When I hear the names Kate and Kris I automatically think KARDASHIAN. But these chicks are no bimbos. I first connected with Kate and Kris when I was sitting in a San Diego hotel room with Eden, waiting up until 2am to watch the twitter stream following the story we did for the George Negus Show. (now THAT is a sentence I promise I will never write again!) These two clever cats did something with their computer so we could actually watch the show go to air live.
Do not ask. I still do not understand how a light bulb works.......
Anyway on Saturday I was at the Marriage Equality Rally and guess who I bumped into! And they had something to celebrate. Here Kate shares their story.
I first met Kris in July 2009 on Twitter, I thought she was cute but there were 2 things working against her, she was living in Colorado USA on a Nanny Cultural Exchange and she looked way too young for me. Those things aside we built a friendship on Twitter and Facebook over the next 12 months. Then unexpectedly & sadly for her, Kris had to return home to Australia in October 2010.
By November 2010 we had made a date & booked a weekend together in the Hunter Valley to attend A Day on The Green in late January. This was scheduled to be our first meeting and at this stage our friendship had progressed to regular phone calls and messaging.
I was quietly keen and by now knew that Kris was 28, only 10 years younger than me, definitely acceptable.
Christmas 2010 turned out to be a wonderful but painstakingly drawn out time for us. There were many long phone calls and text messages to the point that my family were constantly complaining about the growth attached to my ear (my IPhone).
It was on Christmas Eve as we waited for midnight to come so we could be the first to wish each other Merry Christmas when I first remember thinking I was falling for this woman who I was still yet to meet. By now we had decided we didn’t want to wait for our late January date & I made the plans to drive up to Taree on my first weekend back in Sydney.
On my drive to Taree for our first meeting I was so ridiculously nervous that I was physically shaking. I need not have been, it was obvious from 5 minutes in that we clicked. We had a wonderful weekend together and quickly made plans for the next one.
For the next 4 months our weeks were filled with longing for each other, culminating in wonderful weekends together getting to know each other. We had fallen hook, line & sinker and there was no turning back.
By March we decided we didn’t want to do the long distance thing anymore and Kris started looking for a job in Sydney. It was on my birthday that Kris was offered her job and in April she moved in with me.
I would love to say it has been all wonderful, but to be honest we had a bit of a tough time adjusting to living together and got dangerously close to breaking up, but we love each other and are committed to making it work.
In November we went to the Gold Coast to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. I knew I didn’t want to spend another day without Kris by my side so I had secretly gone shopping for a ring, had her fingers measured to ensure it fit and then on our anniversary I proposed and I’m very happy to share that after getting over her initial shock and me prompting her to answer me, Kris said yes! Now we just need the law to get passed so we can legally get married.
Gay Marriage, or as we like to call it “marriage”, is important to us. We want our love and our relationship to be given the same recognition and status as those of our heterosexual family and friends. While it is not a requirement for us to be married in order to do so, we are planning on starting a family next year and for this reason it is important to us to have our commitment to each other legally recognised and acknowledged. Love is love after all!
Check in with Kate and Kris on Twitter and (hopefully) follow their adventures down the isle.
