I loved living in Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles's stunning South Bay.

These beach towns were a piece of paradise: just far enough from the core of LA to get away from the noise and stress (and pollution?), which seemed to fly out of my car when I hit the Pacific Coast Highway and rolled down the windows on Friday afternoons (but not before then - that was usually a frustrating hour of traffic). I began my California adventure when I moved to Hermosa Beach in 2010, and I quickly met some amazing friends who I could always count on to flock to the beach for endless games of volleyball and bar hopping the night away. Things were great! Except that my dating life was abysmal. Hermosa Beach was like a thicketed jungle for heterosexuals, but a hopeless desert for the gays. I tried online dating, which introduced me to lots of interesting people, but nary a spark. So after two years of stagnancy, I started to blame my inoperative dating life on LA and threatened to move to San Francisco. Seeking a middle ground, I decided to "temporarily" move to West Hollywood (the gayborhood of Los Angeles, affectionately known as "WeHo") for a few months. Excited for a change, but skeptical about LA, I insisted on signing a month-to-month lease rather than the standard 1-year. I needed an escape plan in case I didn't like the gayborhood. And so I moved into the only place I found with a month-to-month lease, a tiny shoebox of an apartment with the quirky address of 933 3/4 Sweetzer Avenue in West Hollywood.

So now that I had new digs with walking access to a plethora of gay bars, all I needed were some friends to join me. My fellow JVC (Jesuit Volunteer Corps) alumni Jack and Juliette lived in West Hollywood too, and they really wanted to introduce me to Steve, the captain of their kickball team. This Steve guy, apparently, was roommates with Paul-Michael, another JVC alumni. So the very first Friday night after my big move, Juliette, Jack and I walked to meet Paul-Michael, Steve, and some of their friends at a bar called Mickeys. I thought that I was tapping into a network of new friends who would help me wade the waters of WeHo. Little did I know that I would be instantly drawn to Steven Belnavis. When I took a trip to San Diego the next weekend with hometown friends Jessie and Andy, all I wanted to do was get us back up to LA as fast as possible so that we could meet up with Steven. Our relationship quickly developed from there as we reveled in shared passions like hiking, camping, cooking, eating, traveling, and spending time with friends and family. After 11 payments of that month-to-month lease, I left my WeHo shoebox and Steven and I moved in together in Culver City.

Because we have moved around so much, we both find it difficult to respond to the "Where are you from? Where's your home?" questions. For my part, I see Steven as my home. And since that life-changing Friday night (September 7, 2012) at Mickeys in West Hollywood, not one day has passed when I have not had him on my mind.

I had been enjoying my first year in Los Angeles before I moved in with my college buddy, Paul-Michael, just outside of Venice. He was down for anything and we would often go out to West Hollywood with friends we made. I was new to having gay friends, but it was going well, so this one night I assumed I would be making another one. He must have been a good person if he knew Paul-Michael and Jack and Juliette. Soon after we all arrived to the bar, I could tell this Sean guy was a lot of fun and I knew we would hit it off and become good friends. But as I mentioned, I was new to having gay friends so when one of the guys I was with 'claimed' Sean I didn't think much further of it. I was unsure how that was a thing, but I nonetheless backed off.

Later on, Sean made it clear he was not interested in this third party and he ran off with someone else. It was then, I would allow the feelings to set in. We were incredibly compatible, had great conversations, and after a couple of weeks we were inseparable. I had never met someone so wonderful. I could bring him anywhere and knew he could hang as an extension of myself. I mean come on he's a bundle of magnificent energy, how could you not enjoy his presence. It was as if our souls attached and needed the other to sustain ourselves. Together we became StevenandSean(.com). 

I went out one night to make a new friend and here we are nearly 5 years later about to become a family.