Steph and Geordie met at Camp Wambaroo in NSW, Australia almost 10 years ago, in December of 2015. Steph had "hopped the pond" with her cousin, Becks after having finished their first semester of college in California. Still being 18, they attended summer camp as campers. Steph had heard from her cousins about summer camp in Australia. Tales of kangaroos, big spiders, Vegemite, Drop Bears, and of course, cute Australian boys. Needless to say, she was excited for her first big overseas trip without her parents. Speaking of Steph’s parents, they had offered her a word of advice, or warning before heading off on the trip: "Don't fall in love with any Australian boys". They had no way of knowing the foreshadowing their words would become, and back then, Steph had no intention of disobeying her parents, but you know how these things go.

That week of camp didn't necessarily spark a whirlwind romance, but it did spark a bantering friendship. Geordie and Steph had spent the week on the same "team" at camp and the week had consisted of lots of teasing, Geordie's attempts at tricking Steph into believing in Drop Bears and trying Vegemite by the spoonful, and ultimately, Steph promoting and defending her American ways to Geordie with tooth and nail. You might not have known it from the outside, but a friendship was forming and growing between the two of them. Steph remembers seeing Geordie for the first time and thinking that his green eyes were quite nice, although she would not be admitting that to him, at least not for some time. Geordie remembers seeing Steph for the first time, on the first day of camp and being taken by her long blond hair. The day that camp ended, Geordie messaged Steph, starting their friendship officially.

Steph went back to California for college and Geordie moved from Tasmania to the Gold Coast for uni. Geordie and Steph messaged on and off for the next few years, gradually getting to know each other, keeping each other updated on big life events, and before either of them knew it had become good friends from across the ocean. A few years of life occurred in their respective parts of the world. Steph went to college, eventually becoming a speech therapist. Geordie went to uni and got his degree in environmental science. They kept in casual contact until Geordie came out to see Steph in California in the winter of 2019-2020. The two road-tripped around California, Steph showing Geordie some of her favorite spots from San Francisco to Tahoe as they got used to spending time in person for the first time in 4 years. While soaking in a hot spring under the moonlight somewhere on highway 395, Geordie told Steph he liked her. Excited for this new and unfamiliar turn in their friendship, they decided to try to figure out a way forward despite the distance.

Two months after their visit in California, Covid thwarted everyone’s plans, and Steph and Geordie were no exception. It would be another couple years until the two saw each other again. By this time, Steph had resigned herself that the relationship just wasn't meant to be. There seemed to be too many insurmountable obstacles for their relationship to last. When Steph had told Geordie this in a teary facetime call one night in 2021, it seemed like that was the end. They kept in contact occasionally after that, and a few months before the feast in 2022, Steph told Geordie her plans to attend the feast in Guatemala. Geordie told Steph he wanted in on the trip which was being planned by Liana and Becky, Steph’s cousins.

Meeting in Guatemala for the feast that year was the first time Geordie and Steph had seen each other in almost 3 years. They experienced a trip of a lifetime with Liana and Becky, cave exploring, climbing volcanoes and ancient ruins, and many hours cramped together in various vans and buses. By the end of the feast, it was clear to them both that they would have to try their hand one final time at having a relationship. After the feast, Geordie flew to see Steph in Monterey where she was living at the time and she had the chance to show him around her home, reconnect and get to know each other again as their relationship began to grow. This time things felt so different between them and they agreed that they were determined to see it through.

A trip to Tahiti just 2 months later quickly confirmed their relationship when Geordie asked Steph to be his girlfriend. Over the course of the next 2 years, Geordie and Steph flew back and forth between the US and Australia, and met at various foreign and exotic places in between. Through many tearful goodbyes, long Facetime calls, and plans for the future, it became clear that their long ago playful camp banter had turned into a deep friendship and ultimately, love. In October of 2024, they said goodbye to long distance dating when Steph moved to Australia. For the next five months, they didn’t go a single day without seeing each other. Geordie and Steph enjoyed participating in the more mundane aspects of dating like cooking weeknight dinners, swimming in the ocean, and finally being able to talk to each other from within the same time zone. One rainy Sunday morning in March of 2025, Geordie took Steph on a trip to Byron Bay where he got down on one knee in the drizzling rain and asked her if she would marry him. Steph agreed right away.

The two have spent almost a decade becoming the best of friends. In many ways they feel that they have grown up together, getting to know each other through many of their formative years and individual life accomplishments. They feel incredibly blessed that the friendship that started all those years ago has become the foundation for a lifetime of loving each other. They are excited to celebrate together with their friends and family back at a summer camp, an ode to the place it all began.