Man proposes to girlfriend — then good news continues with lottery ticket the next day

The morning after an Iowa farmer successfully proposed to his girlfriend, he needed to meet up with his brother to work cattle.

But first, Nick Miller decided to stop for a slice of breakfast pizza and a cup of coffee at Casey’s in Cascade, according to a news release from the Iowa Lottery.

That’s when the Bernard man noticed the Super 7s Progressive InstaPlay game jackpot had reached almost $400,000 — so he purchased a $30 ticket.

“I went back to my truck and the first thing I did was look down to the progressive jackpot game and started matching my winning numbers,” Miller told lottery officials. “And I had one and then two and then I saw the third one, so I had to do a double-take and check them again. Eventually, I checked them on my mobile app, and sure enough, it was the winner.”

He had won the game’s jackpot prize of $390,191 on June 23, according to the release.

“I’m ready for the next parts of life, I guess,” Miller said.

But he couldn’t claim his prize quite yet, as he and his new fiancee, Lauren Timmerman, were headed to Florida for a family vacation.

“Once in a while I would second-guess myself, and be like, ‘I hope that was the winning ticket,’” he said.

Others had doubts, too.

“My mom believed me because she knows when I have a serious face, I guess,” Miller told lottery officials. “Everyone else, it took a lot of convincing.”

He was able to finally claim his prize on July 3, officials said, and he plans to use his winnings on the wedding and home improvements.

“It will definitely go a long way towards both of those,” he said when claiming his newfound cash.

Bernard is about 60 miles northeast of Cedar Rapids.

This story was originally published July 4, 2023 at 11:26 AM with the headline "Man proposes to girlfriend — then good news continues with lottery ticket the next day."