It all started in the winter of 2017 in Naperville, Illinois at an RPR Continuing Education course. Kelly was back home in Poplar Grove, Illinois and I was back home in Wheaton, Illinois for the holidays. We both were currently working for Major League Baseball teams and living across the country from each other. After the morning session and a brief introduction during the meet and greet in class, Kelly and I, along with other coworkers headed to lunch at Noodles and Company. While the health minded people in our group all proceeded to order salads (including Kelly), I went with the usual, Wisconsin Mac and Cheese. You can’t beat it!! Kelly definitely gave me a hard time for this decision. After lunch, we went back for the afternoon session and ended the day learning new training techniques. Not much transpired between Kelly and I for a few weeks until I finally decided to face my fears and add her on Instagram/send her a direct message.
Early in 2018, Kelly was back in Arizona but getting ready to travel back to Illinois for her affiliate season and I was down in Florida as the MiLB Strength and Conditioning Coordinator. Part of my job as the coordinator was to travel to minor league affiliates and ensure that our strength and conditioning program was being followed and our staff was continuing to develop. Well, being sly/smart, I decided to visit one of our minor league affiliates while they were playing Kelly’s team near my hometown in Wheaton, Illinois. This was a double win for me as I got to see Kelly but also got to see my parents. During my time on this specific trip, I went out of my way to make sure Kelly and I could do dinner and/or drinks post games. You know, we kept it professional and both staffs got together. But let me tell you, I had one motive, and one motive only. There was just something about her that continued to bring me back. A few trips later and many long nights on the phone, I knew she was the one.
Throughout the 2018 season we saw each other multiple times and spent many long nights on the phone planning our 2018-19 offseason. At this point, we had both come to realize that we both love travel. Kelly decided to sign up for a travel alert service that helps find flight deals around the world. One of the first days she had the service, we got an alert about round trip flights to Sydney, Australia. We were both off work and we could not pass it up. We booked the flights to and from Australia that night. Then we proceeded to book a 2-week trip around Australia and New Zealand that was either going to make or break us. After all, we hadn’t spent more than 3-4 days together since we met. Why not jump on a 17-hour flights across the world with her and then spend 2 weeks together? What could go wrong? Well, the trip went amazing, and these memories are some of the best we have together. From New Years Eve in Sydney to climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge to Scuba Diving the Great Barrier Reef and Bungee Jumping in Queenstown, the trip was truly one adventure after another.
Throughout 2019, Kelly and I grew even more fond of each other, and our relationship really started to take off. We had another year of long distance because of work but we continued to make sacrifices to grow our relationship. In 2020, the world came to a halt with the COVID pandemic. With no baseball being played for a while, Kelly moved in with me in Houston, TX. This was the first time we could really spend a large amount of time together. And boy, did we spend a lot of time together since we could not go anywhere. Making it through 2020, I knew that Kelly was the one. We spent 24-hours a day together and didn’t kill each other. This girl is special!! Over the last few years, our relationship has really blossomed into true love, and I knew after our season in 2022 that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
On a vacation to Hawaii with my brother, the plan was in place. Jeremy (my brother) and I had the whole engagement mapped out. On a hike that Kelly and I fell in love with the year prior, the ending of the trail was a perfect location. I couldn’t think of a better spot to ask her to spend the rest of her life with me. Towards the end of the trail, Jeremy slipped me the ring and the mission was on. We got some good pictures in before I dropped to a knee and asked Kelly to spend the rest of her life with me. Luckily, she said yes! Kelly’s love and unwavering support of me over the years has been immense. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with my best friend! Cheers to the beginning of our story and the many happy, adventurous, and loving years of life to come!
It was offseason 2017, I had just flown from Phoenix to Chicago to visit family for the holidays. A co-worker and I, who was also from Chicagoland, decided to take a continuing education course in Naperville a few days before Christmas. We walked into the basement of this bicycle shop, where the course was being held, and my coworker immediately walked over to Taylor and said "Dude, no way, what's up?"... turns out, they had played youth baseball together growing up and Taylor was there visiting family as well. There were about 6 of us at the course who worked in baseball, and we ended up mingling throughout the day. The group went to lunch at Noodles & Co. where everyone ordered a salad... except Taylor who came back with a large Mac and Cheese and made fun of us all for trying to act "healthy." (He was right, it's the best, and we still get Mac and Cheese from Noodles every time we're in Chicago). After lunch, Taylor and I paired up for a bit of the course and he asked where I went to college. When I said Illinois State, we soon realized I was friends with his younger brother, Jeremy, and laughed about "small world" stuff. We left the course and *although I couldn't help but think he was attractive* my professional brain didn't let me think much beyond "networking."
