It all began in the fall of 1998 when Nick was a freshman and Lauren was a sophomore at Houston Christian High School. Within the first ten minutes of being on campus, Nick noticed and fell in love with the young, bright-eyed, curly blonde-haired girl. Although Nick thought he went unnoticed by Lauren, little did he know that Lauren often asked Hope (Nick’s little sister) about his interests and about his love life. Hope and Katelyn (Lauren’s little sister) just happened to be friends.

The exchange of an occasional flirty smile or a wink went on between Nick and Lauren for the next two years until Lauren left HCHS to attend Second Baptist High School. Nick and Lauren finished high school and college without any contact, except for the infrequent meeting of Hope and Lauren, in which Nick would be mentioned. Unbeknownst to Lauren, Hope would relay info about Lauren to Nick.

After Nick and Lauren both graduated from college in 2006 (Lauren from Texas A&M and Nick from St. Edwards), they attended their sisters’ graduations from Lamar High School in Houston. In the sea of more than 10,000 people Nick spotted Lauren (what are the odds?) but he was too nervous to approach her. It had been so long since he had laid eyes on her -- he was at a loss for words (imagine that!).

After the graduation ceremony, Hope spotted Lauren and her family outside the auditorium. Hope seized the opportunity and took it into her own hands to drag Nick over to say hello to the Blackwood family.  Upon meeting, Lauren hugged Nick, instantly igniting his old crush. They talked for a few minutes and then parted.

In the following days they both thought about each other often.  Nick asked his sister to inquire as to whether Lauren and Katelyn would like to have lunch. The lunch meeting was difficult to arrange due to conflicting schedules. After a couple of weeks of no success with a lunch date, Nick could wait no longer and asked Hope to see if she could get Lauren’s phone number from Katelyn -- a risky move for Nick, but he had to try!

At long last, Nick telephoned Lauren. It was one long week before she returned his call, not by phone but by text message -- “Hey, Nick! How’s it going?” Nick was shocked that she responded. He thought that after so many agonizing weeks of trying to arrange lunch or contact her by phone that all was lost between them. But he was so wrong!

Soon thereafter, Nick flew from New Orleans to Houston to take his dream girl out on their first date, but you might know his plane was delayed. Nick thought surely this was the perfect time for her to bail, but she didn’t. When he finally arrived in Houston, Nick took Lauren to River Oaks Grill for dessert and had arranged for not one but all of her favorite desserts to be at the table when they arrived!  How perfect!!

They had an amazing evening and talked the night away!  Their first date ended at 3am! Lauren could not sleep that night – she was floating on cloud nine! And Nick realized Lauren was everything that he thought she would be, and more!   And as they say, the rest is history. They each agree that they have finally found their soulmate for life and could not be happier. 

How Nick and Lauren became engaged ...