Park Instructions: search for South Falls Day Use Area and follow signs for Creekside Picnic Shelter

Neither Taylor or Kyle were looking for love when they moved to Austin. Taylor moved to experience a new part of the country and break out of her circle. Kyle, on the other hand, was fortunate to take a break from the military to pursue an education at UT-Austin. Naturally, both quickly found their way into incredible friend groups through roommates, dog parks, church, work, school, and random connections. Eventually, Taylor and Kyle finally landed on each other's dating profiles in June 2023. To answer your question: yes, Taylor made the first move. Once Taylor was back in Austin from trips with family, the two set up a date at Mozart's Coffee shop. They were delighted to find each other easy to be around (and easy on the eyes). Sparks really flew at the couple's second date. After a remarkably mediocre performance in trivia at a local brewery, Kyle and Taylor got to talking. And talking. And talking. They bonded over a mutual love of Jesus, books they had read, and just about everything else they talked about. Both left the date giddy and returned home excited to report back to their friends and roommates. Not too long after, the young couple went on a flurry dates, including a Thomas Rhett concert with some of Kyle's friends and a local summer theater with Taylor's friends. Before long, the couple made it official and began introducing even more friends and family to their new boyfriend/girlfriend. And so began the process of falling for each other, day by day. It started becoming clear why God brought them both to Austin. Now, it would be impossible to capture every iconic moment sprinkled throughout these lovebirds’ story, starting from the very first conversation where Kyle catfished Taylor by talking about favorite New Girl characters despite never seeing the full show. There’s certainly not enough room here to tell the story of when Kyle missed his flight to Las Vegas to meet Taylor’s family. Or the days spent together driving back to Austin from Colorado Springs. There’s no way to capture the many hours driven between South and North Austin, the many meals cooked together, the many miles walked around Lady Bird Lake, the many hours spent falling in love. As summer 2024 approached, the couple began looking to the future, as Kyle’s work would soon be bringing him to northern Virginia. Without hesitation, Kyle and Taylor committed to their impending long distance relationship, despite the 2,500 miles that would soon be between them. Not-so-secretly, however, they dreamed that Taylor would soon join Kyle, with a ring on her left hand. Despite many travel hiccups (shoutout CrowdStrike for a canceled anniversary vacation), Kyle and Taylor grew more and more in love, and the “M” word soon started becoming common in their conversations. Kyle schemed up a trip to Las Vegas between work shifts to talk to Taylor’s family about his intentions. Despite an amateur job at keeping this a secret from Taylor, Kyle earned the blessing of Taylor’s family, which was cemented with his first beer bong on the golf course with Taylor’s brothers. After designing Taylor’s ring, Kyle flew to Austin during a “fortunate, long break at work.” While Taylor had her suspicions all along, even asking, “Are you about to propose?” when Kyle was indeed about to propose, she was ecstatic when Kyle got on one knee and suddenly their lives were changed forever (a moment captured by Kyle’s eventual Best Man). And finally, all of Taylor’s Pinterest boards and wedding ideas could be set in motion. While we can’t capture all our favorite memories here, we thank all of you for your parts in our lives and this relationship. You shaped us into the individuals and couple that we are today. We pray we can continue growing with you in this new season of our life together. All the love! —Taylor and Kyle