Michael - We met at work. I still remember seeing her in a red dress up at the front desk, waiting to be interviewed. We worked together on some of the same accounts and sat next to each other, sharing photos of my nieces. Taylor - We didn’t date until I had left the company for another job. Using niece photos as “chick bait” clearly worked.

Michael - Her spontaneity and genuine friendliness. She never pretends to be anything other than her true self, and her true self is a selfless, caring, fun-to-be-around person. Taylor - Probably his southern accent or impressive burps.

Michael - Taylor did, at my friend Josh’s house for an outdoor scary movie night. I missed a good opportunity at the NC State Fair. Taylor - Josh and Ashley had us over for an outdoor movie night, and I was getting impatient, so I decided I was NOT leaving without a first kiss. We went inside at one point to grab another drink and I went for it.

Michael - I asked the night after Thanksgiving 2022, as we were lying in bed getting ready to go to sleep. I said that I wanted to make it official and she said she did too. When I looked at the clock it was after midnight, making it official on November 25, 2022. Taylor – It was adorable. We stayed at his parents’ place the night before Thanksgiving and we were lying in bed before falling asleep and he asked me to be his girlfriend. Spoiler alert: I said yes. I remember rolling over to look at the time on my phone because it was right near midnight and I wanted to make sure I knew the date so I could remember it forever (November 24th).

Michael - We were staying at a lodge in Costa Rica and there was a hanging bridge park across the parking lot. I saw on the park map that there was a waterfall and I instantly knew that was where I wanted to do it. We hiked until we got to the start of the portion of the trail to the waterfall. I let Taylor go in front and gave the signal to her friend, Tercara, that it was time to prepare the camera. When we walked up to the waterfall, I had to convince Taylor to take a photo with just the 2 of us. I then got down on one knee and pulled out the ring and her jaw DROPPED. Taylor - We were at the second stop in Costa Rica (La Fortuna) and went to the hanging bridges while we were waiting for our cabin to be ready. There’s one spot where you can walk down to a waterfall, and I guess Michael was silently communicating with Tercara, “Ok this is the spot; it’s going to happen”. My first thought as he was going down on one knee was “What are you doing? Tercara is trying to get a picture of us.” And then I realized and it was all surreal from there. We were both shaking and happy and Tercara was the best hype person ever haha, shouting “LET’S GOOO”, “THE BARBERS”, “SAVE THE DATE”. All of it was perfect.

Michael - Depends on what is being cooked. Taylor is the better baker for sure, and better at pulling together random things and making a delicious meal. I feel like I'm the better griller and southern style cook. Taylor's best dish? MacNCheese, obviously. Taylor - I can’t choose between us. He’s really good at meats, and I’m really good at diversifying, so that it isn’t always meat we’re eating haha. Michael’s best dish? His pork is amazing. He always lets me eat the pork M&Ms because he loves me so much.

Michael - Taylor is much more of a planner than I am. She is fairly regimented and I tend to be more laid back. Taylor - He says weird things like “I’m gonna take me a shower” and “that there’s a frog-strangler” and “I’m finna grill up some meat”, whereas I speak English.

Michael - When Taylor saw the name “Sophocles” in an article somewhere, she pronounced it as SO-FOCK-ULLS. I had to stop what I was doing, turn slowly, and ask her to say that again. She had never seen that name spelled out before (not sure if she’d even heard of his name previously) and it was the most hilarious thing ever. Taylor - Michael invited me to a corn maze with Josh and Ashley and this was still really early on (officially dating was still a month or more out). The man had to stop MULTIPLE TIMES to stretch throughout the corn maze. I’m over there thinking, “Wow, this is never going to work if he can’t walk around casually for an hour without struggling”. He blamed it on his boots being heavy…I was wearing Timberlands and I was fine...