One evening in early June, most unexpectedly, Taylor received a message from a stranger on Hinge. Little did she know that she’d be making a life-altering decision. To swipe or not to swipe? After much consideration, she decided to respond to the curry-obsessed, “sleeper-built” (?), self-proclaimed savant. She and the Anderson-native with great hair exchanged a few messages and quickly found themselves on FaceTime conjuring up plans to put their vibes to the test in person.

Taylor and Adam met on June 6th of 2023, and as it turned out, the Tito’s-sponsored chemistry was undeniable. The two arrived separately at Root & Bone for their first official date in Indianapolis. One arrived on time, the other a meager twenty-five minutes later. Under the glare of the hostess and after several inquiries from the wait staff about whether or not someone would be joining (did you guess it?) Taylor – she ordered herself an apple cider cocktail and awaited the arrival of her escort for the evening. Upon Adam’s arrival, the two spoke over what Adam had previously endorsed as the best southern cooking in Indianapolis. Needless to say, the food was not the most notable part of the evening. Later that evening, Adam played some of his piano jury pieces for Taylor. To much surprise, after several recurring dates at various Indianapolis gems, thorough discourse about TV shows and many shared laughs, they decided to make it official on September 6th, three months to the day they first met.

The two spent their first holiday season together in 2023. They juggled their way through the rigamarole of attending every family’s holiday events with warm hearts. They were excited to share their relationship with their friends and families and vice-versa. They got to celebrate Thanksgiving 3 times! Once with Adam’s friends from Ball State, once with Adam's extended family and once with Taylor’s parents.

Untraditionally and without pause a few months into their new relationship Taylor extended an invitation to Adam to join her and her family to the Army Navy Game in Boston in December. Little did they know, this was the start of many domestic adventures to come. They explored the city via the Boston T, visited the JFK museum and library, shared breakfast and dinner with Taylor’s parents and subconsciously uncovered that they were seamlessly discovering and eating their way through a city neither of them had been to, together. A recipe for success indeed.

Not long after their return from the east coast, it was time to service the vehicles, gas up and head back to Indiana for Christmas. The annual Fonacier Christmas was the first stop, they spent Christmas Day with Taylor’s parents and rounded off the holiday season with Adam’s family in Anderson.

Following the holiday season, Taylor’s mother, Alicia, departed. Adam and Taylor are grateful to have spent time with her as a couple. She made certain to offer her seal of approval on their union during their shared time. Despite the tragedy, Taylor and Adam continued to grow closer as they persevered through the unexpected changes and challenges of losing a parent, relocating to Michigan and searching for work. The couple traveled to New York in support of Calvin as he was scheduled to speak to the incoming class of West Point nominees where he honored Alicia and shared his life story at the academy he was attending when they first met.

Taylor and Adam spent the weekend touring West Point with some of Alicia’s family as well as her father and uncle. Shortly after, they boarded the Metro-North Amtrak along the Hudson river and made their way to Washington D.C. to see Alicia’s sister Lisa. A trip they had planned with Alicia’s endorsement months prior. They rode electric scooters through the Nation’s capital, to holes-in-the-wall where they shared one of their favorite fish tacos to date, and enjoyed cocktails in the trendy neighborhoods surrounding Logan Circle. The third leg of their extended trip led them via Amtrak to Penn Station in the heart of Manhattan where they indulged in all of New York’s finest offerings: unassuming restaurants, world-class bubble tea, broadway shows and metro stations.

After returning from New York, Taylor, Adam and Calvin were pouring most of their energy into coordinating and planning Alicia’s celebrations of life. In May of 2024, Alicia was honored by her and Calvin’s closest family and colleagues in Rochester Hills. A second Celebration of Life was hosted in Washougal, Washington, with Alicia’s siblings and extended family.

In the late Summer of 2024, only a year after Adam and Taylor had met, they began to feel their feet under themselves again. It was time to focus and build. The “return” to work was fruitful. After a few months of focus, without any indication to anyone else, they had begun to shop for rings. After squeezing in another trip to New York and hopping around the west coast in tandem around Adam’s first-ever work tour, June of 2025 Adam surprised Taylor with a trip to San Diego where he proposed two years to the day they met.