Valentines day I have no doubt is a day that was created solely by card companies to swindle more money off of us. Lets be honest the roses, the chocolates the cheesy gifts they are all lovely and thoughtful but I don’t think whether or not you partake in Valentines makes you a good or bad partner.I do however think that one extra day to celebrate love surely cannot be a bad thing. With our lives getting increasingly more busy, and our minds more over stimulated it is good to take the time to step back and appreciate the smaller things in life and those around you that you love.
So today in spirit of this I wanted to share with you my story of love, one that isn’t full of glamour and roses and perfection. But one that is built on friendship, laughter, ups and downs.
6 years ago I was working in Sainsbury’s whilst studying an University, just a few hours over the weekend to help with the crushing cost of living in London as a student. Everyone was nice but one person really caught my eye. That person was Dan. He was shy and awkward but so sweet and thoughtful. The first time he ever came to talk to me he handed me a bag of what I thought was departmental waste (see I told you it wasn’t glam) and I thought he was making me do his work. I snapped that I wasn’t going to be doing his disposals for him and he went bright red before explaining that I had gotten the wrong end of the stick. Turns out the staff were given staff bags of food items to make a Cottage Pie as part of a food initiative to get people to cook and he actually went and got me one before they ran out. HOW SWEET RIGHT? From then on I couldn’t get him out of my mind, I worried that he thought I was such a bitch but to my surprise he still smiled at me every day. The next time he spoke to me he asked me out on a date. The rest of the story is pretty simple girl meets boy. boy asks girl out, girl invites him over to watch a DVD. The rest is history.
Dan and I have been inseparable for nearly 7 years now, we have lived together for five of those years in flat shares and alone in our own perfect little flat. We have been through the ups and the downs of financial/family/work issues just like everyone else. We have traveled the world together, supported each other through every shit situation that he been thrown at us and uplifted each other in the good. Dan is my biggest supporter always there to help with this blog, be that taking 5 million photos of me for a post or proudly sharing my successes with everyone he meets.
He is truly the better half of me.
He makes me laugh till it hurts, he makes me feel loved and special and he knows me inside and out, Our love story isn’t one of grandeur or romance but it is my version of the perfect fairy tale. On the 19th of December this year (on our five week travelling trip around South East Asia) Dan and I spent the day kayaking around the islands, finding secluded beaches, snorkeling seeing monkeys in the trees generally having the most perfect day. That evening Dan took me to watch the sunset on the beach. He walked me to the water edge, got on one knee and proposed to me. I am sure you can guess what my answer was. So Tomorrow is Valentines day and I’m not expecting flowers or chocolates or any presents. Just knowing that I have the silly, shy bearded boy of my dreams is the biggest gift I could ever receive.