A Little About Me...

Belinda Bartholomew-Walsh, AKA Belinda Guerra.

Probably not nearly as interesting as I think I am, but at least if no one else wants to read anything on here I’ll have something to read to my daughter as a bedtime story when I’ve worn out all the pages of her books.

Born in Canberra (hence why I can be a proud Queenslander by CHOICE…like there is any other choice to make). 

Growing up in regional NSW in Griffith, before being shipped off to boarding school at St.Vincents in Potts Point, Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.

I finished up school and attended Sydney University, where I never actually got around to finishing my degree in Animal Veterinary Bioscience as I got sucked into the exciting world of hospitality, somewhere around here I met the young man who was to become my bestie and soon my husband. 

HOW DID AIDAN & I MEET?

“Apparently” (I don’t actually recall majority of the events) we met at White Revolver in Bondi…ahh the Thursday morning hangovers!

In Aidan’s words i was kind of a “b*tch” as it was my local Wednesday night drinking hole and I managed to get him and a few of his mates to skip the que and avoid an entrance fee. Upon entry I apparently gave zero to no attention to him and carried on with my epic dance moves and showing everyone exactly how many wet pussies I could shot in one go!

We somehow connected after this via Facebook and actually ended up going on a date maybe a year or two after this, a date, if you could even call it that. It was more of two people who maybe had NOTHING better to do on a Thursday night scraped the barrel and went to a pub, drank beer, made small talk, and when dropping me home i asked if he wanted to come inside and see my brothers dog (This was NOT a metaphor for anything else) I literally opened the door and my brothers 99kg Saint Bernard came boundig out the front door, jumping and slobbering all over him. Little did I know, Aidan is NOT a dog person. I actually think we may have shaken hands at the end and wished each other goodnight and probably a good life!

Months passed, and due to my roster I had a lot of day’s free and Aidan’s training schedule we ended up spending ALOT of time together down at Bondi, it was here we ended up forming the most incredible friendship. We spent mornings having breakfast, afternoon’s swimming, and some evening’s Aidan would come and visit me at the bar and I would serve him unlimited Lemon Lime and Bitters, we would discuss everything, including our dating lives! 

This went on for a few years, we even used to sleep in the same bed on nights and have a little cuddle if we had a big night, or if we were just hanging out but we NEVER even so much as kissed. At this stage I think it’s safe to say we were best friends.

An amazing opportunity came up for me, and a friend of mine who was the marketing manager for a GIANT venue opening in Dubai approached me to come on as their bar manager for the cocktail lounge…it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, flights, a great salary, and even included accommodation in a five star resort!

Aidan and I found it really difficult to accept we were not going to hangout every second day. Aidan has admitted he found this really hard to say goodbye, he once wrote to me when I was over there “I feel homesick even though I am sitting at home” this is something that I’ll always remember. 

Work in Dubai didn’t quite go as planned, the construction of the venue was WAY behind schedule…which meant I had been prematurely flown over there so I spent my days and nights doing some SUPER cool stuff, seeing all the craziness that there is to see in Dubai, the sheer size of it all and the amazing nightlight which I took full advantage of! Although it was such a thrill….it wasn’t home, and after 4 months I REALLY started to miss home.

One night during a skype conversation with Aidan and talking about how much I longed to be back in Sydney by the beach, he told me he’d shout me flights home to surprise everyone. So he booked my return tickets, and I arrived bright and early at 6am SO excited to see everyone, especially Aidan at the airport. BUT when I disembarked there was no Aidan waiting for me with flowers or balloons, there was NO AIDAN! Aidan had moved house whilst I was away so I couldn’t jump in a taxi because I didn’t even know his new address, so after waiting 2-3 hours and about 24 missed calls I called my best friend who was still sound asleep and answered her phone with “IS THIS A DRILL? I AM COMING” long story short, in her excited panic she crashed her car on the way to the airport and ended up writing off the car, but she made it! 

We drove to Aidan’s new house and walking in he was only just waking up, and needless to say he felt BAD, really BAD! We spent a week together this time, I was staying with him, in his room, in his bed but still as friends, best friends. 

Sitting at a friends house Aidan got a phone call every NRL player dreams about…he got the call up for the Queensland State of Origin team!

I was SO excited for him, but when he said it meant he left the next morning for 10 days I burst into tears, not happy tears, because I wasn’t going to get to see him in my short stay here. That night we went home, and something was different…I think it had all finally sunk in. We couldn’t bear to live without each other.

We kissed. The biggest build up to a first kiss in the history of first kisses! Maybe 4 years in the making? And WOW was it worth it! My whole body was shaking with nerves and never in a million years did I think he would be such a good kisser. The chemistry was insane! (it was either going to be insane, or semi disgusting like kissing your brother or something.) I was still in shock, and Aidan gave me a multiple choice selection:

A) Let’s pretend it didn’t happen

B) Let’s admit we kissed and forget about it or

C) Let’s just dive in and go for it 100%

I was confused, was I going to go back to Dubai in a long distance relationship? Should we just stay friends, and not risk losing each other over it becoming romantically complicated? Aidan flew to Queensland in the morning and I flew out to my parents farm in Narrandera and we decided to think about it.

Aidan called me and told me he booked me flights to Brisbane for the game because I had to be there. After a few day’s with my parents and talking to my mum about it I flew to Brisbane and we both knew straight away we had to be together, properly.

I never got back on my return flight to Dubai. I left all my stuff over there as it was, and told my roommates to keep whatever they wanted and moved in. Aidan never got his money back from his flights but I will never let him forget about when he forgot me at the airport.