At age 15, in September 2003, I was online at Habbo Hotel, and found a little avatar sitting by himself. I started chatting to him and found out he was in Melbourne. We swapped MSN addresses, and chatted nearly every day on MSN Messenger. The relationship grew quickly, and Michael and I became very good friends in a short amount of time. Around two months later, my then-boyfriend dumped me. Through the distress of it all, Michael was there for me as a shoulder to cry on. Feelings grew, and we started to like each other more than friends.

About a week or so later, I asked Michael if he’d be interested in a long-distance relationship. He told me that he’d never done it before, but he was willing to give it a shot. We started ‘dating’ on the 10th November 2003.

In December 2003, Michael came to Tasmania to meet me in person. We spent a wonderful weekend together, and unfortunately it ended all too soon, but at Easter 2004, he came to stay with us and meet my parents. Michael talked my mum into letting me go back with him to Melbourne for four nights and meet his family and friends, then in August my family met his family. We made numerous trips back and forth, before I made the decision to move in with him and his parents in November 2005 and continue my schooling via correspondence in 2006.

On New Year’s Eve 2006, at midnight, Michael proposed to me. It was a night full of emotion, being my first New Years away from home. But I said yes, and we were happily engaged for just under 3 years.

On April 11th 2007, we moved into our own apartment and while we loved it there – it’s not hard to love your own space – it was far too expensive for us to continue to live there. On the 3rd August 2008, we moved back to Tasmania, and lived with my parents for 9 months, before we found a unit to rent at the end of April 2009. We moved in on the 1st May, and are happy in our little home, although we’re on the hunt for something bigger!

On the 7th November 2009, we were married at a ceremony surrounded by 90 of our closest friends and family. It was a beautiful, simple ceremony in amazing surroundings, and the atmosphere was absolutely magical. It was the most emotional, happy, exciting and fun day of my entire life. (See the blog post.)

December 2009 saw us off on our honeymoon over our Christmas/New Year break. We went to the Gold Coast in Queensland, and went to Movieworld, Dreamworld, Seaworld and Wet’n'Wild. It was super fun, and we just had a blast together.

In January/February 2010, we started looking for our own home to buy together. This was a hugely stressful and eye-opening time for us both, but on March 15th (my best friend’s birthday, in fact!) we signed a contract to buy a little house, and on May 8th we moved in. We love having our own house to do whatever we want to do, even if it can get expensive!!!

Michael has changed my life completely; we’ve has some really hard times, and some really awesome times. We’re there for each other, all the time, whenever, wherever, whatever. He’s shown me love and support through everything. I love him