Our first date was a Saturday morning in November, 2021 in Cambridge, MA. We grabbed coffee and bagels from the Black Sheep Cafe before walking over to find the perfect bench along the Charles River to eat breakfast and chat. Conversation flowed for hours, until Ya'el really had to leave to finish some assignments for grad school classes. Not wanting to take things too fast, Kyle proposed a second date that same evening - and so we did! We shared our favorite music and music videos for hours. After about two months of dates and getting to know each other, we decided to make the relationship "official" in January 2022. We spent the rest of Kyle's time at Harvard going on a couple dates a week together and trying to squeeze in as many adventurous trips as possible. When Kyle graduated from college in May 2023, Ya'el got to meet his family for the first time, as they came over to America to see him graduate. After graduation, Kyle headed back to Australia for a while after one big last hurrah trip to Sweden and Switzerland with Ya'el. After a lot of deep talks and careful consideration, we decided we both enthusiastically wanted to continue the relationship and plan for a long-term future together, despite the temporary distance. Ya'el popped over to Australia for a month for Christmas, where she got to meet Kyle's extended family and friends and fall in love with Australia. We reunited again in June 2024 in Hawai'i - where we got engaged!!! So you could say the long-distance went well. Ya'el finished up her PhD at Harvard in September 2024, before accepting a post-doctoral research position at Stanford (California) for 2025-2028. Kyle braved the process of getting a new visa to join her in March 2025, and both of us are having a blast living with our best friend. We look forward to many happy years together - and to returning to Australia to live long term in 2028.

https://www.honeyfund.com/site/courtney-murphy