We officially met on a dating app during the fall of 2023 (Taya ghosted Lance for the better half of 2 years and they re-matched with each other later on). After a handful of messages back and forth, we met for our first date at B&B Theater and Bowling in Ankeny. Lance beat Taya in the two games of bowling they played :) After bowling, they sat down and shared different stories with each other. They both showed an interest in each other and agreed to a second date. As dates continued to progress, their fondness for each other grew. After Lance left Taya's house on their 3rd date, she texted him and asked if he was ever going to ask her to be his girlfriend. Lance immediately asked the question and Taya said yes. They officially started dating on February 4, 2024.


They took their first vacation together to Nashville during spring break that year. They drove down and experienced the St Louis Arch and Jack Daniels Distillery along the way. They survived their first extended drive together :)


After a few more months of dating, they started having discussions about moving in together. They both agreed that Lance would sell his house in Boone and move into Taya's house in Ankeny. Lance sold his house in early June and moved to Ankeny on July 1st. Because moving in together wasn't enough, they decided to rescue a puppy named Finn. Their family quickly grew from 2 to 5 with the addition of Lance's dog, Lincoln, and Taya's dog, Missy.


In August, Lance and Taya decided to book a cruise together with a couple of their friends. The cruise was to take place over Christmas Break and Lance began to think about different opportunities to propose to Taya. In November, they went engagement ring shopping together. As the cruise date approached, Taya kept asking Lance if the engagement ring was in from fitting. Lance had already picked up the ring, but needed to keep it a secret. Lance fibbed and said the ring wouldn't be in by the time we left for our cruise.


While booking excursions for the cruise, Lance thought it would be perfect to propose to Taya on New Year's Eve day on a beach in Mexico. However, when they arrived at the beach it was filled with trash and washed up materials from the ocean. Lance quickly had to divert to option B in his head. As the day wore on, Lance was running out of time. He decided his best opportunity would be to propose in their cruise cabin before an elegant dinner. Although things didn't go as planned, Taya still said yes!