Brandon and Nikki met at a fateful New Years Eve dinner party at their mutual friends' Natalie and Greg's house. Nikki immediately thought he was an incredibly funny and confident guy and, to no one's surprise, was obsessed immediately. They continued the night at an Emo 2000's party, he bought her a drink, they kissed at midnight, and the rest is history.

Well, after about 2 months of dating long distance, Brandon drove up to surprise Nikki in Nashville during his spring break... and then COVID shut down the schools so he ended up moving in for 4 months! During that time they bonded over trivia, board games, Pokémon, hiking, cocktails, and fighting over who was funnier (vote in the comments). Also in that time, Brandon graduated with his masters and Nikki passed her qualifying exam.

Brandon let his guard down for one minute and Nikki decided to adopt two adorable baby buns that she named Cookies and Cream. These two brothers were an absolute handful, especially when Nikki brought them in to get neutered and the vet called back to let them know that Cream was actually a girl... and she was pregnant... ope.

After a year of living and working in Huntsville, Brandon got a new remote job and decided to move in with Nikki up in Nashville. No more driving back and forth to see each other every weekend!

On a climbing trip to The Red, Brandon and Nikki met the cutest stray dog of all time. Terrified of people but VERY interested in the maple bacon Brandon was cooking, she quickly decided that Brandon and Nikki were her people. So, they threw her in the back of their car and brought her home to Nashville. This neurotic, crazy, adorable girl quickly won the hearts of everyone she met and perfectly completed their happy little family.

In 2023 Nikki finally defended her PhD, so they packed up their life in Nashville and moved to Boston where Nikki had a job with the department of neurobiology at Harvard. They were a fan of having Nikki's parents' beach house. They were not a fan of everything else...

FINALLY, after years and years of begging, Nikki finally agreed to marry Brandon... Ok, definitely Brandon was the hold out, but what a view he held out for. On a trip to Bergen, Norway, after a gorgeous glacial hike, Brandon popped the question at sunset overlooking the fjords at Stegastein. After 4.5 years of dating, they can't wait to get married and are so thankful for that fateful New Years Eve.