Way back in May 2022, a couple of our mutual friends hatched a plan...

A plan which involved Julia's editing expertise and Jonah's storytelling abilities.

And in order to connect them...they did it through email.

Cut to two weeks later, Julia is tired of waiting for Jonah's emailed responses (the time difference between California and England is 8 hours in case you were curious), and so she sends him her phone number.

For those not in the know, the app Whatsapp can text and call anyone in the world with any phone number. No echoing satellite conversations for them! And thus blossomed a friendship full of David Rose gifs and niche references to Doctor Who.

Not long after they began texting, they started to have 'movie dates' where they would decide on a film to watch and hit play at the same time, while videochatting at the same time...it was an elaborate set up, to be sure.

Come January 2023, Julia traveled abroad to the UK for her 'Golden Birthday' (that's when your birth date is the same number as your age) and spent a month there sightseeing with their same mutual friends from before all over Edinburgh, and Jonah joined them in Scotland about a week into the trip!

Before Julia made it to the UK, they planned to spend time together separately in York, and when they got there, Jonah took Julia through all of the highlights of the charming and historic city. That month in the UK went by fast! With teary goodbyes, Julia flew back to California and Jonah went back to York. Their relationship had become something more during this trip, and it was difficult to leave, not knowing when she would be back, but they pressed on.

In July 2023, an opportunity arose for Julia, that offered a possibility to get back to England-- after touring to the Kingdom of Bahrain for Missoula Children's Theatre for a week, they allowed her return trip to stop in London instead of going all the way back to the United States, and so Julia moved in with Jonah and began to put down some roots.

In January 2024, Jonah and Julia flew back to the United States to introduce him to her family. They had a small road trip down to Atlanta and back, and managed to show Jonah seven states! Sadly, by the end of February they had to part ways again, but it was obvious at this point that they were together through thick and thin and so a few months of separation was hard (but not too long in the grand scheme).

Julia was able to fly out to England again at the end of April 2024, and during her visit Jonah brought her to Hull Pier and proposed!