It all started with two scheming church ladies, Nathan’s Grandma Helen and Julia’s Aunt Cathy. They were talking one day in the Fall of 2021 about the single kids in their family and thought it would be fun to give Nathan Julia’s number. Aunt Cathy called Julia beforehand to tell her about some “information that might interest her” and made sure to warn her that Nathan is a Packer fan. Even though Julia is a Bears fan, she was graciously willing to overlook this as this Nathan guy sounded pretty great otherwise. 

Nathan’s Grandma gave him Julia’s number, but little did she know she gave the wrong number. So Nathan reached out to someone in Canada. Thankfully whoever it was didn’t answer and he later got her real number! That January, Nathan drove in the freezing rain from Madison to Chicago for their first date. 

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Then in September of 2023, Julia and Nathan went back to one of their favorite places, Lake Geneva. After hiking for over 6 miles along the lake shore path, Nathan finally (but at just the right time) asked Julia to marry him!

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These days you can find them hiking, going to Badger games, seeing local bands, and making each other laugh.