Tag Archives: relationship

Long Distance to Close Quarters

They say time flies when you’re having fun. Well I’m here to tell you that it frickin’ rockets when you’re in love.

Two years ago today I wrote a super personal post, telling the internet about this guy that I had been on two dates with that was flying out to New Zealand for at least 4 months, and that we had taken a fairly big leap of faith in committing to try and make it work. That was the day that I became Matthew’s girlfriend.

Two years later, we have been living together for almost a year, and in only a week’s time we’ll officially be moving in to our own home after a couple of stressful months.

I’m in no way the perfect girlfriend. I can be stubborn, I get hangry and I steal the covers sometimes, but I want to be better because I’ve never been happier. I’ve found the person who shares in my excitement of going to Home Bargains, who reminds me at 9 o’clock every evening that Love Island is on if I’ve been distracted by something, and patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) takes 400 photos of the same outfit until I’m totally happy with them.

We didn’t get to where we are today on the same normal path that most relationships take, but I wouldn’t change it for the world, and our adventure is still only just beginning. I don’t believe that anything in life is easy, but it’s a whole lot easier when you’ve got the right person standing there with you, no matter what.

1 Comment

Welcome to Our Loft

Last month I made the big announcement that Matthew and I were finally moving in together, and that we’d be turning the loft into my family home into our own little space. Well I have no idea where the last month has gone, but I’m so happy with our loft and just couldn’t wait to share it with everyone!

The loft was converted into a room for me and my sister to use when we were teenagers, but over the last few years became somewhat overlooked and needed a good old clear out and a little bit of TLC. Matthew and I spent a good few days sorting out all the accumulated rubbish, donating furniture to charity shops and taking anything that couldn’t be salvaged to the tip, and then started the mammoth job of repainting, which we still haven’t actually finished completely, but our main priority was making the room ready for us to move in, and we can patch up the paint over the coming weeks.

When you come up the stairs, first thing on the right is the window bay, which Matthew has turned into his desk area, but I also have my sewing machine set up as well as a few bits and pieces for my businesses, but I’m not much of a desk person so its really his space.

We used the sofa as a sort-of room divider, which created a bit of storage space. I’m still keeping my clothes and bits in my bedroom, so again this space is really for Matthew’s clothes – hence the little clothes rail! – but its also created a nice little display space for some of our photos and my Lego Disney castle.

While the sideboard, cupboards and TV stand were new from IKEA, we managed to save on buying a new bed and sofa as Matthew already had those so he just brought them down from Manchester, along with his TV and bedside tables.

Our bed area is probably my favourite part of the whole room. At the end of the bed we have a huge beanbag, adding to the seating around the TV, and I love that it also matched the colour scheme of our bedding – in fact the whole room is generally themed yellow, blue and grey, or Donald Duck style, as I like to call it. Our amazing bedside lamps are also IKEA, and they create so much light alone that we rarely have the main lights on in the evening.

Moving into the loft also gave us the opportunity to set up the Nanoleaf Aurora that I got Matthew for our anniversary earlier this year, and I just love it!

I’m so happy with our little space, and I’m so happy that we’re finally passed the long distance part of our relationship, and the future is looking exciting!

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
6 Comments

Moving In

Despite talking yesterday about Matthew and my plans to move out, today’s post is pretty much the opposite – let me give you some backstory.

Following on from all the long distance, back in July Matthew finally completed his pilot training, and just over a week ago was offered a position to start with easyJet. Its safe to say we’re both thrilled; I’m so proud of all the hard work he put into his training and its such a relief that its all paid off and he’s got a job lined up. The catch? He probably won’t be starting the job until February/March, and until he starts, we don’t know where he’ll be based, aka where we’ll be moving to.

The thing is, after over a year of him being here, there and everywhere, and me being stuck firmly in Bournemouth, we’re kinda done with the whole being apart thing, so we’re moving in together. Well, he’s moving to Bournemouth, and I’m upgrading from my bedroom to the loft in my parent’s house, turning it into our own sorta studio apartment.

Its going to be a bit of a working progress – while our loft has already been converted into a habitable room, its since become a bit of a dumping ground, and there’s some work for us to do before we can officially move into it. We’ve spent the weekend clearing out some of the accumulated junk – deciding what’s being donated to charity or sold and then we still have some old furniture that’s destined for the tip – then we’ve started the process of cleaning and repainting to freshen the place back up so we can start to move our furniture in and make it our own.

