We met, through a mutual friend, in Hamilton in the late 1980s.
We started hanging out together when Reece transferred up to the Engineering School at the University of Auckland the following year.
We got engaged that August and then married eight weeks later - during the university holidays. It was a low-key ceremony at the historic Highwic House, in Newmarket, followed by a reception at Karlene's parent's home.
During the first few years of marriage our focus was on finishing our undergraduate degrees.
Reece finished studying in 1989 and started working as a graduate engineer. Karlene's conjoint degree took until 1992. After graduation, Karlene started working as a law librarian.
In 1994, Reece seized the opportunity to work in San Diego. We had a fantastic year soaking up the Californian sunshine and travelling as much as we could. The highlight was renewing our wedding vows at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas on our 7th wedding anniversary.
When we returned to New Zealand, we got started working towards our Masters degrees. Reece finished his first, and even managed to move into IT and get his Pilot's license, before Karlene finished in 1997.
We celebrated by buying our first home - a small unit in Mt Eden, Auckland.
It wasn't long before Reece was offered a job in Tampa, Florida and we were off to the United States again. While Reece worked, Karlene did a Certificate in Technical Communication at the University of South Florida. We stayed around eighteen months this time - until everything changed on September 11th, 2001.
Our third, and final, relocation to the United States was in 2004. The company we were both working for at the time wanted Reece to spend time in their office in Tallahassee, Florida. We both worked in that office for almost a year before Reece was required back in Auckland.
On our return we bought our second home, a small house in Mt Eden that was just the right size for the two of us. 2011 bought more change and a relocation to Sydney, Australia. Like many Kiwis, we've made the trip across the Tasman for work.
