We met on our first date on August 28, 2012, through mutual friends, days before our kids started kindergarten and first grade. Now they are sophomores and juniors in college.

When we met, we were two very different people navigating single parenthood with little idea of the life we would eventually build together. But over time, our relationship evolved as we each grew individually, supported and encouraged by each other.

Over the years, we have celebrated graduations, work successes, and new adventures, and said goodbye to people and pets we loved, grateful for the family and friends who have been there along the way. There have been game nights, countless hours on the phone, and some truly amazing family vacations. Somewhere in the middle of all of it, we discovered that our differences made us stronger together. And one of our greatest joys has been watching our kids become siblings who genuinely love being together.

Fourteen years later, we're still very different people. Tim is steady, organized, diligent and always punctual. He is constitutionally incapable of putting anything off. Nicole is driven, but considerably more scattered, usually running a few minutes late, and firmly convinced that almost anything can wait until tomorrow. Tim avoids leaving New Jersey; Nicole is a bit more adventurous. But we're both endlessly curious about the world and have discovered how much we like exploring it together.

Tim also believes he's the funny one in the relationship…

Our decision to marry evolved much the same way the rest of our relationship did: gradually. There was no proposal, just a conversation that continued over years. We each had our reservations: Tim wasn't sure he'd ever marry again, while Nicole wasn't convinced two people this different should attempt to live under the same roof. Eventually, both of those things began to seem not only possible, but natural. We decided we'd live together once the kids were in college. And in 2023, we started looking at rings.

Even then, some of Nicole's friends remained reasonably convinced that, without an actual deadline, she might manage to put off planning a wedding indefinitely. Fortunately, Tim is very good at getting things done.

So here we are.

There was never one instant when everything fell into place. Instead, there have been thousands of moments—some unforgettable, most completely ordinary—that slowly turned a relationship into a partnership and five people into a family. After 14 years, something that wasn't obvious at the beginning became clearer with every year: we are better together.

On March 13, 2027, we're finally getting married. And we can't imagine a better reason to bring together the people who have been part of our story along the way.