So in the time between now and whenever Matthew starts with easyJet, we’ll both be Bournemouth based. He’s got a job at the same place that I work so that in the meantime we can both get saving for when we do eventually fly the nest, and of course we’ll get our first taste of what living together permanently will actually be like – the DIY is already proving a good test of our relationship strength, haha!

Wish us luck!

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
1 Comment

One Year

One year ago today, I posted what, at the time, was the most personal blog post I’d ever written. I put all my feelings about a boy into words, and sent it out for the world to see, which I had to do because the boy in question was on quite literally the other side of the world.

Its safe to say our relationship didn’t start off in the traditional way. He asked me to be his girlfriend via Whatsapp, and our third date was almost 3 months after the 2nd, and involved me flying out to New Zealand for a week to be with him. With the exception of that week, we spent the first 7 and a half months of our relationship over 11,000 miles apart, and had to battle with a 11-13 hour time difference.

Its felt as though the universe has been against us, but here we are, one year later, and the universe can keep throwing things at us because we’re going to be together for many more years to come. Matthew is so close to the end of his training, and it won’t be long until he’s in a job and we can really start to move forward with our life; a life where we don’t have to worry about the distance between us anymore.

I’m gonna get real with you guys for just a second.

I’d never put much thought into a perfect relationship, but I always knew that I just wanted to be happy, and thought that I would find it. After I ended my previous relationship, and before Matthew came into my life, I genuinely started to lose faith. I couldn’t understand why I could never get it right. Why, despite always striving to be a good person, happiness never seemed to last. Why, when I looked back, no relationship ever seemed quite right. I can’t tell you just how heartbreaking it felt to believe, even for a moment, that maybe I would never find happiness. Now I know why nothing felt right, and that is because I’ve found it now. I’ve found the guy that I can be 100% myself with, without secrets or censorship.

I really hate to sound cheesy or fake, but if any of those feelings sound familiar to you, I urge you not to give up hope. I can’t express how much my life has changed with this boy in it, and I want so many more happy years.

Happy anniversary, Matthew. I love you xxx

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
2 Comments

A Tinderella Story

One year, and a few days ago, this one swiped his way into my life, and changed it forever.

I’ll be totally honest, I was very late to the Tinder game, and when I finally did get it, I don’t think I actually had any intentions of taking it at all seriously. I guess I was just curious to see what the hype was all about, and it quickly became clear that I was probably not the target demographic, as I found myself just endlessly swiping left passed stupid profile after stupid profile. Maybe there just weren’t any decent guys left in Bournemouth?

I dabbled on and off over the course of a few months, having the occasional conversation here and there, but nothing ever came of anything, and it never bothered me because it all felt so forced.

On May 23rd, I came across a profile where the bio read ‘Looking for someone to help me reach the minimum order amount for delivery’. I mean, there were a few other things too but that’s what I remember laughing at. I swiped, we matched, and the next thing I knew, a gif-off began..

It took one evening for the conversation to move from Tinder to Whatsapp, and I guess the rest is history! I’ve been pretty open about our relationship on here; I try to write something on the 28th of each month, and although I’ve missed a month or two, next month will be a year of writing – our one year anniversary.

I’ve never been ashamed of the fact that we met on Tinder. What shame is there in finding the person you’re meant to be with? The fact is, there’s no shame in using any of these apps or websites. I found my prince charming, and we’re living happily ever after.

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
5 Comments

15 Facts About Us

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that I generally save the 28th of each month to write a little relationship post, and well would you look at the calendar..?

Matthew and I have now been together 9 months, and today I thought I’d share a few fun facts about us as a couple, y’know, in case you wanted to be nosey!

1. Our first date was to the Oceanarium, and lasted 12 hours

We ended up getting kicked out of the cafe we had spent the evening in when it closed at 11.30pm

2. We’re both stupidly indecisive

Deciding where to have dinner takes an age!

3. I sleep on the left side of the bed, and he sleeps on the right

And I’m a blanket thief

4. We both love a trip to Ikea

I think we’ve been twice in the last month

5. We’ve never seen each other drunk

8 months of long distance means we’ve never had the chance for that embarrassment just yet!

6. We love McNuggets

I mean, who doesn’t, but still..

7. We have a shared Pinterest board for planning our adventures

Its mainly full of cute Pomsky photos that I put on there

8. I’m a Hufflepuff and he’s Ravenclaw

If anyone was interested to know..

