how we met
Nick and I first met when he came to the Washington State Capitol to interview for a job at the Legislature. A friend had taken him on a tour of the building where I worked, and that’s when we had our first interaction. Shortly after, Nick was hired and our friendship blossomed. While we didn’t work directly together, our paths would frequently cross at joint meetings and in the hallways.
After weeks of small talk, cracking jokes, sharing funny YouTube videos and some butterfly-worthy smiles, he asked me out on a date. He would later tell me how nervous he was, though it didn’t show. I guarantee I was even more nervous than he was! But I said yes and I’m so glad I did.
As those close to us say, “Nick was smitten from day one” and it didn’t take me long at all to fall head over heels for his charm. When we went on our first date, we simply didn’t want it to end. What started as a dinner date turned into a coffee date and then a long walk along the boardwalk in the rain and fog date. We clicked immediately. We continued to spend more time together, and after several more dates, we made the jump into a committed relationship and never looked back!
how they asked
On March 29, 2016 just after 5 p.m., Nick and I rode the elevator down to the first floor to leave work. I was so excited for us to grab dinner with Nick’s sister, Tara, who was in town visiting from Albuquerque, New Mexico. As far as I knew, that was the only thing we had going on that evening.
We started walking down the long first floor corridor to head to Dockside Bistro, one of our favorite dinner spots in town. Heading outside on what was a beautiful sun-soaked day, people were gathered around the sundial just outside of the building – a popular central gathering location on campus. As we kept walking, almost past the sundial at this point, Nick gently put his hand on my back and said, “Hey babe, who are those people right there?” I had been so focused on chatting with coworkers and thinking about dinner, I failed to notice the people gathered at the sundial happened to be our family members!
I stopped suddenly and looked left to see my family and Nick’s family holding huge signs that read “Kate…Will You Marry Me?” In pure shock, it took me a second to fully comprehend what was going on. Did those signs say what I thought they said!?
I quickly turned back to Nick and there he was, bended knee and holding an engagement ring box in his right hand. Being so lost in the moment and so stunned by the surprise of it all, I blurted out: “Are you for real right now!? I thought we were going to dinner!?!” Nick laughed and said “We are after this!”
He then said: “Kate Lorraine Cooper, you are absolute love of my life. I adore everything about you. You’re kind and you’re loving. You’re sweet and selfless. I would be the happiest man in the world if you would marry me. Will you marry me?” Before Nick could even take the ring out of the box, I said “YES!” and leaned down to give him a kiss.
Our families, friends and a large crowd of coworkers erupted into applause and the celebration was on. Dinner was put on hold so we could take photos, but we did make it to Dockside a little later in the evening.