Taylor was someone I had known of for about 6 years before we ever spoke a single word to one another. I knew her best friend, Kierra, from Greek Life in college. I had followed Taylor on Instagram in 2017 when Kierra had posted pictures with her and I assumed she was someone in her sorority that I would probably run into eventually. Little did I know, Taylor was not a part of Greek Life and also was a commuter so she was never really around Carrollton aside from for class.

It wasn't until 2023 that Taylor and I shared our first words with one another, and it was really just on a whim. Instagram had recently implemented a new Notes feature that users could post something for their mutual followers to see that they can reply to. Taylor decided to post something simple: Are you having a good day today? Typically, I'm not one to jump into the DM's of people I don't know, but her note seemed harmless and I was open to the idea of speaking with someone new. That's how our first conversation began, and a few more would come and go over the next few weeks.

By the time that April rolled around, I wanted to finally meet Taylor in person. She had mentioned to me that she had just moved to Carrollton in August the previous year. I was going to move back to Marietta from Carrollton once my lease ended in July, so it felt appropriate to ask if she wanted to grab some food and finally meet face to face. Her initial response was a bit sassy, as she stated that she, "has a very busy schedule and I would need to make an appointment." So I did. We made plans 2 or 3 weeks in advance to adhere with her "busy schedule" to meet at a coffee shop at the square downtown on April 24 at 5 pm.

When the day finally came, I made sure to get to the shop early to make a good impression. Taylor was running a little late. Eventually, I look up to see the coffee shop door open and in walks this pretty girl in a yellow sweater and a brown plaid skirt. I've never been a big fan of yellow. It's probably my least favorite color. However, something about her made that yellow much more bearable. We spent some time talking at the shop, and needed to decide where to go eat. I made game of the decision-making process. I made a list of all the restaurants on or near the square that were within walking distance, and assigned them all numbers and told her to pick. Taylor picked #4: La Fiesta (Yes, I still have the note in my phone and went back and checked).

Our time at the Mexican restaurant went great. We made good conversation of getting to know more about one another and each others' goals in life. We had good banter that showed our compatible senses of humor. We talked about our wants to travel and shared dream of going to Japan one day. She even invited me to her birthday party that was very inconveniently scheduled on my actual birthday. By the time the meal was over, we didn't want to call it a day just yet. We were making great conversation, especially since Taylor loves to talk and I'm a great listener. We went back to the coffee shop at first, but were immediately harassed by some guy Taylor had no interest in that couldn't take a hint, so we decided to leave and go talk in the parking lot. To my surprise, the girl I had just met that same day invited me back to her house to hang out and talk more. And so we did. She hopped in her bright green car and told me to follow her back to her house. We sat and talked for hours. So many hours, in fact, that by the time we looked at our phones to see the time, we saw that it was 5 am on Monday morning. We had spent about 12 hours talking between our meal and coming back to her house. We both decided it would likely be best for me to head home so Taylor could at least get an hour or two of sleep before she had to get up for work. I didn't think I would see her again for at least a few days after keeping her up so late on a work night, but we ended up seeing each other the next day. And then the next. And the next. We never stopped seeing each other after the first day we met. We were inseparable, and, in only one week's time, we both agreed that we may as well make this relationship official if we both enjoy each others' company so much.

I couldn't tell you exactly when, but it was very quick that I began to see a complete future with Taylor. She was everything I looked for in a partner, and filled the gaps of the shortcomings of partners in the past. She was smart, driven, accomplished, fun to be around, beautiful, financially responsible, and so much more. It wasn't long before I was confident she would be the woman I married. So much so that I went engagement ring shopping with her mom only about 8 months into our relationship. I've never been one to jump into the idea of proposing too quickly, so that should speak volumes to the seriousness I felt about Taylor.

I didn't buy the ring with the intention to use it right away, but more that I knew I was going to need it eventually and may as well get it while she was out of town on a trip up north with her dad. I didn't decide to pop the question until our first trip out of the country in July of 2024 when we took our Caribbean cruise. It was the first international adventure of many that we planned to have, so it felt right to be the occasion that I asked her to be my travel partner for life. I made dinner reservations at the nicest restaurant on our ship, one that actually had a Michelin Star. While she got ready, I scoped out the upper deck of the ship. I wanted it to be a secluded area with a beautiful view. I found just the spot on the back of the ship, facing the sunset as we deported the port from Miami. I wanted to propose to start the trip off so there was no worry about hiding the ring the whole time, and also so the trip could be more of a celebration of the engagement. I went back to our cabin, where I found Taylor in her beautiful blue dress that I had her mother pick out for the occasion under the guise of "needing something nice to wear for such a fancy restaurant." I took her on a walk to see the sunset, and took her to the secluded upper deck facing off the back of the ship. While she looked off the railing, I got down to my knee and when she turned around she couldn't believe it. It was a magical moment to start of an amazing cruise. A perfectly symbolic moment for the rest of our life together.

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