Kira studied abroad in 2016 in Dunedin, New Zealand at the University of Otago where she met James. James had been living in Dunedin studying at the university for one semester before meeting Kira. James and Kira met at a St. Patrick’s Day Party for international students. Kira met James when he had a green beard and green eyebrows while proudly boasting that he was from South Africa. His first impression of Kira was “Oh god not another annoying American!”. Mutual friends introduced the two of them and kept inviting both of them to hang out with the mutual friend group. It wasn’t until the second time they hung out that a good friendship blossomed between them. James chased Kira romantically for a few months while she played hard to get. One day, while watching an episode of Game of Thrones with friends, Kira thought James looked cute and finally started to flirt back with James -and the rest is history!
James and Kira started dating 3 weeks before she left New Zealand to go home. They faced the hard decision of whether they should still continue to date each other while living on opposite sides of the globe. After many tears (mostly from Kira), they both decided that it was best they did not try a long-distance relationship, especially when they did not know when they were going to see each other next. Well, this notion did not last very long…before you knew it, Kira was back in New Zealand visiting James for almost an entire month. They simply could not handle not being together. It was then, that James decided to apply for a visa to live in the United States with Kira. They did long distance for almost 5-months before James was able to move to the United States.
James graduated from the University of Otago in December 2016 and was on his way to live with Kira in the United States. Kira and James lived in Eugene, Oregon in 2017. James learned all about American sports and became a Ducks fan. Kira took James to many Ducks football, basketball and baseball games. They went on many adventures throughout the state, especially in Portland! During their time in the U.S., Kira and James also went on a road trip around Nevada, Utah and Arizona! James worked throughout the year while Kira studied until she graduated from University of Oregon at the end of 2017.
After Kira graduated from the University of Oregon, Kira and James spent the holidays with the Belt family in SoCal. Then, they packed their bags and were off to live in Australia. It was the first time Kira had met James’ family and friends in-person. For the duration of 2018-2019, Kira and James have lived in Brisbane, Australia while James works for the Queensland State Treasury and Kira studied Masters of Counselling at the University of Queensland.
James and Kira got engaged on Christmas day in 2018 at the Sweetlove’s family home. James tried to trick Kira into thinking that she is getting a giant stuffed animal as a Christmas present. He organized a scavenger hunt using Kira’s collection of stuffed animals with notes hidden in crackers (yes, she still collects stuffed animals at 23-years old). At the end of the scavenger hunt, the note told Kira to turn around and James was on one knee. Kira cried so hard before James could even get his speech out that he had to tell it to her later that night. It was definitely the best Christmas they ever had!
At the beginning of 2019, James and Kira went on a lovely holiday to Bali, Indonesia to celebrate their engagement. It was hands down the best trip they ever had!
In March 2019, Kira and James adopted their first fur child, Frankie. They are proud pawrents of little Frankie and plan to have him move with them to the United States in April 2020! They plan to have a pre-wedding holiday backpacking throughout Southeast Asia in early 2020!