Our First Dates

Liam and Lauren met on a sunny fall afternoon in a downtown Sydney library while Lauren was studying abroad at Sydney Uni and Liam was in his first week of flight school. This library, notorious for being loud and overcrowded, was also lacking in space to charge laptops. Unfortunately, Liam’s was about to die. He walked over to Lauren, noticing she was near one of the last available outlets, and asked if he could charge his computer next to her. Of course, she said yes, and he immediately picked up on her "exotic accent," as Liam calls it.

They started with small talk about why they were both in the city, but it quickly turned into hours of conversation at a local pub. Lauren was supposed to have a girls' night that evening, and to this day, that’s the only girls' night she has ever missed for a boy.

After their first date, Liam asked Lauren if she wanted to go to her first ever rugby league game. Lauren obviously said no.

Just kidding, of course she said yes.

Although Liam’s team lost by a long shot and Lauren thought his mood was so terrible she’d never see him again, their night ended in laughter and smiles as their long conversations began to cheer him up.

By their third date, Liam had flowers delivered to Lauren earlier that day. She was so excited by his thoughtfulness and care that she ran up and gave him the biggest hug she’d ever given anyone. When she thanked him, he simply replied, “Isn’t that what all good boyfriends do?” Lauren was quite surprised, since Liam hadn’t even popped that question yet. So naturally, she made him ask before she said yes.

And the rest is history.

Exploring Sydney

Liam and Lauren were both quite new to the city in terms of knowing their way around. While Lauren had been living in downtown Sydney for a couple of weeks and Liam had lived outside the city his whole life, neither had really found their local spots yet.

As a couple, their dates quickly turned into discovering new favorite coffee shops, hidden gems, and taking walks to amazing views. Their love for the city became deeply intertwined with their story of falling in love.

In fact, just three weeks into dating, Liam took Lauren to a restaurant he had been eyeing at his favourite beach, Maroubra. All of their long talks about hopes and dreams came together when they sat on the beach and began imagining their life together and all the possibilities the future could hold.

That was the night they told each other they loved one another, and Sydney became the city that forever solidified their love story.

While the couple knew their time together in Sydney would be short, they wanted to make the most of every moment before Lauren had to return to Texas for her senior year of college. Although her lease was up, Lauren knew she wanted to stay through the months of June and July, so she extended her visa.

Liam and Lauren knew how they felt about each other and believed what they had was real, so they took a big step and decided to move in together. Their beach apartment in Bondi quickly became a place of peace and solitude before long distance and the heartache of being apart.

When Lauren’s mom came to visit, Lauren knew she was introducing her to the love of her life. After less than 24 hours of knowing Liam, her mom told her he was absolutely the one. Bondi became the place where they could imagine a real life together, and it truly became a vision of their future.

A Glimpse to the Future

8500 Miles…

…Apart

Liam and Lauren officially started long distance on July 12, 2025. It was one of the hardest times in both of their lives. Many tears were shed the week before and in the many months after, as they missed the home they had found in each other. Their heartache was a true testament to the love they shared.

Determined to make it work, they never parted without knowing the next time they would see each other, and they never let a day go by without a phone call. Sometimes, the only thing that kept them going was their ability to make each other laugh.

In fact, on the day Lauren left, instead of holding her tight until the very last second and shedding any tears, Liam stole her nose and kept it until they reunited in September.

Many Flights Later

While long distance was grueling for both of them, Lauren and Liam had no problem making the 18-hour flight to see each other. Lauren, having an awesome class schedule during her senior year of college, found a few weeks throughout the school year when she could travel to Sydney, and Liam was able to do the same.

Liam's first time visiting Lauren in America was quite an unexpected trip. While they had always planned for him to visit during Christmas, they didn’t expect United flights to go on sale in November. Lauren, wanting Liam to join her for the big Turkey Day festivities, bought him a ticket to come for Thanksgiving. Liam got to meet her whole family and even took a nap on the couch with her Uncle Jeff. He experienced Texas, met all of her friends in person, and finally helped Lauren build some furniture for her apartment, which she had refused to do without him.

One thing everyone should know about Liam is that if he wants to make something happen, he will. So when the couple was figuring out how to reunite after Lauren’s graduation, Liam made the ultimate sacrifice. He left the place and people he loved to move to the States and be with the love of his life. It was both relieving and bittersweet, knowing that while they would finally be in the same country, a part of Liam’s life would once again become long distance.