I believe it was February of 2018 when I got a notification on Instagram. "Taylor Rhoades wants to follow you." For months after, Taylor would respond to my posts and we would briefly chat about random things. That season, Taylor was the Astros S&C Coordinator living in Florida, and I was an athletic trainer in Low-A Kane County in Illinois where the Astros also had a Low-A team. I thought it was interesting that every time we played them, somehow Taylor was in town and would message me to "get both staffs out." When I asked him why he made so many trips to Low-A, he mentioned he would come to visit his mom who lived there. Turns out, she had actually moved to SC and was only there for a week per month, and not always at the same time as Taylor. ;) One night he coordinated a staff dinner after a day game, and though I'm still not convinced he even invited them... everyone else conveniently bailed, and he asked if I wanted to go anyway. I called a friend on my way to this dinner and said "I'm not sure, but I think this might be a date." It definitely was. We had such a great time, we decided to get a drink post-game the following day as well. I was immediately captivated by his confidence, intelligence, drive, and cool/calm/collected demeanor. It didn't take long to realize we had a deeper connection I wanted to continue to explore.
After that trip, we started FaceTiming almost every night and he quickly became my best friend. I flew to West Palm Beach, FL during the All Star Break to visit him, and we made it exclusive. That offseason, we spontaneously planned a two-week trip to Australia and New Zealand. Since we had been long-distance the entire time thus far, I kept telling family and friends that this was make-or-break. Taking the 2nd longest-existing flight 17 hours from Houston to Sydney, spending two weeks together, 24-hours a day, across the world. We were really going to find out if we liked each other. Our compatibility really proved itself and that trip remains one of my favorite memories of our story. I already knew I loved Taylor, and confirmed it for myself after the first few days of that trip. But I waited for him to say it first…and waited. New Year’s Eve romantic fireworks under the Sydney Harbor Bridge? Nothing. On the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge for sunrise, maybe? Nope. Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef? Not even there. Relaxing on the beach in Cairns, AUS? Nope. Hiking, when we reached the summit of Roy’s Peak in New Zealand? Nope. Bungee jumping from 400+ ft in Queenstown, NZ (a little risky, you know, he might have wanted to tell me before…)? No. But, he DID end up telling me he loved me. Two months later at the Waste Management Open, a golf tournament in Phoenix. As expected at WMO, we were both pretty intoxicated, so it’s a story we can laugh about forever. We woke up the next day and he said, remember what I said? I said of course I do. He said, “I meant it.” And the rest is history! All the flights, vacations, FaceTime calls, short visits, long drives, baseball games, busy off-seasons, promotions, moves. We’ve known for quite some time that this is something special, and worth all the “extra” it might take.
Our engagement in Hawaii in December, 2022 was perfect and I had ZERO idea it was coming. Of course, after 4 years together, we had talked about getting married. But when we invited his younger brother, Jeremy to join us on the vacation, I was not suspecting anything. All week, Taylor was mentioning going hiking on a trail we had done the year prior and absolutely loved. As far as I knew, we were waiting for the “best weather.” Again, I didn’t suspect anything. We love hiking, that was not an unusual plan. When we got to the trailhead, there was a large fence seeming to block the trail from hikers. I could tell he was SET on doing this trail, specifically. I kept offering to drive to another trail, but he was adamant he “wanted to show Jeremy.” Of course, Jeremy was in on the plans as well, and encouraged me that they would go check out the fence. Turns out, there was a sign at the trailhead saying the trail was open and the fence was built to contain an invasive species. The plan (unbeknownst to me) was ON! I still had no idea, and was slightly annoyed when Taylor kept rushing me to the end… I would stop for photos along the way and he would say “Come on, we can get photos at the end!” Now I understand why he wanted to hike so quickly ;). We posed for a photo and he asked me to step back to have the perfect backdrop. He reached in his pocket and got down on one knee, asking me to marry him. It was the easiest yes of my life, followed by very shaky knees (realizing I was in no condition to be standing so close to the edge of the cliff) and pure joy!
I couldn’t think of a better partner in life. I’m beyond proud of us for committing to anything and everything it takes to continue to build our relationship. It’s our story. Taylor’s my very best friend, and I can’t wait to be Mrs. Rhoades!