We’re getting married!

Taylor was a sophomore at Southern Oregon University and Donnie had just transferred to SOU. He had a job at the Subway Restaurant across from campus and Taylor started working there beginning of November 2013. Taylor needed someone to cover her shift and was looking at the list of employees and saw “Donald” whom she hadn’t met yet. So, she took his number and texted him- “Hi Donald, this is Taylor, we work together at Subway. Can you cover my shift?” All he responded was “Haha you can just call me Donnie.” After a short coffee stint between classes, they couldn't wait another day to go on a second date and found themselves having dinner together that evening. After that, it was all uphill from there when Donnie took Taylor on a longer than expected hike to the top of a hill overlooking Ashland, where they spent hours getting to know each other, and that was the most memorable of them all and when they really fell for each other. ❤️

Back in May 2018, Donnie and Taylor were wrapping up a chapter in their lives in Bend, Oregon and getting ready to move to Portland. One of Taylor's most favorite employers, Ruth and Russ Crawmer had gifted her a weekend stay at Belknap Hotsprings as a goodbye gift, dated out in October because of the popularity of the site. Donnie had decided this would be the perfect opportunity for them to have a special weekend together and started coordinating. After receiving Taylor's Dad's approval during a visit back to Oregon from Illinois, he was ready to proceed with his plan. On October 27th, 2018 Donnie and Taylor hiked up to the peak of Sahalie Falls. Once situated at the top, Donnie (with the guidance of Torii Uyehara to utilize a countdown app) got his phone set up on a rock to take a sequence of photos of the two of them at the top of the waterfall to remember the weekend. Once the countdown began, Donnie got down on one knee and asked the best question in the world. Taylor was so shocked that she could barely speak and couldn't believe what was happening! Donnie waited anxiously, and Taylor remembered she had to speak and said YES!