It was the start of the marching band season, so naturally all the trombones got together to eat as much grilled food as they could stomach, and then some. They’d just been assigned ranks for the year, and Taya and Josh were placed together, so eventually they started chatting. Take this next part as you will. She says, “After some very obvious flirting, Josh told me that I should be his wingman, hardcore shutting me down.” His defense - at the time, I thought “She pretty cute, but me lot older and not buying grill right now. Me let her down easy!” In any case, they remained casual friends most of the season. He started walking her home from rank events and by the end of the season invited her to Trombone Formal (but told her to bring her friends in case she didn’t want it to be a date). He finally realized his mistakes the next morning and set up their first official date.

They had the best day of dates ever all around Rochester, including great meals, a few naps, and a themed farm with ice cream cone thieving turkeys. That all led up to the proposal itself, which had a couple ties to some of their earliest dates - a game of Stratego and some lights. When Taya lived in Spain they played lots of online Stratego, so Josh turned his "flag" piece into a ring picture that would be displayed if she won. He also prepared some LEDs programmed with a diamond ring animation, reminding them of their first date at the Olin Park holiday lights. Both sides did everything they could to win, but in the end the custom ring/flag piece was still hidden, so Josh showed off the light display and got down on one knee. After giving the cutest speech ever, he asked Taya to marry him, and she said yes!