Brian and Taylor met at Penn State University in 2015 in the architectural engineering program. Nerdy right? Anyways, Taylor was in her 2nd year of the program, while Brian was in his 3rd. As they both just tried to survive their studio class that they had together, they ended up spending more and more time together - studio made for some very late nights wrapping up projects. When they weren’t overloaded with schoolwork, they both enjoyed spending time with friends, going to football tailgates, and going to the very frequent Penn State parties. Speaking of parties…Brian always loved throwing parties at his apartment and was very generous in sending out invites. Taylor ended up getting one of those invites through a mutual friend one day and figured “why not”.

Fast forward to the night of the party…Brian was in his entertaining element and Taylor was just trying to enjoy the night and win a game of beer pong. As the night went on, Brian and Taylor ended up talking for hours in his kitchen. We will spare you all the details as we all know how Brian can continue on with a conversation forever and ever (especially after a few drinks). They got to know each other pretty quickly after talking in the kitchen that night.

The long conversation didn’t scare Taylor away because shortly after that party, Taylor came back for another one. They spent more time talking and playing games together and then all of a sudden Brian’s roommate brought out his pet snake. With a little liquid courage, Taylor was interested in holding the snake but insisted that Brian be nearby. During that time, someone snapped a quick picture of them and after Taylor managed to get her hands on that picture, things started to change.

The next morning, Taylor chatted with her sister, Rachel, and sent her the picture of them. After Rachel got past the whole “omg you held a snake” part of it, she asked Taylor what the deal was with the two of them. Taylor insisted that she was not interested in a relationship as she was only in her 2nd year of college and was focusing on her academics. Rachel’s response was “Do you see the way he is looking at you? I think you should give him a chance”. Well, guess what…Taylor gave him the chance.

On January 10th, 2016, Taylor and Brian began dating. They spent their remaining years at Penn State together until Brian took a job in Washington D.C. in the Spring of 2018. Brian spent many weekends driving back and forth from D.C. to Penn State so they could spend weekends together. When Taylor graduated in the Spring of 2019, they continued their long-distance relationship as Taylor moved back home and started her full-time job in Philly. In August 2021, Taylor finally convinced Brian to move to the Philadelphia area and get a new job.

A quick four months later, Taylor’s parents sold their house in the Philly suburbs. That’s when Taylor and Brian quickly renegotiated the apartment leasing terms and moved into an apartment together in October of 2021. Real life was really starting to sink in at this point.

It’s now the Fall of 2022 and Taylor started to express to Brian how she really wanted to get a dog. After a month or so of research, she found the perfect breeder that she wanted to go to. Brian questioned the decision but ultimately caved and let Taylor write the check. Once the deposit was submitted, the countdown was on to get their puppy!

Taylor was doing all the behind-the-scenes communications with the breeder (so she thought…). They were set to pick up their puppy on January 16th, 2023, and could not wait. Fast forward to the morning of the 16th. Brian left for work at 7 AM knowing that he HAD to be back by 1 PM so we could drive to pick up our puppy. Taylor had the day off so she and Rachel decided to grab brunch to kill some time in the morning. They finished up brunch around 11 or so and ran a few more errands before they came back to the apartment to get ready to go. When they got back to the apartment building and started walking up to the apartment, Rachel got a phone call. She told Taylor to go up without her and that she will come up after the call. Taylor thought nothing of it and continued up to the apartment. She opened the apartment door and saw Brian standing there with a tiny little chocolate puppy wearing a “will you marry me” bandana in his arms.

After 7 years of dating, Brian and Taylor finally got engaged!

From broken bones on the first day of dating, custom label tequila bottles (IYKYK), countless hours of traveling all over, and most importantly, many, many laughs – Taylor and Brian are so excited to start this new chapter of their lives together.