Our story starts like many Gen Z love stories, on a dating app. Bobby was a dating app veteran as the bars were not his scene to find his future wife. Nicole was about 48 hours in to her dating app journey when we matched. We instantly hit it off and learned how much we had in common from both being former athletes, non-drinkers, fellow foodies, shared faith and an understanding of loss at a young age. Within a few days on the app, we exchanged phone numbers so we could text for real. We were cautiously optimistic about the whole situation based on others and previous negative experiences with dating apps.

After exchanging texts for a few days, we found out that we had lived about 15 minutes apart for 14 years, grew up spending 4th of July in the same small town of North Carolina, and Nicole sitting in the stands of one of Bobby’s high school lacrosse games! Bobby couldn’t wait till the next weekend to have a dinner date, so he proposed a quick Tuesday lunch date at the Chipotle across the street from his office building. It was on Tuesday, June 14th, 2022, that we both knew we would never have to deal with the dating apps again. It must be mentioned, that in our early conversations Bobby had mentioned how much he loved chocolate chip cookies and Nicole just happened to make the “world’s best chocolate chip cookies”. Bobby said he would love to try one, so in normal Nicole fashion she made a fresh batch and brought some to the lunch date. Safe to say Bobby was hooked from that moment on.

Nicole's first learning curve was the first time she went over to Bobby’s family home. It quickly almost became her last when she asked, “Who is Bobby Bowden and why is there a quote from him painted on the wall?” she was met with wide eyes and utter shock. One thing to note here is that there are no bigger FSU football fans than the Kilian clan and Nicole had never watched a full football game in her life! However, since that day, Nicole always roots for the Seminoles, knows more about Bobby Bowden then she ever imagined she would and knows Saturdays in the fall are reserved for FSU Football and FSU Football only. Bobby's first learning curve was his first post shopping spree fashion show (he didn't know this was a thing...!!). At first he thought I was joking when I told him it was time to sit down so I could show off all my new clothes! As ridiculous as he thought it was then he now looks forward to it after every shopping day (even if he won't admit it!). Opposites attract, am I right?!

Since those early dating days we have had endless adventures together; from traveling to Wyoming, North Carolina, California, Italy and many in between. And that doesn’t even begin to mention any of our foodie adventures of finding and trying the best of the best meals and starting our “Restaurant Power Rankings List”.

We both knew almost instantly how lucky we were to have found one another. We complement one another in the right ways and help the other grow in areas of weakness and give one another belly aching laughs. Bobby popped the question on a trip to Sea Island, a place that holds incredible sentiment for Nicole as it is where she and her family went every year since she was 6. He took Nicole completely by surprise even though she would ask almost daily when he would ask the big question. But the craziest part was that the photographer Bobby booked to capture the moment was the same photographer Nicole had chosen to capture her wedding day before she even had Bobby!

On February 13, 2026 we begin our greatest adventure yet when we become husband and wife. We are so grateful for our friends and family that have been there from the beginning and have surrounded us with love and support. We can’t wait to celebrate with everyone!