Our story really begins at Watermark's Launch Retreat 2024. After Taylor attended with a friend who met Tara's roommate that same Labor Day Weekend, there was a Housewarming Party. Tara's roommate was excited to share her new home with friends, and Taylor joined the festivities, despite not having a formal invitation.

Prepared with a gift for the hostess, Taylor was instead greeted at the door by Tara, who welcomed him in, assuming him to be a friend of her roommate's. As the party went on, we took turns finding each other, so we could keep talking. By the end of the evening, numbers were exchanged, and the rest in history!

Tara: In an effort to help with festivities for my roommate's Housewarming Party, I was in and out of the backyard and the living room. At some point, early on in the party, I heard a knock on the door and saw two men I hadn't met holding a gift for my roommate.

Assuming they both knew my roommate, I welcomed them both in and introduced myself. One of these men was Taylor. After a brief initial conversation, I had resolved that while this stranger was super cute, he was probably too young for me, so I introduced him to a friend. Not long after that Taylor joined me on the back patio, and I quickly became grateful for a second chance to get to know him. We came back together for one last conversation at the end of the night, where digits were secured.

Looking back on that evening, I know the Lord was orchestrating those opportunities to chat because He didn't want me to miss out on the amazing man who would someday be my husband. I'm forever thankful for every circumstance that led to our meeting.

Taylor: I awoke one Saturday morning to a message from one of my groomsmen informing me that I would be crashing a house warming party later that day. My previous unsolicited party invites from him turned into a Dinner with Schmucks fiasco so I was very hesitant to accept this invitation. After some light peer pressure, I finally caved in and agreed to go. He picked me up and gave me a bottle of wine to give to the host.

As we approached the house, Tara opened the door warmly greeting two strangers into the house (Putting her street smarts in question). She graciously accepted the wine and invited me to the backyard to meet the rest of the party. Tara, being the life of the party proceeded to make us feel welcomed and then introduced us to a mutual friend to exit the conversation. I would later find out that she thought I was cute but too young so she wanted to introduce me to someone else.

Later I would find myself on a couch, talking to her about how I would like a large family one day. It wasn’t the best conversation to introduce myself but once I explained I thought a large family meant 3 kids she felt more comfortable.

Later that night, as the party was dying down and my groomsman wanted to leave, I purposefully found her and asked for her number and time for a first date. She said “I think I would very much like that.” Looking at her now the only thing I can think of is I would very much like to spend the rest of my life with her. Glory to God for blessing me with her, and kudos to my friends for always forcing me out of my comfort zone.

Registry

More gifts not pictured below can be accessed through the MyRegistry.com button!