How we met as told by my Fiance Michael :)

Well Nikki asked me to write a little story about how we met. Now as you all know most guys aren’t very good about remembering details of this subject and you’ll be glad to know that I’m not much different, but here’s how I remember it. The first time we met was when she was sitting in the back seat of my truck because her truck (a Ford) wouldn’t start…sorry babe had to get that in there! So I gave her and a mutual friend of ours a ride to the store. When her friend turned around to thank me I asked, “Who the heck is that!” Our friend casually replied “Oh that’s Nikki." Oh that’s Nikki I thought? No. That’s Nikki!!! The second she got in my truck with that beautiful smile of hers I knew that someday I was going to fall really hard for this woman. Whether she felt the same or not didn’t really matter I was already captivated. Well I later asked our friend about her and soon got the feeling that she was way out of my league, and she was seeing someone. So at that point I thought well shoot this guy is going to ask her to marry him and I missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime! Not that I was being pessimistic or anything. Lucky for me that wasn’t the case as the story goes. About two years after the day we met Nikki and I started working together in the campus tour office at Embry-Riddle. Since we had first met we had both had lots of "educational'" experiences in terms of life. So I again, being the persistent guy that I am eventually worked up the nerve to ask her out on a date…2 months before I went active duty in Air Force. I of course was waiting for just the right moment. In retro spec, I probably shouldn’t have waited seven months….fail.  At any rate (my grandfather says that all the time when telling stories so I thought it was appropriate, sorry to waste your time reading another sentence that really didn’t apply to the story much at all), I figured if I used my motorcycle as a crutch and threw dinner in there somewhere it would work…and it did! So she met me at my place and we went on a gorgeous ride through a natural preserve just north of Daytona Beach. After the ride I thought I would show her how classy I was and took her to dinner at Moe’s southwest grill. It’s basically like a taco bell, the only difference is that the food is fresh and it taste good! Haha! After a few more dates we went back to my house and watched a movie and eventually she fell asleep in my arms. Looking at her beautiful face while she slept I knew right then she was the one. Nikki and I spent practically every day together from that day till the day I left for my first duty assignment. From May of ’09 to August of ’09 I had lived in 4 states from Florida to Colorado and she always made it a point to come see me as often as she could. The amazing part is that even with her internships and her being in school our love only got stronger the longer we were apart. As soon as I left Florida I told my mom that she was the one! Somehow I think my mom knew that too because we immediately started talking about grown up stuff like wedding rings and weddings and career plans. Well my mother being the sneaky, reliable person she is, helped me get a ring that we thought would be perfect for Nikki. I eventually got a chance to take some leave Christmas of ’09 and thought about all the perfect ways I would be able to propose. First I thought about making a snow man and having the snow man holding the box for her when she came out. Well being the Minnesota rookie I was, didn’t know that snow could get so cold it would be basically dry…and not stick together. It was never above 15 degrees while I was there. So I then decided the day after I had asked her mother and father for permission that I would propose when we went on our planned snowboarding trip… which I was also a rookie at. After our poor bums had enough abuse from our legs failing us I made my way down to the bottom of the hill as fast as I could knowing she couldn’t catch up. I found a poor innocent woman to take a picture of us when I popped the question. When she eventually met me at the bottom I acted like I had a problem with one of the bindings on my board. Just before she bent over to help me I popped the question bent on one knee, in pain, and without any feeling in most of my face. As soon as she said yes my heart got so warm I thought I was going to melt all the snow on the entire mountain. After that the rest is history. I wish there were words for me to describe how much I love this woman but there just aren’t. Even if I tried it would do no justice to the words she deserves. If you haven’t met Nikki yet you’re missing out on a great life experience and if you have you know exactly what I’m talking about. I can’t wait to marry her and begin what I’m sure is going to be the greatest adventure of our lives. May God bless us and our marriage.