When Taylor and Jeff both decided to move to St. Croix for Graduate school, they expected many things. They expected to fail at least one test, they expected to find a new favorite bar they'd drink at every weekend, and they expected to leave tanner than they came. What they didn't expect, but maybe secretly hoped for, was to fall in love. But it didn't happen immediately. In fact, Taylor tried to run away from love the first time they met. Taylor's first night on the island, she and her friend Holly ventured out for a bite to eat on the boardwalk. Seeing a group of men out of the corner of her eye, Taylor tried to rush Holly away from them as they yelled something inaudibly. It turned out to be Jeff and his cousin Jean calling out "Barry University," recognizing Taylor from Facebook. Embarrassed, and less scared, Taylor and Holly joined Jeff and his cousin Jean for dinner. It was not love at first sight, but the start of a beautiful friendship between two people who, when recounting this story, thought the other was cute. Between classes and labs, they did manage to find time for fun. On the weekends they would go to the beach, throw parties, scuba dive, or hike through the mountains. Call it a crush or an extremely tiny program, Taylor and Jeff spent lots of time together. Their weekend friendship bled into their studies, and they spent hours together in the study room. During one of these sessions, Jeff told Taylor he would take her out for ice cream if they both passed a quiz. With an incentive no one realized at the time to be such an important one, they passed, and went on their first date. And a second one, and a third one, until Jeff emerged from Chris's Hideaway, a tiny sports bar, with Taylor clinging to his back. On this night, Jeff and Taylor sat on the balcony, eating fried chicken and talking until they watched the sunrise. When they started their clinical rotations, Jeff ended up staying at a motel on the island. One that, in exchange for Jean’s hard labor, they had managed to stay at for free. Sitting on the bed in a room so tiny you could reach out your arm to touch the TV, Taylor told Jeff that she loved him. A few weeks later, Jeff said it back before they fell asleep. While the island brought them together, it also made them leave. In the middle of the night, they were told to evacuate as hurricane Maria approached. They fled to St. Pete with a single suitcase each, and ended up moving in together downtown. After graduation, they set their sights on New York City, completely oblivious to the pandemic and pile of parking tickets that was to come. But they made it through it, with the help of pizza and Greek food. They were ready for a change and decided to move to Austin, where they adopted their dog Willy T. With a backyard for him to run around in, Willy T became the third member of the family. They enjoyed exploring a new city but realized that they were ready to settle down. They decided to come back to St. Pete, where they purchased their new home, decorating and creating the space of their dreams. It was here that Jeff hatched his plan to propose. With his friend Will's help in creating the ring, and Taylor's friend SG helping to scout the location, Taylor and Jeff departed for Denver. It was a beautiful warm day when they left the house to hike to the glacier, but the wind picked up and it started to snow as they made it up the mountain. At the beginning of the hike, they passed a man in a snow suit who took one look at Jeff's shorts and said, "no pants?" Although it was freezing and Jeff only had on shorts, they made it to the glacier, where Jeff went down on his bare knee and asked Taylor to marry him. In this moment, the snow stopped falling and the wind died down. With a teary "yes" and a bottle of champagne, the two celebrated the future they had found in one another. One that they are excited to share with you.