Our story began long before we even knew it did. God is cool and does have a sense of humor, I think.

Let me (Taylor) tell you how it goes.

In 2008 my parent's and I moved to Texas. Not long after, I met Jake. It was halfway through our second grade year and we would spend the next decade as classmates, never even considering where we would be now. We joke and reminisce often that our sweet little 8 year old selves would never ever believe how our life turned out.

All through school Jake and I of course knew of each other, it's hard not to in a class of 40 or so kids, but we never really ran in the same crowd or friend groups. We don't have a lot of memories from school together but I do remember vividly that Jake was, and still is, the kindest and gentlest man that I have ever known.

After graduation, we went our separate ways as you do. We hadn't spoken much ever, but certainly not in the last 7 years or so.

Then one random day in the spring of 2025 Jake replied in agreement to an Instagram story I posted that said "but what if I got weirder." If you know one or both of us, you know how fitting this is lol. After that we began chatting, simply catching up and talking about where life had us then. We chatted for a few days and Jake boldly decided to ask me out.

If I had it my way, I would leave this out but Jake loves to rub in this part of the story. To his dismay, I told him (kindly) no to the invitation to get dinner. I was a scared girl and frankly didn't believe most men had good intentions much less had a strong enough relationship with Jesus to be interesting to me.

For a second it seemed that was the beginning and end of our story, but thankfully and surely with a nudge from the Lord, I couldn't stop thinking about him and being curious so I reached back out. We talked more and more and about the Lord and where we were in our faith and soon I asked if the offer for dinner was still on the table, best decision EVER.

We texted constantly (as much as possible with a night shift cop;)) for about a week and went on our first date to Texas Roadhouse on May 15, 2025. We sat and talked and laughed for hours. Somewhere close to closing time we finally looked up and realized it was closing time and had to call it a night. I knew this would not be our last date.

Our second date was not long after and we played the game 'We're not really strangers' for many more hours. We skipped straight to the good stuff and got to know each other extremely well very quickly. We weren't afraid of vulnerability and communication which is one of my favorite things about us. We say all the time that we owe a lot of our early on relationship to that game lol. Pretty soon after we shared our testimony with Jesus and by then I think we both knew this was special and God was in it.

We became inseparable almost immediately. Both of us are introverted and we like our alone time and can only do people for so long, so we took it as a big hint that we didn't, and still don't, ever want to be apart. We are best friends and each others safest place in the world. What a gift!!

We started officially dating on June 7. One of our favorite "God winks" of the story was the shooting star that fell over Jake's head literally the moment he asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend! Needless to say, I said yes. Jake also moved to days not long after that and we became even more inseparable. Every free moment we wanted to be together, and we were. We met each other's family soon after and I think within weeks we knew that we were going to be together forever.

We have continued to grow in our relationship and love and in our relationship with Jesus, which is foundational and so important to us and our life together. We are so thankful for our friends and leaders who teach us and encourage and support us in this.

Fast forward to November, and here we are! Jake asked me if I would marry him in a very "us" way. After an afternoon of hunting, and getting a javelina (WOO), Jake proposed to me under the big cross outside of town at their family friend's ranch. It was intimate and funny and perfect and I will relive and cherish that day and memory forever and ever. Ask Jake to tell you the full story, it's a good one. We got whataburger immediately after, very important.

Now here we are, planning a forever together and so excited to celebrate with you.

Jake and I love quality time and cuddles. Our dates look a lot like staying in and watching movies or simply going to the grocery store together. As long as we are together, we are good. We love our church and our friends. We are adamant about honoring and proclaiming Jesus with our marriage and life. We love to eat. We love backyard workouts with Ryan. We love to laugh and be extremely weird together. It's crazy how safe and comfortable we are together. Jake loves to hunt, I love to watch him do the thing he loves. We navigate difficult shift work and prioritize each other. We love a good walk and talk. We still love to play 'We're not really strangers' and have game nights with our friends. We love spending time together with our families. Our life is simple and sweet and better than I could have ever imagined and we are so so sooooo excited to officially start our lives together and build something beautiful and worth celebrating. Jake is the answer to all of my prayers and then some and he swears the same is true about me. We are thankful for God's grace and kindness and know His hand is all over this relationship. Again, second grade Jake Wike and Taylor T would have a stroke if they could see us now. I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

Cheers to forever with my baby!!!! <333