One Year In...

It's hard to believe we've been married a year already. In some ways it only seems like yesterday that we were at the wedding, but it also seems like such a long time ago when we think of what we have done since. We went on an amazing honeymoon thanks to the generosity of friends and family, bought our first home, and moved to a place we have grown to love in west Wales. We have a beautiful niece born nine months after the wedding (coincidence?!), and new friends in our new hometown to add to our amazing family and friends.

I'm told the first year of marriage is the hardest. I can't say whether that's true or not as we've only had one year of marriage, but I wouldn't say the marriage bit was hard so far. The hard bits of this year have not been the personal things but those related to my PhD: I have really struggled to feel motivated to carry on studying, and wasted a lot of time going round in circles. That said the other half of us has been amazingly supportive- he cooks dinner most nights, cheers me up when I need it, and moans along with me when that's what I need. So far being married (i.e. having each other) is what has made the year less hard. So far I love it.

On our anniversary

We decided to spend our anniversary somewhere in west Wales, on the beach preferably, and stay the night in a B&B. But fate had other plans, which turned out to be just as special. While I was working away up in Oban, the car spectacularly failed its MOT, with unaffordable repair costs. The other half of us had to borrow a car to pick me up from the station on my return (the nearest station is a 50 minute drive away), but with my sister and 3 month-old niece coming to stay in only a few days, we couldn't rely on being able to borrow cars. So in stepped said sister and my brother-in-law. They had a car that had been off road since they moved back to London, and not yet sold. So the next evening, we hopped on a train to spend the weekend (and our anniversary) with family in London. There is something so lovely about time with family, especially time that you weren't expecting to have. And we gained a working car. We ended up spending our anniversary exploring areas of London we hadn't really seen before, having coffee with family, and going to the Damien Hirst exhibit at the Tate Modern. Not the day we thought we'd have but it was wonderful all the same.