We're getting married!

We (fortunately/unfortunately?) met on a very popular dating app. Which one you ask? Tinder. Yep, we managed to find each other on Idaho's dry, dry, Tinder. Drew had responded to Taylor's question on her profile, asking between two characters. Drew then continues to woo her with two cheesy pickup lines and it went from there. A few weeks later and many texts exchanged, Drew met up with Taylor while she was scoring a slow pitch softball game. Public, low stakes environment, perfect place for love to bloom.

We finally decided after hanging out a few times to actually go on a first date. (These hang out's were late night anime binge sessions at Taylor's apartment since she lived alone at the time). Mini golf was the perfect plan except for the summer heat. With Drew's '02 Ford Ranger that did not have AC on a 92 degree day, Taylor seriously debated not moving forward with Drew (she hates hot weather). Drew ended up winning mini golf (much to Taylor's frustration) but also won over her heart.

Drew and Taylor decided to try to go stargazing out in Nampa Idaho one summer night. Taylor got to meet Drew's (still current) roommate (and now best man) Dustin, before they set out in the night. Driving and driving around Lake Lowell, the clouds decided to ruin the opportunity for stargazing, however they found themselves discovering more and more about their future person. Drew finally asked Taylor to be his girlfriend around midnight. Of course, she went home extremely giddy.

Over the past 3 years now, Drew and Taylor have grown extremely close, of course, as well as sharing many different hobbies. Taylor is most thankful for Drew's ability to talk her off the ledge, especially the struggles of her senior year of college and her first year teaching. They've found themselves navigating struggles and situations that they never imagined they would face so early into their relationship, however when looking towards wedding planning, they knew they could do it. At this point in time they share two cats, a house (still with Dustin), a love for gaming and karate, and each others' love.

Of course, Taylor had no idea when Drew was going to pop the question. They had talked during the cold New Year after being snowed in Idaho, rather than going to Drew's dad's house for the holidays, that they wanted to get engaged this next year, 2023. All Drew told her was "sometime this year". So she was clueless. In May, Drew asked for her parent's blessing, by which time, Drew had already bought the ring and gave it to friends of theirs' to keep safe until the day. Such ring was picked out by Drew, but not after careful conversations with Taylor about what she wanted, since she didn't like classic, flashy, diamonds. Months before, he had such friend, Mattie, plant the idea in Taylor's head that she wanted to take couples photos of them once the weather warmed up. This set the plan in motion. A Friday afternoon, Mattie planned with Taylor to when they could set up this photo session. Taylor (unknowingly) asked Drew if he was free and went from there. The day of, Taylor drags Drew to a few different stores to find something "nice" to wear for pictures. Ironically, the dress she bought didn't fit and the weather turned cloudy and cold just as they were leaving. Mattie and Taylor had been texting about where to take pictures, gong back and forth of Boise or Nampa or even Caldwell, but they settled at a location Mattie dropped to Taylor. In irony again, it was Lake Lowell, the same place Drew asked Taylor so many years ago. (This location was not planned by anyone and was a weird coincidence!). Drew sneaked off while Mattie took headshots of Taylor and set up the plan. A few minutes later and 30 feet away from Mattie, Drew dropped down and pulled out the ring and made sure to tell Taylor that this time "it's real". Drew had been messing with Taylor all of 2023 by randomly "proposing" which in turn had made her walk away laughing or smack him on the shoulder for scaring her. But this time it was for real.