Taylor and Jay’s story begins at a bowling alley in Brookings. While working at The Lanes, they shared mutual friends, crossed paths here and there, but their timing wasn’t quite right yet. In December 2022, both Jay and Taylor graduated from South Dakota State University. Jay began his gap year, and Taylor dove straight into grad school. Life moved forward- until it brought Jay back to Brookings for Homecoming weekend (better known to SDSU students as Hobo Days). That weekend, they ran into each other at a local bar and shared a brief conversation. Nothing too dramatic, just enough to spark something. A week later, over Halloween weekend, fate (and a mutual friend named Ben) stepped in. Ben spotted Taylor out and started talking about Jay. Now, here’s where the story gets a little blurry: Ben insists it was his brilliant idea to give Taylor Jay’s number. Taylor is equally convinced she asked for it. However it happened, one thing is certain, that number exchange changed everything. That night, Taylor and Jay FaceTimed… and talked until 7:00 the next morning. They continued talking nonstop all week. Then, the following Wednesday, Jay made a middle-of-the-night drive to see Taylor for the “first” time. What happened in the next 48 hours set the tone for the rest of their relationship: they cooked multiple meals for Taylor’s roommates, went shopping, had their official first date, got matching tattoos (because why not?), and decided to start dating. From that whirlwind weekend on, Jay and Taylor have been practically inseparable. What started as passing shifts at a bowling alley turned into late-night FaceTimes, spontaneous tattoos, and a love story neither of them saw coming — but both are endlessly grateful for. And the rest, as they say, is history.