Our Love Story - Anita and Stephen

When Anita was dragged along to a new gym by one of her friends, she certainly wasn’t expecting to meet the man who would become her husband and father of her little girl Eliyang.

But sure enough, she did, and here she tells Her Territory all about her love story.

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Steve and I met at his gym that he owned at the time, FitAZ Darwin. I was initially dragged along by a friend to attend a session. From memory I enjoyed it but I was already taking sessions at another gym, so it was just one off for me.

Fate would have it, I kept bumping into Steve and he kept asking when was I coming back?  A friendship developed from then onwards. I was relatively new in the fitness industry so Steve took me under his wing and taught me his style of training, he also coached me to my first body building competition.

Our relationship didn’t really blossom until well after that bodybuilding comp, I suppose we just spent so much time together. We loved training together and pushing one another, it all just happened quite naturally. I became a permanent fixture at FitAZ and loved helping Steve with classes … Steve actually proposed to me at FitAZ with all our members cheering him on. It was a really special moment that we got to share with our members.

 To be honest I was 35 at the time he proposed, I actually thought the idea of getting married and having kids was over for me (crazy I know). Steve came with two beautiful daughters. I feel very lucky that they were so accepting of our relationship, and we married in front of our close family and friends in Darwin. Followed by an amazing honeymoon in Hawaii.

After a few years trying to conceive we welcomed our IVF Baby Eliyang into the world, she is our little miracle and this definitely bought us all closer as a family.

Steve and I have been together for about 11 years, in that time there have been highs and lows of life, I think the most outstanding quality of our relationship has been that we are a team. We have worked together and supported one another through career changes, through infertility and IVF, and now raising our two-year-old. Its been quite a ride and I wouldn’t change a thing.

If I had any advice on looking for love, be open to love. It may not come in the shape or form that you imagined, but be open to meeting new people and saying yes to new experiences.

The right one might be right under you nose!

Beautiful little IVF baby Eliyang