me and you {october}

Our October has been kind of boring,

that kind of boring where you never seem to get a second off,

but you feel like there's been nothing fun to show for it.

The Mr has been away quite a bit with work,

I've been trying my best to be a better housewife

and actually do more stuff around the house.

And so our days have been boring,

normal, quiet, simple.

And we actually really needed this change of pace,

for things to slow down just a touch,

so that we could get back to the simple things we love;

like sharing snacks and watching a film,

or taking to bed to watch Netflix in our jim jams.

Just spending our evenings together.

We reconnect in those moments.

We need those moments,

after busy days at work,

or crazy days with the children,

those moments are what keep us sane.

When we first got together we used to watch movies on Rich's computer all the time,

we'd snuggle on his bed, 

share a Vienetta (yes we'd eat half each, but we were young and our metabolisms were faster back then)

and watch all sort of random films his housemates had downloaded (not entirely legally) off of the web.

They were good times,

and its been nice to get a bit of that back,

even if I do tend to fall asleep a lot earlier these days.

10

me and you {september}

Him and me,

we're different.

So so different.

"I really don't understand the way you think sometimes" different.

He's a neat freak, I'm untidy.

I always look on the bright side, he's a negative nelly.

He's logical and a realist, I'm creative and a dreamer.

We really are sunshine and rain different.

But different works for us.

We see things differently sometimes,

but we want the same things in life.

And the best things happen

when we are side by side.

8

me and you {august}

Over our years together,

we've had a lot of stand out days,

those amazing, take-your-breath-away days,

when you can't believe how lucky your are.

And it's been a privilege to share those days with this man;

my best friend, my partner in life.

Of course there have been plenty of special but normal 'every days' in between too,

and the not so amazing ones.

But somewhere in the hubbub of life,

every once in a while,

we take time to stop 

and look at just how lucky we got.

To thank our lucky stars,

for all the 'one days' that have been

and all the 'one days' we are yet to see,

and for having each other to share the 'one days' with.

18

mr and mrs

We've been a Mr and Mrs for five years now,

five years full of fun and laughter,

five years of ups and downs,

five years of bickering and annoying one another,

five years of adventures.

11

a walk down memory lane

Scarborough in North Yorkshire holds a really special place in our hearts.

It was while we were both studying there,

that my husband and I met and fell in love.

It was the backdrop to the beginning of our story.

It was the very beginning of our family.

16

me and you {june}

Relationships change over time
from the initial butterflies and romance,
to a more comfortable and safe thing
where you can happily exist alongside one another.
But I think the foundation of our relationship,
the thing that has remained throughout,
is that we are best friends.

We spent a large proportion of the earlier times in our relationship
sustaining our bond with phone calls alone,
with weekend visits for a couple of days as and when we could afford it.
During that time we had to get really good at talking to one another,
and as a result we really cherished the time we got to be together.

Now that those days seem like a long time ago,
its really easy to forget how much those long distance days made us grow as people
and realise that we'd found the right person in each other.
We are often guilty of not properly talking for days on end now,
not asking each other the tough questions,
the simple questions,
or worse not listening to the other's answer
and not fully enjoying the little moments in our shared lives.

But a few weeks back I had a big birthday,
and my husband went all out;
planning a surprise weekend for the two of us in London.
And it was just the kind of reconnection we needed.

I was actually a little worried
that we wouldn't know how to spend such a long time
with only each other for company
and no children to talk to and entertain.
It's been such a long time since it was just us.
What did we used to talk about?

And I honestly couldn't tell you what we talked about for those two days in London...

...But we talked a lot.

The entire time practically
(except when we went to see a west end show
- I kind of think they frown on that kind of thing)
we just talked about everything and nothing.
About the children of course,
but also about what we love,
what we feel passionately about,
we watched the world go by,
people watching
and laughing at the big characters that London is always full of.

And while I had been sure I would be desperate to get back and see the children
I actually didn't want that time with just the two of us to end.
It was good for us to remember all those things we love to do together,
to just be husband and wife for a bit,
and not Daddy and Mummy.
And to remember that investing time in us matters,
because while the children are the centre of our world,
we are the centre of our family,
and we are what will be left
when the babies fly the nest.
And we want to have set a good example for our children to follow.

18

me and you {may}

My husband is my best friend.
First and foremost, his most important job is obviously that of 'daddy',
and he really is a great husband,
who manages to put up with me after all these years
(which is no mean feat I tell you)
but most importantly for me,
he is the number one person who I want to talk to,
my sounding board and my support.
He keeps me tethered to the ground when I'm being a bit flighty,
he picks me up when I'm feeling a bit low,
and he's always the person I want to share my stories with.

Some days I think I'd quite like him to take a long walk off a short pier,
but most of the time I genuinely don't know where I'd be without him.
He's my team mate
and my best friend,
and there is no one else that I'd rather be sharing this journey with.

20

me and you {april}

Life isn't perfect.

Relationships aren't perfect.

Marriage isn't perfect.

But that's the way they are supposed to be.

And so in keeping with perfect imperfections

we have a far from perfect photo for this month.

It could have been such a cute one too,

if my camera remote wasn't misbehaving,

and if we weren't on a serious time limit,

as two small children were running away behind us at great speed.

But do you know what?

I really like it,

because we had fun.

And that is exactly why I wanted to do Me and You

and make an effort to take a monthly photo of us,

to give us silly, simple opportunities to do something together.

Because doing silly, simple things together is what makes us, us.

We don't have far fetched dreams,

we have real ones.

About our own happy ever afters,

and making beautiful memories.

Not far fetched,

but not to be knocked either.

