Our story begins in the summer of 2020- or should we say the height of “COVID times”. Laura was living with one of her good college friends in an apartment by Hermann Park, and Nathan and his childhood best friend had just moved in across the hall. Laura first noticed Nathan around the apartment when he was taking an adorable 8-week-old golden retriever outside frequently (hello BUDDY!). Laura immediately told Emma (her roommate) about the boy across the hall with the sweetest puppy. His new nickname became “neighbor boy with the cute puppy”. We ran into each other a few more times in the hallway, and Laura decided it was time to introduce herself. We exchanged names and briefly chatted (of course Laura mostly wanted to pet and play with Buddy). A few weeks later, Laura noticed a Hinge app notification – “Nathan liked you”. Immediately Laura thought, wait…is this neighbor boy? Yes, yes it was. We matched, then chatted for a little bit before Nathan asked Laura on a date. Remember, this was during the height of COVID, and since both of us were working in the hospital, we decided to keep our first date at home. This meant queso, margs, and a movie at Nathan’s. We immediately connected, finding our conversation so easy. We hung out all evening and night, and planned our next date- another movie night, but Nathan would make Rubens. Laura was immediately impressed with Nathan’s cooking skills, when the majority of their dates were centered around Nathan making food. We began texting every day, some days talking on the phone. Our hangouts became more consistent and we realized we were both really enjoying each other’s company. We finally made our relationship official after a night spent with friends at a Friendsgiving. Laura told Nathan he can go ahead and ask her to be his girlfriend, to which Nathan replied he thought she already was.

In our 3.5 years together, we have survived a pandemic, both transitioned to new jobs, traveled around the country, raised a puppy, experienced loss, gone to friends/family weddings, got COVID, moved in together, and now are planning our wedding. We are so excited for this next chapter of life together, and can’t wait to celebrate with all of our family and friends!