Taylor won't let me put this on our wedding web site :)

So, as the title indicates, Taylor won't let me put this on our wedding web site, but I have to imagine that some of you either haven't heard this story or would take the chance to hear it again, so here goes (from the perspective of Carissa, since I'm the one writing!)

Taylor and I "met" when I was a sophomore and he was a freshman at Vanderbilt. Apparently not an altogether uncommon experience for him, I spotted him at a concert for the Christian A Capella group on campus. I was immediately a fan of this mystery man and, lucky for me (and unlucky for him?), he happened to be wearing a Tenafly Track jacket with the name "Taylor" on it. How convenient. Now these were the days before Facebook made stalking...er..networking much easier, so I had to resort to the ink-and-paper version, the Vanderbilt Newcomer. It's basically headshots of the entire freshman class that is published each year. With no shame whatsoever, I combed the pages of the class of 2006 Newcomer looking for an attractive boy named Taylor. And I found him on page 3 or 4 (what luck!). Taylor Brinkman from Flower Mound, Texas. Jackpot (Talia or Brinkman if you're reading this, I'm sorry).

So, step 2, find out who knows this person. For that I employed the aptly-named-for-stalking Vanderbilt People Finder. This online database listed where students lived including dorm and floor. Lo and behold Taylor lived on Vandy 4, the same hall as some of my buddies from working at the dining hall, Nikhil and Matt Malony. So, the next day at work, I mentioned to Matt and Nikhil that I was interested in meeting their hallmate Taylor.

Oh, Tenafly?" (Matt and Nikhil)
Excuse me, Tena-who? " (Me)
Tenafly, it's his nickname, that's the town he's from. He's from New Jersey I think.
What's his last name?
Um...we have no idea, what is Tenafly's last name?
I thought he was from Texas.
Oh, that's a different Taylor, but I don't think you're talking about him

So, in case you can't follow that. Basically there were 2 Taylors who lived on Vandy 4, and I had stumbled across the "other" one (they are good friends to this day) because he happens to fall earlier in the alphabet. For those who don't know, my future last name will be Smith, so I understand why Matt and Nikhil couldn't think of it...so forgettable. I'm not sure why they assumed which Taylor I was actually stalking, but apparently their intuition was correct.

Anyway, I'm making this long story even longer, so I hope you're at least enjoying it (I'm enjoying writing it!). So that day after work, Nikhil (being the gentleman that he is) volunteered to take me on a stroll of Vandy 4, just to confirm which man I was stalking. He took me by "my" Taylor's room and there he was, sitting at the computer. Confirmed, Tenafly it was.

Later that night, Matt went in to Taylor's dorm room and gave him my screen name (don't judge me), CJL191. Taylor asked who it was and Matt answered, Carissa.

Carissa who? (Taylor)
Carissa, she said she met you at the Victory concert (Matt)
Is she cute?
Taylor, she's a good Christian woman

Seriously. That's the first description that Taylor got of me (but he did have a vague, positive memory of seeing me at said concert, so that's good). Apparently that "good Christian woman" line, which would have sent most 18-year-old men running for the hills, actually worked on Taylor and he kept my screen name. But I don't think anything would have come of it if it hadn't been for his appendix. You heard that right. Just a few days after all of this, Taylor's appendix burst and he had to have an emergency appendectomy and was bedridden for a period of days. During that period, he decided to IM this "good Christian woman" who did not beat around the bush when she told him she wanted to meet him. We agreed that I would bring him lunch since he was otherwise confined to his dorm room. And that is what I did. The first time Taylor and I "met" formally was when I arrived at his dorm room with a burger for him and some broccoli for me (apparently I was trying to give off airs of being a healthy eater).

This all happened shortly before Christmas break. I went to Italy for 2 weeks over the break and (again, being oh-so-subtle) sent him a postcard. Figuring I was in the bag, he IMed me again after break to see if I wanted to go out for a real date. And the rest is history....

Especially the part where the same day as our first date, a co-worker asked me out and I agreed to go with him on a "pre-date" just to get out the jitters. I'm so not kidding, I let this guy take me to dinner and then he dropped me off at the Vanderbilt Basketball game where I told him I was meeting "friends," but really I was meeting Taylor. But like I said, ancient history...