We Did It!

Texas Discovery Gardens 3601 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd Dallas, TX 75210

Paul and Taylor met through mutual friends at a DIY show in a Fort Worth warehouse in June of 2016. Paul's good friend Carlos Garza plays drums and Taylor's friend Aaron Gonzales fronts and sings for Lost At Sea, formerly known as Corusco. After spotting Paul's Aggie Ring, Taylor introduced herself and they hit it off. A week later Paul slid into Taylor's DMs to ask her out on a date.

Taylor and Paul had their first date in Deep Ellum; drinking beers and competing in intense Connect 4 matches at Deep Ellum Brewing (Paul dominated Connect 4 handedly), sharing a mushroom pizza at Cane Rosso (Paul, ever the gentleman, sacrificed for the sake of Taylor's vegetarianism), and topping off the night with cocktails and jazz music at The Free Man. They connected over a love of Texas A&M, their families, and their respective (but VERY different) tastes in music. Soon then after, Taylor was introduced to Ottoman Turks and Paul's group of friends colloquially known as Nerdzzz. They were all instantly charmed and Taylor was absorbed into the group.

While Taylor pursued her Master's degree at UTD and Paul worked in North Dallas, they lived a loving and very cozy life while sharing a studio apartment near Addison. Taylor soon completed her degree and Paul was transferred to downtown Dallas. Wanting to save money for their future together, and perhaps refusing to believe they were no longer in college, they moved into a house with four of their closest friends (see above: Nerdzzz). Here they drank even more beers and further discussed what a future together looked like. With both Paul and Taylor having new jobs in Plano, they moved to their very own place in The Colony. In 2020, quarantined from the outside world, Taylor and Paul grew closer together. Finding the silver lining in the pandemic, they took joy in having more time to spend together than they ever had before. They passed the time by listening to records (by this point having found some sort of common ground in music), playing video games with friends (travel was difficult at this time but they could still visit Verdansk), rehabilitating their foster dog, Peanut (available for adoption from the SPCA!), and their newfound hobby, playing board games (Taylor had gotten much better since their first date). With 2020 being the ultimate stress-test, they found themselves more in love than ever before and ready for the next step. Taylor showed Paul what a pinterest board was as they discussed ring designs and the offer to elope in Las Vegas was immediately shot down.

Quarantine weekends were widely similar; lots of board games, video games, hanging out together, and eating good food. That day was much the same. Paul told me he was going to go on a run in the afternoon, which was a little odd because he usually runs in the morning, but I didn't think much of it. We got breakfast at a local cafe and played board games (Wingspan, Splendor, and Jaipur) and later that afternoon Paul left on a run. He said he’d be gone about an hour but maybe more depending on how his knee felt. It had been bothering him the past few weeks. I had a feeling it was happening when he left, so I started getting ready. Not much later I got a text from him asking to come pick him up because he hurt his knee and he couldn't put much weight on it. Standing in the mirror, i realized what was about to happen. I put on some clothes, fixed my hair, changed outfits, then changed again. I walked out of the door with the thought that i wouldn't be returning as just a girlfriend and was so excited I almost crashed my car the two streets I had to drive to meet him. When I pulled up, he was at a table set up in the gazebo in a neighborhood park. There were flowers on the table with Cane Rosso and a deep ellum blonde for me and a deep ellum IPA for him. Connect 4 was set up with the tokens in a heart, which we had played 24 times on our first date. He said many sweet things, got down on one knee, and said “Taylor Elizabeth Quance, will you marry me?” and I responded saying “Of course I will”.

I played Warzone past midnight. After playing, I laid on the couch to casually browse Reddit on my phone, not particularly wanting to focus on or overthink the upcoming proposal. Upon waking up, I told Taylor that I intended going for a run later in the afternoon in hopes that wind would die down by that point. It was unusual that I would run at a time other than the morning, but this reasoning was plausible enough. Georgia informed me that the Carrollton Cane Rosso did not have the funghi pizza Taylor and I had had on our first date on our menu and suggested either a truffle oil or spinach artichoke spread pizza instead. I decided on the spinach artichoke. Taylor had talked about wanting to meet up with Will and Marisa. I knew it was strange that we didn’t have plans for that evening so I told her to figure out a plan with them to throw her off the scent a bit. I also texted Will and told him to make sure that they would tell Taylor that they wouldn’t be free until that evening thinking maybe she would suspect that the proposal would be happening at that time. Taylor told me she was going to move our recycling to the garage. I knew that she could potentially see everything I had bought for the proposal in my car, but knew insisting to take the recycling myself would raise increased suspicions. She took the recycling and intentionally avoided looking into my car. I ordered breakfast and coffee for Taylor and I from Café Mila. It was a nice day so we walked together to pick it up. I was thankful for this because otherwise I would need to figure out some reasoning for me to pick it up on my own so that Taylor would not notice all the supplies in the back of my car. We then played Wingspan and Jaipur. Taylor won both games.

At no point did I experience cold feet or anything like this, but as the time drew closer I did feel a bit nervous just at the thought of how monumental of an occasion it was, sort of like being at the top of a roller coaster. My hands were a bit shaky while we played board games and I fumbled my cards a couple of times. At this point I told Taylor I would go for my run. I got dressed, trying to determine how to hide the ring box. I eventually hid it in the band that contained my phone, but it jutted out. When walking out, I had to awkwardly maneuver around the apartment to ensure Taylor did not notice it. I kissed Taylor goodbye and departed for my “run”. I stalled for a couple of minutes, and then got in my car to drive to the Gazebo where Georgia was located with the pizza. I unloaded my car and, with help from Georgia, set up the table with the pizza, beer, Connect 4, flowers, and tablecloth. I then texted Taylor “Hey, I think I f***ed up my knee. I can’t put much weight on it. Can you come pick me up?" At this point, she knew the proposal was happening but had anticipated it occurring later in the day so she was in the shower. Eventually, Taylor showed up. I told her that this idea of a date had worked the first and so I had hoped it would work again. I told her that I loved her, how I excited I was for a future with her, all parts of the future, including growing old, moving into a house, and raising children. At this point I got on one knee and asked, “Taylor Elizabeth Quance, will you marry me?” She responded, “Of course I will.” It was very relieving, exciting, and joyful to be engaged and to be ready to prepare for the next phase of our lives. Georgia cheered. At this point we took pictures together, drank some champagne, and ate a bit of pizza. We informed both of our families and our friends from the gazebo.