On February 4, 2025, Liam landed with all of his luggage at Dulles International Airport, and the couple finally began living in the same country. Although they still lived a couple of states apart until May, they were determined to see each other as often as possible. Every weekend, every day off, every semester break, Liam and Lauren took flights to visit each other. This time, the flights were only three hours.

Our Engagement

From Lauren

I kind of knew Liam was going to propose soon because he accidentally texted me instead of his mom about where his grandparents got engaged in Sydney. Knowing the sentimental man that he is, and the fact that he told me he wanted to propose in the same spot, made me feel like I needed to start prepping. It was so sweet how he had it all planned out.

The day before, he took me to a spot north of Sydney that I had wanted to visit ever since I heard about it. We spent the day exploring, and that night we stayed at Aunt Kylie and Uncle Brian’s place and went to dinner with the family. The whole evening was filled with amazing laughter and drunken conversations.

The next day, he surprised me with a hotel room that overlooked the entire city—the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and all. When we got into the hotel, I jokingly began to ask him what his plan was for proposing, to which he calmly responded, “I don’t know how, I don’t know when, I literally have no plan.” In that moment, I got pretty annoyed knowing Liam is one of the biggest planners I know.

I tried to push the idea of getting engaged out of my head while getting ready for dinner. He had planned for us to go to the Opera House, so I put on my new dress and got all dolled up. When we got in the Uber, I noticed Liam starting to go a bit quiet and his hands becoming clammy. To ease the tension with my amazing humor, I began thinking of a joke. Just as I was about to ask where men hide the ring box, I looked down at Liam’s skinny jeans and saw a huge box bulging in his front pocket. I should note that he had already packed all of his nice jeans to move, and the only ones left were super tight.

When we arrived at the Opera House, our plans quickly changed from dinner at the restaurant to walking through the Royal Botanic Gardens suspiciously close to where his grandparents got engaged. I’d like to say that at this point I fully knew we were getting engaged because we also walked right past Liam’s photographer. We stopped at a beautiful tree, and I could feel Liam’s heart begin to race. All he could say was, “Isn’t this a nice tree? You know I love you so much,” before I asked what was going on. Liam simply replied, “You know exactly what I’m doing,” and got down on one knee.

I didn’t hesitate and can’t even really remember looking at the ring before saying absolutely, positively, 100 percent yes. That was the best feeling of my whole life. All the love we shared was so perfectly and neatly wrapped into that moment. The only bad part of that day was being so overwhelmed with happiness that I can’t always clearly remember the moment. I have since resolved that problem though because I make Liam re-propose quite often so we can relive it.

From Liam

To say that I was stressed out would be an understatement. So many factors were running through my head. I was confident she would say yes, since Lauren, being the planner she is, was already thinking of wedding ceremony ideas. The biggest thing was getting the proposal right. Finding the best spot, making sure I knew where the photographer was, checking if the photographer was ready, and making sure no random person would come over to congratulate us were all running through my mind.

Then there was also the issue of trying to cover the massive box bulge in my jeans pocket, which I thought I played off super well. Clearly, I did not. She was a good sport though, obviously not wanting to ruin the surprise. There was not a moment I would have changed.

For us and our relationship, it was perfect. The feeling, the love we shared, and being in the city where we fell in love made it everything I could have hoped for.

After plenty of phone calls to friends and family, we headed to Elements Bar & Grill, had the best steak dinner of our lives, and crashed at the hotel. The next morning felt like the beginning of my new life with Lauren. We had taken the leap from girlfriend and boyfriend to fiancés, and it took some time for that to feel real.

In the middle of all the stress and the long wedding planning checklists, I often need to remind myself that at the end of the day, what matters most is that we will be married. This is the start of many more memories and many more times to fall in love with my wife again.

Making it Through Charm City

After Lauren graduated on May 17, 2025, the couple finally ended their long-distance chapter. Lauren was determined to find a job after college in the exact same city and, if possible, in the exact same building as Liam. She searched and searched until she finally landed a job in Baltimore, close to where Liam was flying.

They found the coziest and most perfect apartment and finally got to move in together without an expiration date on a visa, at least until Liam’s green card arrives in the mail, and with the comfort of knowing they would have endless days and nights together. It was one of the biggest reliefs of their life as a couple.

They wouldn’t trade their time apart for anything, because every day, they are grateful for every second they get to spend together. While they have only been settled into their new home for a couple of months, they have rarely had a weekend without fun, family, or friends. They cannot wait to welcome family next May and to keep falling in love with such a special place.