The first time Nate asked Allison out, she turned him down. It was an innocent rejection, truthful, even. Allison was busy and didn’t want to get stuck packing for her trip to California late into the night. It could have ended there. A simple, “no,” and then two people who’s paths barely touched could have gone their separate ways. But neither really wanted to give up. There was an initial spark that seemed somewhat intriguing. So later, when Allison’s friends had bailed and her packing was done, she started to hint to Nate that she might actually be interested in getting together. Which Nate promptly ignored.
The two went their separate ways, Allison to Southern California and Nate to Philadelphia for the Christmas holidays with family. They both continued to lightly text, each at different opportune moments where they could steal away – Allison to the loft at her Grandmother’s, and Nate to a soft chair in the corner that nobody approached because of the fluffy cat who’s tail would crowd the face of anyone who dared sit near. Over several weeks of chatter, Nate finally decided to ask again, and Allison replied “it would be rude of me to say no to you twice.” Soon after the date was set – January 1, 2017.
After Nate took his roommate out to dinner for his birthday and ran sound at church, they met up across the street from Naked City Brewing at the Hounds Tooth Lounge – because even though Naked City was the intended destination, it was closed because of the holiday. Three hours later, the two left the bar. As Nate was hugging Allison, he asked her if she would like to go on a second date, to which she replied “yes.” Nate knows, however, that you have to schedule the second date before leaving the first, but when he asked “when are you free?” she said “never.” And drove away. Nate thought he would never hear from her again. Later that night, Allison resurrected the relationship with a well-timed text, and in fact, their second date was the very next day.
Things progressed quickly, because three months from their first date, Allison was leaving for a 3 month stint in Idaho for Medical School. Before she left for Idaho, Nate had 4 scheduled trips. By the time Nate and Allison were driving back to Seattle together, Nate had been to Idaho 8 times and Allison had been to Seattle once. Though they didn’t say it, they were falling in love.
The two finally admitted that they were in love when they went to Leavenworth for a hike up Aasgard pass. After a day of grueling hiking that required 6 liters of water, the two said “I love you.” Things were also heating up in the Med School department because Allison was gearing up for a summer rotation in Maine and Nate was getting ready to go to Tanzania for two weeks. All in all, Allison and Nate spent 1/2 of their time before getting engaged apart.
Allison enjoyed her time in Maine with the Emergency Department at Maine Medical Center, and oddly enough, there were several SPU graduates that Nate knew also in the department. Then, just as that was ending, Allison was applying to all of her residency programs.
As winter came, the flurry of interview season came with it. Allison started to fly all over the country interviewing with several programs, and Nate knew that he would have to potentially move with Allison to her new home. As things started to solidify, and rank lists started to be decided, Nate got a message from a company based in the Bay Area recruiting him for a job. When he asked them if he could go remote, they said yes, and all of a sudden, everything started to fall into place. On March 16th, along with the other 30,000+ almost-doctors in their 4th year of med school, Allison opened a letter saying that she would be an ER Doctor at Maine Medical Center. They were moving to Maine.
With everything set for the move, all that needed to happen was a little shiny thing needed to be presented. As Allison was at a global rotation in Kenya, Nate snuck home from his weeks in Oakland to make a ring out of his grandmother’s engagement diamond. He also knew that they both loved boats, so Nate booked a boat rental for a weekend in May. Even though Allison thought that it was just a great date to start, Nate had other plans, and he proposed to Allison on the waters of Lake Washington. Not done with the surprises, Nate convinced Allison to go back to her house, where there were over 20 friends and family waiting for the newly-engaged couple.
In June, however, their time in Seattle came to an end. With the help of Allison’s mother, they packed up their two hatchbacks and drove across the country to Portland, Maine (the other Portland), where they live currently. They’re so excited to get married and make their union official in front of friends, family, and God.