Washougal residents vie to become America’s Favorite Couple

A chance encounter on a walkie-talkie frequency brought Adam and Julianne Heil together in 1999. Their conversations soon moved from the airwaves to emails, chat messages and, eventually, in-person visits as their friendship blossomed into romance and marriage.

More than two decades later, the couple are sharing the remarkable story of how one random radio frequency changed both of their lives. The Washougal residents are competing in America’s Favorite Couple, a nationwide online contest that raises money for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and Oceana, an international advocacy organization dedicated to ocean conservation.

The Heils advanced through the first four rounds of voting and moved into the quarterfinals Friday.

“When we make new friends, when we meet new people … if we get around to ‘How did you guys meet?,’ we love to tell our story,” Adam said. “I mean, how many times can you think that someone has met someone else over a walkie-talkie when they don’t even live in the same state?”

The winning couple will receive $20,000, have their love story featured in a Variety magazine advertorial and enjoy a dinner date in the Hollywood Hills with actor Jeff Goldblum and his wife, Emilie Goldblum.

“Twenty-thousand dollars would be life-changing for our family,” the Heils wrote on their contest profile. “We’d catch up on bills, build a small emergency fund, and take a big step toward our dream of relocating to New Hampshire. Most importantly, it would buy something money can’t usually buy — a little breathing room and the chance to focus on building our future instead of just trying to stay afloat.”

Random signal

Julianne ordered a pair of walkie-talkies with her employee discount at Egghead.com before traveling from Washougal to Southern California to visit her extended family in December 1999. On Christmas Day, while experimenting with the radios, she accidentally connected with Adam, who was using his own walkie-talkie, which his father purchased to stay in touch with family members on skiing trips.

“We were supposed to leave at 9 a.m., and we were late leaving,” Julianne said. “Before we left, the mailman pulled up with my walkie-talkies. I turned one on and said, ‘Hey, is anybody out there?’ and then all of a sudden, I hear, ‘Hey, I’m here,’ and it was Adam.”

The two teenagers switched between channels to avoid Julianne’s younger cousins and talked for hours until the walkie-talkies’ batteries died, unaware they were only a few blocks apart.

“Christmas mornings were spent at my house and the afternoons and evenings at my aunt’s house, which happens to be a block and a half away from where Julianne was,” Adam said. “And apparently, for years, we had been spending Christmas a block and a half away from each other without even knowing it.”

Adam and Julianne continued to communicate through walkie-talkies, then moved on to other forms of communication, including letters, email and MSN Messenger. They stayed on the phone for hours, sharing interests and experiences.

They met in person for the first time on New Year’s Eve in 2001 during another one of Julianne’s family trips to Southern California. Adam went to Julianne’s grandmother’s house, where a large family gathering was being held, and fit in well, making a good impression on Julianne’s family.

“He came to my grandmother’s house. … My two aunts, an uncle, six cousins, my mom who had a broken wrist and pneumonia at the time (were there) … and he just really fit in,” Julianne said. “It was like he’d been part of the family forever.”

Adam and Julianne continued to communicate and eventually decided to meet again at her cousin’s wedding in 2003. They then had their first date, which included pizza, wine and viewing an Eddie Izzard comedy show.

“We had hung out for two weeks while I was down there for my cousin’s wedding, and I decided that I wanted to stay,” Julianne said. “I wanted to see where this went.”

Adam proposed to Julianne, who had moved to Southern California, in October 2003. In early 2004, on the very night Julianne was supposed to move back to Washington alone, Adam made a spur-of-the-moment decision to pack up and go with her. The couple settled in Washougal and were married in April 2004.

“We’ve had lots of ups and downs, but we communicate very well,” Julianne said. “Sometimes we don’t communicate quietly, but it’s communication nonetheless. We’re like two kids still, and we have fun, and we’re just like best friends.”

Stronger, more resilient

Adam and Julianne, who have two children, have gone through some tough times as well. They were both working in property management — Julianne as a manager and Adam as her assistant — when a new portfolio manager “decided to clear house,” leaving both unemployed in August 2025. Julianne found a new job in March; Adam remained out of work until June.

During the six-month period when they were both out of work, they lived on savings and credit cards and reassured each other that they would get through their struggles. They say their unemployment experience made them stronger and more resilient as a couple.

“We had been through challenges before, but this was definitely the hardest, the most stressful,” Adam said. “But we leaned on each other. If anything, it probably has made us stronger because we … had to be there for each other.”

Adam and Julianne hope to win the America’s Favorite Couple contest not only to help them financially but to share their unique story, showing others how seemingly insignificant moments can lead to significant changes.

“Neither one of us thought that when we started talking over the walkie-talkies that we would be together 26 years later,” Julianne said.

To this day, the walkie-talkies remain a treasured keepsake in the Heil household, a cherished reminder of the chance encounter that began their fairy tale-like love story. For one of their anniversaries, Julianne took a photo of the couple and captioned it, “Once upon a time …”

“Even the smallest moments can lead to the biggest, best life changes,” she said.