A quick compliment on your cocktail dress. A fancy schmancy dinner. Maybe some Russell Stover chocolates from Target (if you’re lucky).
And that’s it –millions of Americans’ Valentine’s Day in a nutshell.
Not for Woody Hales.
Wake Forest’s ‘First Man’ surprised Student Government President Natalie Halpern with a long weekend in Las Vegas this Valentine’s Day for a much-needed break from the constant scheduling and stress of Work Forest.
The biggest surprise? Woody booked a private helicopter ride for the two of them to fly from Vegas to the Grand Canyon. This ‘Champagne Package’ includes, you guessed it, aprivate champagne tasting in the Grand Canyon. Yes, you land, get out of the copter, and have your own little grown-up tea for two way down in the farthest depths of the Canyon.
Woody gets the award for best Valentine’s gift. Hands down.
The trip commemorates Valentine’s Day, the couple’s 2-year anniversary, Natalie’s birthday, and Woody’s birthday – which all land around the same time. Wow. That’s a laundry list.
Not to worry, last year was no letdown either. The couple spent the V-Day weekend at Biltmore . . . during a blizzard (judging by North Carolina’s lenient standards on snow).
But this Wake Forest power couple hasn’t always been picture perfect. In fact, they had a rather rocky start to the relationship.
“It was love at first sight for me . . . but not for Natalie,” says Woody.
Each of their stories line up: Natalie spent a lot of time in Piccolo freshman year hanging out with her friends, who in turn introduced the two. After a year of pursuing Natalie only to be met with rejection, Woody finally started to win her over during their sophomore year.
“I finally asked her to be my girlfriend when we were hanging out in my little room in Davis, nothing special” says Woody. “We were watching ‘Blades of Glory.’ For some reason, she said yes.”
Natalie was still hesitant. “I decided he was okay to potentially date,” says Natalie. “But I didn’t know how long it would last.”
Since that February day two years ago, the couple has since travelled Europe together, run Natalie’s entire presidential campaign, and become close with other’s family.
When asked if the duo is especially lovey-dovey, Natalie just laughed.
“I’d like to think we’re not!,” says Natalie. “I mean, you can tell we’re a couple, but we really try and cut down on that kind of stuff. We hang out in big groups and one-on-one. It’s all about balance.”
But the couple has their sentimental moments, which seem to come in the form of cute DIY gifts crafted by Natalie. For Valentine’s last year, Natalie bought a big box of chocolates, emptied out all the sweets, and filled each chocolate slot with a little note saying what she loves about Woody.
And then there’s the scrapbook of all scrapbooks.
Natalie and Woody both went abroad the summer before their junior year – Natalie to Greece and Woody to London. Though each spent the majority of time in their respective city, the two traveled together before and after their programs. Natalie put together a scrapbook documenting nearly every move they made in Europe.
“That thing was intense,” says Woody. “She had everything from little ticket stubs to practically every single picture of us in it. It was the best scrapbook I’ve seen.”
Woody takes a different approach to gift-giving. He’s surprised Natalie on countless weekends when they weren’t together at school. The worst (and funniest) came last summer when Woody flew from D.C. to Atlanta for a surprise weekend with Natalie. After a 5-hour delayed flight, 3 a.m. cab ride to Natalie’s house, and spending the next few hours sleeping on a couch, Woody certainly surprised Natalie the next morning when she wandered downstairs to find him sprawled asleep in the basement.
Natalie’s reciprocated the ‘surprise’ element by throwing Woody surprise dinner parties for his 20th and 21st birthdays.
“That was my little way of being creative,” says Natalie.
After spending a summer eating fabulous Greek dinners together next to the Parthenon and exploring the best that London’s South Kensington has to offer, the two returned to Wake for their junior year . . . and the big task of launching Natalie’s campaign for SGA president.
“I supported her from the start,” says Woody. “The only thing that’s mildly changed with us is that she’s more stressed, but everything’s pretty much the same. We’re great.”
Woody attends countless trustee ‘things’ and receptions as Natalie’s arm candy, but Woody’s real role is do the grudge work behind the scenes.
“I’m always the one doing things she doesn’t want to do,” says Woody with a laugh. “Like for Seize the Quad, she wanted me to go get the water bottles out of the student government office. I thought it’d be like a case or 2. No. We’re talking 3,000 water bottles all loaded into my car, driven to the Quad, and then carried again onto the Quad.”
“I just vent my frustration to him sometimes,” adds Natalie. “But he really does help me out a whole lot. He’s just really great.”
We here at HC couldn’t have said it any better ourselves.