In the spring of 2022, we were both working on the Grassland 2.0 Project at UW-Madison. However, for a long while our interactions were only over Zoom. It wasn’t until that summer that John was tasked with driving a UW fleet vehicle up to Duluth, MN for a conference. Having deposited his dissertation days before the trip John viewed the trip as a boondoggle. As fate would have it one of the colleagues joining on the 5-hour car ride to Duluth, MN was Taylor. Taylor claims that she thought John’s road trip style was quite fun and created lots of laughs. Notably John’s ability to overcome the lack of Bluetooth and AUX for music on the road trip by using his luggage strap to hang a Bluetooth speaker in the car so that tunes could be had. When they weren’t going from song to song there was plenty of times for road trip stories.

Following their trip from Duluth there was a slight issue for their inevitable relationship. John was set to go on a date with another person upon his return to Madison. Luckily that relationship fizzled out and Taylor and John went on their first date in the winter of 2023 at the old Knuth’s Brewery in Ripon. However, following this date they did not go on another date until the summer of 2023. This time it was Taylor keeping her distance. It wasn’t until they inevitably realized they would be at the UW-Terrace for the same event about phosphorus pollution in lakes (go figure) that they reconnected. This time the relationship stuck. For much of 2023 and the early part of 2024 they would commute back and forth between Ripon and Madison to see each other as much as possible. Then in the summer of 2024 they were able to both move to Ripon where they love spending time outside hiking, golfing, swimming, boating, paddleboarding and fishing on and around Big Green Lake.

While our story has taken many turns it is maybe easiest to remember there is always a lake involved (don’t fool yourself, this is by design). Whether it was getting to know each other on the shores of Gichigami (Lake Superior for those not in the know). Reconnecting on the UW-Terrace on a beautiful day overlooking Lake Mendota. Or the week after where we spent the entire day boating around Big Green Lake gawking at lake side mansions and Taylor somehow bottling up her fear of deep water as John was enjoying the chance to dive into Wisconsin’s deepest inland lake. In the summers we love spending time in the Northwoods boating on the Manitowish Chain and fishing on the many hidden lakes that dot the woods of Vilas County. In the fall of 2024, it was only fitting that we got engaged on UW’s campus overlooking Lake Mendota. When picking where to host you for our wedding there was only one criteria—we wanted to be by a Wisconsin lake. We look forward to sharing a sunset and celebrating with you along the shores of Lake Mendota on May 31st as we make another memory by one of our favorite Wisconsin lakes.