Stew and Taya met through a mutual friend at a house party while attending the Colorado School of Mines in October of 2012. Taya was on the hunt for a date to her sorority semi formal, and Stew had seen Taya around campus and she had already caught his eye.

This was the first picture that we took together at Pi Beta Phi semi formal in November of 2012! Some people have referred to this picture as the most awkward picture of us ever taken.

We bonded immediately over their love of metal music, something that was not a common interest among people at Colorado School of Mines. We also bonded over our love of breakfast burritos and swore to try every place in the area.

1 year and 5 months after we made it official, Stew graduated and we decided to try long distance while Stew was in Bakersfield, CA and Taya was finishing up her last year of school. A year after flying back and forth between work and school, Taya graduated and moved out to Bakersfield to be with Stew.

While in Bakersfield, we adopted two little gremlins and took a lot of road trips to get out of Bakersfield (iykyk).

Then in 2018, we started another adventure and moved to Los Angeles where we met so many new friends and finally got back into climbing. We got to take many climbing trips to epic locations, went to dozens of metal concerts, and ate some of the best vegan food on the planet.

Finally, in May of 2022, we went on a trip to Malta to see our favorite metal band and Stew proposed. We took a private boat tour around the small island of Camino, and Stew made Taya get out and walk to the end of the peninsula. Taya could hear the rustling of Stew digging in his backpack when they reached the end of the peninsula, and Taya knew what was coming next. After 9.5 years together, we finally were engaged!


The last part of our adventure before marriage was moving back to Denver in June of 2023 and renovating our house by ourselves, with some crucial help from family (thank you!), for 5 months. In that time, we (surprisingly) got even closer and became quite handy along the way!

Now, as we prepare to finally get married, we want to thank you all for also being a part of our story. We can't wait to celebrate with you! Cheers to the next chapter in our story!