9. We regularly argue over how to pronounce some words

There’s a north/south divide that often leads to debates..

10. He does all the singing on car journeys

I just sit back and.. enjoy.. 😉

11. He also spends more time on his hair than I do

Owns more hair product than I do too

12. We still argue occasionally over who pays

Only cos we can both be as stubborn as each other

13. Every day I make him pinky promise not to tickle me

I am crazy ticklish and I will have a panic attack if someone tries..

14. We already have a future sofa picked out

Probably not the most normal thing for couples of our age, but we both agreed on the fact we really liked it!

15. He might not quite be at my level, but we both love Disney

And I think he’s even more excited than I am for our WDW trip in November!

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
Leave a comment

Our 2017 Adventure Bucket List

I’ve become so used to writing a relationship post on the 28th of each month, but as the long distance part of our story is finally coming to an end, I figured I’d write something a little different today. Well actually, we wrote it together..

Couple Bucket List

January is all about making plans for the coming year, so we’ve put together a little bucket list of things that Matthew and I will be hoping to do together this year, and it goes a little something like this:

  • A weekend in London – we’ve got a weekend in London booked for a couple of weeks, and it’ll be our first little staycation-type trip! We’re gonna be total tourists, see a show and go to..
  • WB Harry Potter Studios Tour – I bought tickets for us to go to the studios tour for Matthew’s birthday last month, so we’re tagging it onto the end of our London weekend
  • A trip to Disneyland Paris – gotta practice for our big trip at the end of the year!
  • Crabbing in Mudeford – Matthew’s never been crabbing before, and I can’t wait to introduce him to it
  • Go to the drive-in cinema – I’ve never been to a drive-in before, and there’s a proper one up in Manchester which we’re gonna hit
  • Fly somewhere with Matthew as the pilot – if that’s not the perk of being a pilot’s girlfriend, I don’t know what is..
  • Back to the Future marathon – apparently its not good enough that I’ve only seen the first one, ha!
  • Star Wars marathon – just cos..
  • The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings marathon – for me this is just a standard weekend, but Matthew’s never watched them with me and that’s a treat in itself 😉
  • Go to Shakeaway – its a Bournemouth thing..
  • Eat in at least 3 Rainforest Cafes – we’re gonna go while we’re in London, but we’ll also have a chance to do a few more while we’re in America later in the year – ONE DOWN!
  • Go to Walt Disney World – its all booked, and WE CAN’T WAIT!!!
  • Adventures in Manchester – because I’m a total southerner, I get a guided tour of Manchester from a proper local!

No doubt we’ll be constantly adding to this list in the coming months, but I think its definitely gonna be a great year of adventure!

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
2 Comments

Long Distance – The Last Leg

For those of you who have followed this story from the very beginning, I’m pleased to say that this will be the last long distance post I’ll have to write!

While its been a lot longer than we originally anticipated, Matthew will be home in less than a month! I’m not gonna lie, its a huge weight off my chest knowing when he’ll be back, and I’m so excited for that date to come around, but knowing how soon it is is making me super impatient!

Despite not being able to be together for Christmas, and missing his birthday next week, I’ve tried really hard to make sure that the two celebrations haven’t been forgotten, bombarding him with care packages: more Boomf goodies, as well as a box of Christmas goodies and a sneak peak at his birthday present – he’s not allowed to open that envelope yet though!

I, on the other hand, got my Christmas presents sent directly from the Disney Store – do I have the best boyfriend or what?

img_4493

Knowing that we’re coming to the end of this time apart is such a relief, and we’re already starting to plan all our little adventures for when he’s home! Stay tuned!

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
2 Comments

Long Distance Disney

So out of this last month, there have been two key moments in Matthew and my relationship, both arguably as important as the other.

Last week, Matthew was finally given an official coming home date. I’d been waiting for that news since the moment he left, and while its not as soon as I’d like it to be (its actually quite a bit further away than we’d hoped), its a day that I can look forward to, and there’s a possibility that it may come a little sooner, so we’re just crossing all fingers and toes, and remembering that two more months is nothing to the five we’ve already made it through.

This date comes from the fact that he passed his first progress test, and has now moved on to the next stage of his training, which doesn’t rely on the weather as much as the first stage, so hopefully he’ll be able to fly through it. Pun intended.

Ok, next big bit of news..

We’ve booked to go to Walt Disney World! It was semi-planned, semi-spur of the moment, but I’m so happy we’ve done it and now we’ve got something else to look forward to next year. Matthew is a huge WDW fan, and has been desperate to go back, so as the end of the free dining plan offer loomed, it only really made sense logically..

