Jenessa & Nihad

"Nihad and I met as sophomores in high school and he first asked me to be his girlfriend during our junior year on March 6th, 2009. We walked along a very frozen Lake Michigan and held each other for what seemed like a good hour before he could get the words out of him. We were young and awkward, but so in love! I can't help but to smile when I think about all the things Nihad did for me, even at such a young age. I so vividly remember Nihad taking off his jacket and putting it on a park bench because it had just rained. He would travel over an hour multiple times a week on public transit just to spend a couple of hours at my house doing much of nothing with me. He even agreed to get his butt kicked in one of my dad's marital art classes before he was the buff guy that he is today.

As college started, life took us on different paths and we went our separate ways. We remained in touch and Nihad even made me the promise that he would marry me one day. A couple of years later we reconnected at a mutual outing and from that moment on we were inseparable. I perfectly remember sitting in his car for hours into the night reminiscing on the past, discussing our differences, and where we saw our relationship in the future. It was literally as easy as picking up right where we had left off.

Nihad and I have always talked about the future, but never got into the specifics of a proposal or timeline for marriage, not even the style of ring I liked! The one thing I had always said was that I just wanted to be done with school before taking next steps. In May 2016 I graduated with my master’s degree in social work. That weekend we headed to Mexico to celebrate. Two days into the trip Nihad proposed on the beach! It was completely unexpected, but so us! That morning Nihad was acting a little strange, but I didn’t think much into it since we were in vacation mode. He took forever to get ready which is so unlike him and he even picked out my outfit, along with a fresh flower for my hair! We spent the rest of the trip dreaming about a beach destination wedding!

Nihad has always proved there isn't anything he wouldn't do for me. He is my rock and knows exactly how to bring me down from my overthinking ways by just being the perfectly weird silly person he is. Despite what seemed like many odds working against us, we always knew that we were meant to be together. We are lucky enough to have grown up together and shared all the experiences that have helped us become the individuals and couple we are today."