Where are you located?
Omaha, Nebraska
When you first saw each of your profiles, what was it that stood out to you? (pictures, profile, interests?)
Kristin: I don’t remember looking at much of his profile until after he sent his first message. I wasn’t really looking for anything serious at the time, so I simply remember looking at his pictures and he had one with a dog. That’s an automatic 10 points in my book.
Rick: I thought “dang she’s cute” (laughs) I thought she had really pretty eyes and that’s a weakness of mine.
What did you do for the first date? (Love details, the more detail the better!)
Kristin: For our first date, we made plans to meet up at Classic Rock Coffee, across the street from my house. It’s an awesome little shop that is exactly what the name eludes to, completely classic rock and coffee. There are guitars (one of Rick’s passions) and coffee (one of my passions). So it only made sense. Rick arrived first and ordered coffee for the both of us.
Rick: When Kristin arrived, it was pretty much just an instant connection. There wasn’t much awkwardness like a lot of first dates. It was automatically fun from the start. Not to mention we both thought the other was incredibly good looking.
I met Kristen’s dog after coffee and Kristen always joked that if Raleigh (her dog) immediately liked a guy that she brought home, he was going to be the one. It took approximately 5 seconds for Raleigh and Rick to click.
Was there a specific moment you knew you wanted to spend the rest of your lives with each other?
Kristin: Not everything in the beginning of our relationship was sunshine and rainbows. In the beginning, neither of us was quite certain about whether or not we were looking for something serious. Both of us were working really hard to focus on our mental health, which actually ended up connecting us more.
Even after only knowing each other for a few weeks, if one was having a poor mental health day, the other would be feeling it. Even if these feelings were never verbalized to each other. I was driving home late one night from work and it just hit me that I was feeling a certain way about him because I loved him. Shortly after this, we were able to get together. On that day, the sun finally came out after weeks of rain! Literally and metaphorically. We actually have that day hanging up on our bedroom wall now in the form of a star map of the night it all happened.
Rick: When we first got together, I never would have suspected that she would be “The One”. I was struggling hard and she knew how to pull me out of the darkness. We decided to hang out at the mall one night and as we were heading out, she was in front of me and all I could think was “she is perfect. She is amazing and everything I want.” So, I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward me and we embraced in a kiss. That was my moment forever burned into my memory that this woman is my one and only and nothing will ever change that.
You recently got married, can you tell me a little more about the day and how you planned this around Covid-19?
Our original date of the wedding was supposed to be October 3rd, 2020. We had a guest list of almost 200 people. Up until March, we were actively planning that wedding. When we realized that Covid was getting more and more serious, it was very disheartening. We waited it out a few months before pulling the plug on the big wedding and then finally came to the decision that it wasn’t going to be a good idea for us to have our big wedding. Our small wedding turned out to be the PERFECT day. We actually ended up getting married October 2nd in an intimate outdoor ceremony with approximately 60 people in attendance. It was a big open area where everyone could social distance appropriately. The dinner was a tastefully decorated Halloween theme. Halloween is our favorite holiday next to Christmas, so it was very important for that to be incorporated. Everything was perfect – the cake, the guests, everything. Now our big celebration will (hopefully) be exactly on our 1 year anniversary (next year).
Other than getting married, our favorite part of the whole day was that Raleigh was able to be part of our ceremony and pictures.
How do you overcome challenges together?
Communication and understanding are huge for us. We are able to talk to each other about anything and everything. We have had challenges arise within our relationship and within our respective families – together we have been able to really help each other and build each other up. We have really built up each other’s confidence over the last two years and we know that we can overcome anything that life throws our way. Who knew that a global pandemic would teach us how to deal with almost everything in life before we were married!
Do you two have a shared guilty pleasure?
One of our very first conversations was about how we both love Halloween and Christmas. Decorating for those two holidays is big for both of us. We love super cheesy horror movies and we have actually spent the last two years creating our very own Spotify playlist Check it out here.
Our love for dogs is also very strong. Kristin is a professional pet sitter, so dogs are a constant never-ending part of our life. We also have two guinea pigs named Ludo & Lancelot (from the Labyrinth) that are known as our “emotional support piggies”.
What are your favorite activities to do together as a couple?
We love playing Skip-Bo and doing jigsaw puzzles during the winter. We explore different places around town to eat. We’re big on supporting local businesses. On the weekends, we really enjoy taking Raleigh out to different dog-friendly places all over town.
What’s something you two have bonded over?
We have bonded over a lot of things in the last two years, but our biggest bond is our love for Raleigh. He is seriously our world. We know, we are crazy dog people. Raleigh has been Kristin’s Emotional Support dog for almost 5 years and makes us happy every single day. When we have disagreements (like all couples do), most of them are solved by Raleigh walking in the room and doing something funny to make us laugh.
What made you want to try online dating?
Kristin: To be fair, at the time…we were both extremely bored and just wanted to be on to see what was out there. Rick had just recently moved back to Omaha after being away for years and I was looking for some sort of human interaction. The night that we first started talking, I actually had a house full of dogs and Rick was bored at home. Dogs are great listeners, but they could work on their conversation skills. 😉
What do you admire about one another?
Kristin: I admire Rick’s passions – he’s a wonderful artist, guitar player and all-around husband. He does everything that he can to put our family first. He has also built a wonderful relationship with all of my family. I have three younger sisters and a younger brother and they have loved having an older brother figure around. I also admire the fact that he is always pushing me to be the best person I can be. He helps me figure out just what I need to do to build up myself or even my business.
Rick: Kristin is the first person I brought to my family and they love her! They didn’t like anyone I brought home before. I admire her conviction to stick to what she does. Also I envy how smart this woman is.
What’s something you’ve learned from one another since you’ve been together?
Kristin: It is possible for you to find someone that loves you for everything that you are. You should never feel like you need to settle for less than the very maximum of what you deserve.
Rick: That no matter how tough times get you never give up on one another.
What’s one of your favorite memories from your time as a couple?
Kristin: The proposal. I am a HUGE Gilmore Girls fan and I actually got Rick to watch it from beginning to end after we started dating. At first we were watching it together, but then I started coming home to find him watching it on his own. In the first season, Lorelai Gilmore is proposed to by receiving 1000 yellow daisies. I came home one morning after being gone for work for a few days and noticed my sisters’ cars were at our house. I didn’t think much of it because they’re always coming and going. When I walked in, I found our living room filled with 1000 yellow daisies and my family was there. He was there. Death Cab for Cutie was playing and it was all a huge surprise. I learned that it was something they had all been working on for months. It was supposed to happen a few times before, but I always ruined it one way or another! I think it happened at the perfect time.
