So, to myself in five years time - You're 23, you're engaged to Ben who you met on Twitter and you're sick with enthusiasm about being able to organise something on a big scale (your wedding)!
Ben and I met via Twitter in October 2012. Cue question - 'how exactly do you meet someone on Twitter?' Well, long story short is that I was following some people who supported Manchester City Football Club (the best team on Earth), and one of those people retweeted one of Ben's tweets. I replied, and if I was really corny, I would say the rest is history... but I'm not, so this is what happened. Keep reading.
After a couple tweets back and forth, we eventually started to chat a bit more and then decided to exchange numbers (mainly because the 140 character limit on Twitter was a bit of a conversation killer)!
After many consecutive days/weeks of talking and telling each other about life in our respective countries, I decided to book a spur of the moment 5 week trip to England. If I look rationally back at the situation, it was incredibly impulsive to go on a trip to meet to meet a man who lived in Manchester. However, as I sit here now and type it all out, it was one of the best decisions I have made in my life.
We spent the majority of 2013 and half of 2014 apart, however I was fortunate to spend two weeks in Manchester last March and September, while Ben came over to Sydney for 4 weeks during the summer. To say it was hard is putting it lightly. Having a relationship with someone through a screen is really difficult, but we were always sure to remind ourselves about how fortunate we were to have the technology we have today, that we were both healthy, and that we were actually able to spend some time together. It also helped knowing that we were both in it together, and we both knew that this is what we wanted.
Ben proposed on 21 December 2013. Quietly, I did know it was coming, but it didm't make it any less exciting. After spending another two weeks with Ben as his fiancé, we said our final, heart wrenching goodbye started counting down until his big move to come and live here in Australia.
Looking back it seems that it all went by in a flash, but I can guarantee you I was not a nice person to live with for the last year and a half (sorry Mum and Dad)!
In May I made the trip over to England and spent Ben's last two weeks in Manchester with him. We packed up his room into several Ikea boxes and said our final goodbyes to all his friends and family. It was bittersweet. I was so proud of how brave Ben was to leave all he knew behind and start a new life with me, in a completely new country. I am incredibly spoiled.
So now, more than two months into our time together here, I still feel incredibly grateful that he has come all this way. There is not a day that goes by where I am not thankful of his sacrifice to move here... and I think my family feels the same way as I am genuinely a much happier person!!!
Our big day is next March and I am looking forward to spend the rest of my life with the most wonderful man I have ever met.
Now, enough of the sickly sweet sap!
This blog will be mainly wedding oriented for the next 224 days, however, I plan on writing some other life things as well... so hopefully it won't all be boring bride talk!
While I organise my first wedding related post, I will plug Ben's blog. If you love a good long word, or some dry wit, then it's definitely the place for you.
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