We Keep this Love in a Photograph
It's hard to distill a love story into a single paragraph to consume. But if I had to describe our love story, it would be like this...
Ejha Siadari
Ejha is the oldest child in her family and has four siblings. She spent her early childhood until the age of six in a small rural area near Lake Toba, the world's largest crater lake and one of the deepest lakes globally, on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
Her family then relocated to a small city called Pematangsiantar for educational purposes. Ejha shares a deep bond with all of her siblings; to her, they are not just family but also her closest friends. During her upbringing, she cherished moments of adventure with her siblings, exploring nature, fishing in the nearby creeks, engaging in farming and harvesting activities managed by her parents, as well as building simple structures or crafting objects together, among other activities.
In 2013, she moved to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, on Java island, to attend university where she completed her bachelor's degree in Meteorology. Prior to 2021, Ejha had visited the United States a couple of times for work-related travel. In 2021, she moved to Seattle to pursue a higher degree and completed her master’s degree in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Washington in 2023. She works as a civil servant for the Indonesian government, where she is responsible for issuing marine-weather and climate forecasts for the entire region of Indonesia.
James Onnen
James was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and is adopted. He was raised in Kansas City, and has one sister, Becki! When growing up, he was engaged in the Boy Scouts of America, and worked at the lake front at Bartle scout camp for 3 summers. James went to college at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where he got a computer engineering degree at the Raikes School of Computer Science and Management. He worked at Microsoft for a year, and now works at Roblox as Software Engineer.
James learned how to program on Roblox when he was 12, and has been making games ever since. Besides working as a software engineer at Roblox, he's also running a game studio on Roblox, Studio Koi Koi. This Studio has over 1 billion place visits on Roblox, and supports 5 full time employees.
Besides making games, James enjoys hiking, ballroom dance, sailing, and more. He lives in Seattle now, and has lived there since 2020.
Our Family is Important
In the tender embrace of family, love's truest treasures are found.
Ejha is blessed with a happy big family. She has the loving and encouraging parents who always support Ejha in pursuing her dream and happiness. Alongside them, she is surrounded by four siblings who have shared countless laughs, tears, and moments of companionship, navigating life's twists and turns together as a tight-knit unit.
James was born in Taiwan, and adopted when 6 months old. His adopted family is from Kansas City, where he grew up. His birth family is from Taiwan. He has 1 sister, Becki, who is adopted from Korea. His adopted Dad passed away in 2021. He recently reconnected with his birth family in Taiwan this year, where he met is birth mom, birth grandma. James is blessed to be surrounded by loving and caring family members.
How We Met
It all started with a simple "hi" on a dating app. Like two stars meeting in the sky, they came together, starting a warm and glowing connection. A shy introverted girl and an outgoing extroverted guy had their first date over lunch. From there, they grew closer, getting to know each other better. When they had to be apart for a few weeks, they realized they had fallen deeply for each other.
Ejha never expected to find her love here. She moved to Redmond from Seattle in 2023 after finishing grad school. Sometimes, her mom joked that she came all the way from Indonesia to the states just to meet James. Well, God surely works in mysterious ways.
James, despite being outgoing, was nervous about asking someone out. Ejha was his first date and first girlfriend (wow!). He moved to Redmond for work in 2020, unknowingly setting the stage for their love story.
