Nick went to the Catholic school in town, but played sports with the public school Erin attended. Through friends, they met as two 12‐year‐olds the summer before Nick transfered to Lopatcong Middle School. They spent the 7th grade dating before parting ways before high school.
They went to the same high school and often found themselves in the same classes and at the same parties.
Despite Nick being in Virginia for college at JMU and Erin at Monmouth University in New Jersey, they started dating the summer before their junior years of college. Lots of car miles, sorority formals and endless text messages defined this era.
After undergrad, Nick headed back to Virginia for grad school for his master's degree at Georgetown University while Erin headed to Hudson County to start her job in the city, and got intimately familiar with the Amtrak routes from New York to DC.
Erin instantly fell in love with Gemma ‐ then named Gordita ‐ at an adoption event. Before we knew it, Nick was spending a lot of time at Erin's apartment in Hoboken taking care of a very rambunctious puppy.
After being back in their home town for the pandemic, Erin and Nick took a leap and signed a lease for a townhouse in Hudson County without even taking a tour first. Luckily, it was the best place to officially call home together for the first time.
Nick was adamant that the family couldn't be complete without a cat. Erin took more convincing, but eventually Rio found his way from the streets and right into their hearts.
After what felt like 1,000 "just in case" manicures, Nick surprised Erin in their apartment by getting down on one knee when she least expected it. Erin still can't remember if she actually said yes, but does remember saying, "wait, take a few steps away from the garbage can and get back down."