Photo: Hawthorne Creative
Jaycee-Leigh and Joel met in August of 2017 through mutual friends. After talking for a while, Joel asked Jaycee-Leigh on a date, they went to Nandos for dinner then for Gelato afterwards for dessert. I asked them both what was their first impression of each other. Jaycee-Leigh said she thought Joel’s voice was too high pitched and that he was very quiet and shy. Joel said he thought Jaycee-Leigh looked good, he thought she was really nice and easy to talk to. They went on two more dates then agreed they didn’t like each other.
Shortly after Jaycee-Leigh went on a trip to Cairns, but they kept in touch, talking regularly but still in agreement that they click better as friends. When Jaycee-Leigh came back from Cairns the two still hung out for a further 3 months as friends. Joel would regularly come to visit with Jaycee-Leigh.
Joel used to come over a lot to Jaycee-Leigh’s house, so much so that her dad said he always seems to put in a lot of effort to come and see you. After this, the two decided to give it a go.
Jaycee-Leigh and Joel enjoy going on picnics. On October 31, 2021, for Halloween (one of Jaycee-Leighs favourite events), Joel arranged to take Jaycee-Leigh for a picnic at Kangaroo Point. Jaycee-Leigh thought they were meeting her parents for dinner but what she didn’t know was that Joel was planning to propose. Joel had previously asked Jaycee-Leigh’s dad for permission for which he gave his blessing saying, “Yes, but she is a lot of work.” With help from Charmaine, Bianca and others the plan was put into action. With Simons help, Joel had arranged for a ring to be made for Jaycee-Leigh. The picnic was setup with pumpkins carved out to say, “will you marry me?”
When they arrived at the park Joel said let’s go over to your sister to find out where we are meeting your parents. Jaycee-Leigh walked past the picnic initially. When she turned back around Joel was on his knee ready to ask the question. Through tears of joy Jaycee-Leigh said yes. After their picnic they went to meet Jaycee-Leigh’s family. She wasted no time telling them she was engaged to which they replied, “We know, we watched the whole thing from afar.”
I asked if the two had any funny stories and when they started dating, Jaycee-Leigh told me that Joel hates shopping especially at Christmas and recalls a time where Jaycee-Leigh, Bianca and Joel were looking at Baubles when in frustration at how long it was taking Joel threw down the baubles in a tantrum, they flew everywhere and walked off. Bianca’s partner Nathan was disappointed that he missed out on the drama… again.
I asked what plans they had for the future, and they said travelling is a priority, though not to go camping it would seem as Jaycee-Leigh hates camping as glamping in a nice hotel is more her thing. They had planned to go to Las Vegas for Bianca’s wedding, but Covid ruined that. Jaycee-Leigh loves to travel and has done a lot of travel before meeting Joel. She would love to take him to some of those places so they can share those experiences together especially to the UK to meet more of Jaycee-Leighs family who live there. She would really love for him to meet her nan.
We touched briefly on the topic of children; Jaycee-Leigh says she has always been a bit iffy on children as they scare her but then said they will probably have one.
Joel has recently completed his apprenticeship and is now a qualified carpenter. Jaycee-Leigh has completed her law degree and some day she hopes to have her own law firm which Joel is expected to build. They also plan to build a house together, which I am guessing Joel also has to build?
As I said, theirs is a beautiful story and I am sure they will make many happy memories together.