We’ll be there from October 30th-November 13th, catching both Halloween and Christmas seasons, and staying at Coronado Springs! Matthew’s never stayed on Disney property before, and he’s already chosen his Magic Band colour and created a My Disney Experience wishlist longer than my arm.. Of course I’m super excited to get planning to make this the most magical trip for him, and we’re hopefully going to do Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party too!

Its not been an easy month, but whenever I find things hard, I just think about next year and all the great things that are to come, and how it will all be worth the wait.

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
2 Comments

Three Months of Long Distance

Full story here

Hobbiton selfie

Each time I write one of these posts, I’m a little amazed that a whole month has past since the last, and that’s kinda cool. This month has obviously been a little different from the previous two; its been the best and the worst.

When I say the best, I am, of course, talking about my trip to New Zealand. It was a whole week of being together – the most amount of time we’ve ever been together – and it was perfect. We spent the first few days in Auckland, where we visited the zoo and sealife centre, ate an amazing curry and had a great night out at this little comedy club, before driving down to Rotorua, which was unfortunately where my jet lag really kicked in, so we ended up spending a lot of time watching tv in bed while I napped! We did get to do the luge though, which was a lot of fun and we got to see some stunning views of the area.

After Rotorua, we drove to Hamilton via a jet-boating experience in Taupo, and I finally got to see where Matthew is living and working which was pretty cool. He had to fly one day, which meant I got to have a lazy day of writing, reading magazines in bed and watching funny daytime TV, but we had the evening together so we went to watch Secret Life of Pets and had a Nandos – NB: New Zealand Nandos is not as good as UK Nandos! Monday was Hobbiton day, which was really awesome and I’ll be doing a separate post on that soon, and then Tuesday we headed back to Auckland for a penguin experience at the sealife centre (AMAZING), then spent the day walking around the docks and finished up at the Sky Tower to watch the sunset before driving to the airport. I won’t go into the details of that, but it wasn’t easy to say goodbye.

Since getting home, we’ve had to get back into our previous routine, which has honestly been harder to adjust to than the first time. With weather issues slightly hindering his training, its going to be a little longer until Matt is home, and that’s been difficult for me to get my head around, but I can’t change that so instead I just have to keep looking forward.

From the other side of the world, training for Matthew is really ramping up as he prepares for his first progress test; he’s moving on from the basics to more complex flights, introducing more techniques and more detailed planning, and despite weather recently, NZ is heading into Spring/Summer, so it will be better soon, and the more flights he completes, the closer he is to coming home.

Here’s to the next month flying by!*

*All puns intended.

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
1 Comment

A Month of Long Distance

Read the first part of this story here

On the day my last post went live, Matthew asked me to officially be his girlfriend, making today a somewhat bittersweet one month anniversary; a month of being together, when we’ve spent the whole time apart.


Girlfriend – now that’s a job role I’m really good at. And trust me, its a lot easier saying ‘my boyfriend is working in New Zealand’ than ‘oh, I’m just waiting around for some guy I’ve been on two dates with’. That being said, I don’t think he was ever just some guy..

I can’t pretend for a second we’re like any other couple reaching their first month; instead of living in the moment, we’re looking forward to the day we don’t have 11,500 miles between us. In many ways though, we’re totally normal. I love hearing about his day and we keep each other up late texting and wind each other up.. I keep wanting to write that its easy but it isn’t. We miss each other every day and some days its a real struggle, but we’re still there for each other through it all and he never fails to make me smile, even when I’m letting the world get to me.

All I can say is thank god for technology. I can’t imagine doing this without it; I think Dear John would have been a much different story if Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum had Skype. Thank you Whatsapp, thank you FaceTime, thank you Snapchat. There’s not a day we don’t use at least one of these. We’ve got into a good routine now: I try and take more late shifts at work because morning here/evening there is when we generally get the most time, but we make all the time we can.

I actually feel like this first month has flown by, probably helped by spending two weeks in China to keep me distracted! We’re halfway to the halfway point – that sounds better than 3 months to go, right? What’s more important though is that we’re both in this for the long haul. A month ago I had no regrets, and that stands true today.

On a little side note, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who commented on the last post. I had so many kind words from people who have been through similar situations, and people supporting me and it means so much!

Three months to go!

Twitter / Bloglovin / Instagram
2 Comments