New Date - November 20th, 2021

Taylor and I are moving forward with plans for our vow renewal and reception on Nov. 20th, 2021 at this time. We are committed to making it a safe and fun celebration for everyone. We will be requiring that all who attend are vaccinated against COVID-19. While we enter what feels like the millionth wave of this virus we will be monitoring closely how we are able to do this safely. As of now we have an indoor/outdoor celebration planned but will be in touch if we unfortunately have to scale back or change things further. We ask that you bear with us through this time as we are desperately hoping to be able to celebrate with y'all. We also understand if you choose to forego our reception this year for safety reasons. Love you all, Taylor & Laura

Hey everyone. Taylor & I first want to thank everyone for all the love and support we have received through this time. We have decided to postpone our reception so that we are able to hopefully have the party celebrating our love and marriage that we dreamed about. That being said, we just can't wait to get married! So Taylor & I have decided to elope with our immediate families in his hometown this fall on our previously planned date of 10/23/2020. We are very excited that we are going to be able to celebrate on both coasts and are confident that we are making the right decision in terms of overall safety for all of you (aka our loved ones)! We are still excited to have a ceremony in front of everyone next year which will look more like a vow renewal. We are so sorry to not be able to see everyone this fall but can't wait to see what this next year has in store. Love you all, Taylor & Laura

Taylor and Laura first met at a medical school orientation event. They were paired off into their respective anatomy groups... the people they would be dissecting a cadaver with for the next 3 months. They presented art projects they had been assigned to do. Taylor had crafted a DNA double helix out of bike chains and a globe. Laura was impressed by his project and by his height. Taylor was not impressed by Laura's project or her height. He did however think that Laura's positive attitude and friendly smile made up for her lack luster artwork.

Their first date was initially planned for later due to it being the day before Laura's birthday AND during their medical school finals week... but they both decided they couldn't wait so they moved it up! Laura's impression: Best date ever. Taylor planned a whole surprise day. He picked me and Winston (my dog) and took us to a hike nearby. He brought wine, chocolate, and special dog treats for Winnie. We watched the sunset. He dropped me back off at my place to change for dinner. When he picked me back up, he said he had been looking for fresh flowers to pick for me. Unfortunately, it was winter in NC and this CA boy did not realize that flowers do not bloom year round everywhere... He stopped by a store and picked me up some. We went to Village Tavern in Reynolda village, one of Laura's favorite restaurants, and chatted for hours. Taylor's impression: Wow... Winston is an awesome dog... Oh, and here is a girl with an adventurous spirit, willing and excited to try new things. Someone who is full of life and has so much to offer. Smart and funny, patient and kind. I felt very lucky to have the opportunity to get to know this wonderful person. No matter how things ended up, she was stuck with me for at least the next 4 years.

Luckily, before Taylor left for the summer of 2015, Laura was able to visit California and meet his wonderful family for the first time. On that trip, they explored San Luis Obispo, drove Highway 1 through Big Sur, and experienced Yosemite. Laura likes to jokingly refer to this trip as our "Yellowstone trip" to watch Taylor squirm. They told each other "I love you" for the first time. Then Taylor flew to Europe to begin his long trek across Spain with his mom, sisters, aunt, and cousin! They communicated through WhatsApp and Skype. Taylor sent Laura a picture of a new flower every day on his trip (awwww)!

Laura and Taylor knew pretty early they were in it for the long haul. They made the joint decision to couple's match (meaning they would apply to go through the residency match together), knowing that this was the start of a lifelong commitment to each other. Taylor then likes to mention that Laura started hinting hard for another lifelong commitment.... which Laura doesn't deny. So they decided to get a PUPPY! (For the record, not the lifelong commitment Laura was hinting at but an exciting commitment nonetheless). The puppy was named Keira and their little family grew to 4. Winston, Laura's older pup, begrudgingly accepted his new role as big brother and grew to love the little monster that stole her parents' hearts.

Taylor proposed on February 2nd, 2019, the first beautiful warm day for a hike in a long time. They got to the top of the hike with the puppies and all the beautiful views and were overwhelmed... by the large number of people also out enjoying Hanging Rock State Park. So they started to hike back down. Laura was getting hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and cranky so Taylor stopped to give her fruit snacks he had packed for her for this very occasion. They were alone when she turned around (to ask for more fruit snacks, obviously) when she found him down on one knee asking her to marry him. She gleefully said yes and although they continued down the hike, Laura remained on Cloud 9. She almost tripped twice because she was looking at the ring and her new fiancé... not the ground in front of her. Taylor made a joke about Groundhog Day, the Bill Murray movie. Laura didn't get the joke until MUCH later (but hey, she was distracted). They celebrated that night with dinner at Village Tavern in Reynolda Village and got 1 picture from the whole day (where the waitress cut off the top of Taylor's head).