Because I'm pretty sure that when we are old and grey

(or should that be greyer Mr R)

we'll look back at these photos

and know what we had the best dreams all along,

and that we had lots of fun making them come true.

15

me and you {march}

Nobody ever tells you that marriage will be easy,

people who have been married for the longest of times,

will tell you that it's all about working things through together,

about making compromises,

about knowing when to admit defeat,

and putting the other person's feelings first a lot of the time.

But I think we all,

somewhat naively,

think that our own love stories

will be plain sailing on still waters,

like the happy ever after from a movie.

Well let me tell you...

we do not have that marriage.

We argue.

We irritate one another.

We pick fights with one another.

We take each other for granted.

We have days when we just wish the other would leave us the hell alone.

But that's just it,

we have a marriage.

And those things are as much a part of marriage,

as the romance and the kisses and the "I love you's".

Ultimately for us

I think it comes down to one important word:

choice.

Ten years ago this month

we chose one another.

We didn't exactly know what we were choosing at the time,

but we still made that choice,

to choose the other person.

And that word choice, is always the first one to pop into my brain

on the days when I'm mad as a crazy thing at that man I chose to marry.

I chose him,

he chose me,

we chose this life together.

And through thick or thin,

I still choose him

and the life that we've made together.

At our wedding a sign (which I painstakingly made) read

"Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale."

It was sort of the tag line of our wedding day.

And of all the many beautiful words that we heard and said and sung on that day,

it's the quote which has stayed with me the most.

Because as corny as it may sound,

that is our fairy tale;

the ordinary life.

We chose it,

and we wouldn't have it any other way.

32

something started...

Ten years ago something started...

the beginning of an adventure.

Of course if someone had told me ten years ago

just what was beginning

I'd never have believed them.

And I could never have imagined back then

how those tiny, tentative and exciting steps at the start of a journey

would bring so much happiness into my life.

Ten years has seen someone in my life

change from "Fit Rich"

(the nickname my uni friends had given him)

who was a guy we used to drink with when we were out clubbing,

into my boyfriend,

into my house mate,

into my fiancé,

into my husband

and then into a daddy

to our beautiful babies.

There is no one else I'd rather be sharing the journey with,

and I'm grateful everyday

that ten years ago we started that adventure together.

17

me and you {february}

When a relationship is new

its all about romance and butterflies,

about that passionate love

and wanting to be together all the time.

You are confidants, you are lovers,

you are constantly holding hands, constantly in contact with the other.

It's like the world revolves around the two of you,

and it's amazing,

and it's a bit like living in a real life fairy tale.

But as you grow together,

and you add to your unit of two and become a family,

the roles change.

And just the other day we were talking about the fact

that a lot of the time we are house mates,

the majority of the time we're team mates,

most of the time we're best friends,

and very occasionally, we're still the lovers we've always been.

And while the roles may be different,

and our world may turn with a different twosome at it's centre these days,

we still know that together we're better at all those roles.

Together we can do more, be more, love more, be happier.

And even with our grown up lives,

and our grown up responsibilities,

when we are together we still feel like those young students

having a whirlwind romance,

that we never planned would last the year,

but that's somehow still standing after all this time.

19

me and you {january}

I think that what makes a relationship work

is different for every relationship.

But for me, I think ours is tied up in those three lines.

We are different,

so so very different in so many ways.

But something about those differences can bring out the best in the other.

At times it brings out the worst too of course,

but mostly it opens our eyes to another way of seeing things,

our differences remind us to look at things a different way.

And ultimately, together we can forget the world,

because we are each other's world,

and we've created our perfect world around us; our family.

50

new dreams

It's a funny thing

when all your dreams come true

and you find yourself

quite literally,

living the dream.

23

an example

Having your first baby can be tough on your relationship.

You're both tired, consumed by love for this little person you made,

and you are both learning new jobs; mummy and daddy.

And when you have two children it's tougher still,

because divide and conquer wins the day,

so it often seems like one or other of you is always wrangling one or both children, 

and the fact that neither of you seems to get a seconds break throughout the day,

means that you all into a crumpled, exhausted heap on the sofa 

when your little people are finally in bed.

32

a journey of valentines

It was five years ago today

that my best friend asked me a very important question.

I gave him a very momentous answer.
We had started our journey together years before,
but we were now starting a new and amazing journey.

That boyfriend is now my husband,

he is now my children's daddy.
That journey took us on a road to becoming a family.

And that handsome man is still my best friend.

15

a marriage {see it snap it love it}

A lot of images could be used to signify marriage.

A bride and groom.

Wedding rings.

A marriage certificate even.

But for me,

the first thing I think of when I think of marriage

is holding hands.

Being married means that there is always someone there to hold your hand,

through thick and thin

and all those other things we vowed to stick together through.

Whatever life brings

we will be there

holding hands.

14

an interview with the mr

10

i do...

It's been 1096 days since we said "I do".

It's been 1096 days of being Mr and Mrs.

It's been 1096 days of being one family.

It's been 1096 days of meaning and living those vows.

And I'd say them all over again tomorrow,

I'll show you that "I do" every single day.

I love you.

I chose you.

I choose you.

I do . . .

. . . this is our happily ever after.

22

a beautiful little story

xxx

107

my bestest friend

To the wonderful man 

who looks after me,

who laughs with me,

who shares my joys,

who holds my hand,

who has given me many happy years

as his girlfriend,

then his fiancée

and then his wife,

who has given me the most beautiful gift;

a family,

who gives the best hugs in the whole world,

who proposed to me four years ago today,

and who still makes my heart go flutter when he smiles.

Thank-you.

I love you with all my heart.

x x x

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