook video chat. It was an absolutely perfect day, aside from the fact that our US friends and family couldn’t attend, so we decided to do another ceremony in Minnesota to celebrate and declare our love and commitment to each other and celebrate with our friends and family in the states.

We look forward to seeing you on June 8th, 2024!