To My Birthday Boy

Dear H

So it's your birthday and your another year older and the age gap between us widens that little bit more for a few months at least...... 

a year ago today we were still at the very beginning of our adventure together - look at us now, living together and about to let a cat into our lives..... who'd have thought it although I think we both knew how we wanted our story to develop

I'm so proud of you for getting your promotion recently and I'm excited for you as you start your new job when we get back from holiday..... You work so hard and I'm pleased your talents are being recognised

I can't for this week off we have together and I'm so looking forward to our mini break to the cottage in Norfolk, lots of walks, cozy nights in and visits to traditional pubs! I think we are both so ready for some R&R .........

I love celebrating your birthday because it's a celebration of the kindest, most handsome, special man I know........it's not a lie that everyone we meet loves you and i know how very lucky I am that you made the choice to love me.......... love is a choice and for us it wasn't the most obvious choice but the best decision i ever made was to persuade you to give me a chance - to look beyond the age and see the possibilities in store for us...... 

so thank you my darling one, thank you for loving me the best and for your patience with me as I adjust to this new period in our relationship......thank you for bringing me a cup of tea every morning........thank you for always being on my team and being my number one supporter.......thank you for endless cuddles and kisses....... thank you for taking me on walks and buying me red wine......thank you for embarking on dry January with me.......thank you for making me laugh every day and ironing my clothes.......thank you being the person by my side. 

I truly am the luckiest girl to have found you. 

Happy Birthday, I love you. 

R  

Blogtober Day 15 : My Favourite Quote

I wrote a post about my favourite quote a while ago now and you're welcome to go back and read my musings about that. It's funny because that quote totally encompassed what I felt at that time and how I felt was mainly to do with the man I was sort of involved with at the time. I love how I said in that post that i knew how he was "the love before the love of my life" and he was readers, he really was.

Times change and so do favourites and now I've got to say that this is probably my favourite quote:

Firstly because it's from such a wonderful author who I loved growing up and secondly because it is just so very true and yet so easy to forget when we self doubt. I look at what I go through, at what people around me deal with, what my loved ones are going through and I always think of these words.  Our ability to cope and deal with situations always seems to surprise us but I think we are all as strong as bears underneath!

Linking up with Helene and Taylor for Blogtober!

Blogtober: Day 8...... { Dear Rachael, aged 38. love Rachael, aged 28}

Dear Rachael, aged 38

What an interesting idea this is writing a letter to you for ten years time. Do you still look at this blog of yours? Have you actually managed to gain more than 13 followers or is this space of yours on the Internet just a distant memory of days gone by? I expect you will be busy running Rachael's Kitchen and writing food columns and articles in your spare time, but it started here kid, it started here.

Is Rudy the cat still alive? Right now I'm still in the process of persuading H but I'm pretty sure that it's in the bag! I hope he was as much as a lap cat as you hoped he will be. 

Mentioning H, are looking down at the emerald on your ring finger? I bet he chose a beautiful one and i expect by now it's joined by a simple band signifying your eternal commitment to him. Did you have a beautiful day filled with laughter, music, good food, prosecco and all the people you and H love?  I bet you cried buckets and smiled until your face hurt.

Do you still tell him every day how much you love him? Because you really have picked a special one there, you still know that right? I hope you still appreciate him because he has really shown you what it is to love and what it is to have a happy and healthy relationship. I hope you have found the balance of independence and sharing your life with someone - you struggle with it a bit now! Appreciate him Rach, never take him for granted, always show him affection and hold him in the highest regard. And remember how you two are the special ones. 

Does someone call you Mama? At the moment your not sure whether this is a possibility but who knows what the future will bring. I pray that all of the pain of the past does not stop you or stand in the way of all you can achieve with family life. How are the siblings? I hope your remember all the time how blessed you are to be a sister and to have them, your loyal team always by your side. Are your nieces and nephews as gorgeous as you expect them to be? I hope you are "cool auntie rah rah" and you have bought them drums to beat really loudly and annoy their Mums and Dads!

You are so full of hopes and dreams right now - I hope that you have fulfilled some of them but still have more to aspire to. I hope that you have become kinder and more patient. I hope you have finally managed to find the right shade of red lipstick. I hope that you are still a good friend and still nurture and nourish those you are around. I hope you have a huge table, around which all your loved ones sit and you bring out plate upon plate of homemade food. I hope your garden and vegetable patch is flourishing and your passport is full of stamps. I hope you have found the perfect pair of brown leather boots. I hope you have learnt to give yourself a break. I hope you have run a half marathon (now there's a thought)! I hope your life has not been too marred by the pain of loss. And if your life is nothing like the one you think it could be right now at 28, I hope that you know that that is okay, that its just fine because as long as you are happy and healthy, all the rest will have written itself. 

Love, Rachael, aged 28     

Linking up with Helene and Taylor for Blogtober!

#Blogtober : Day Three...... {The one thing I can't live without}

i phone, 

kindle, 

juicer, 

red wine, 

limes, 

oysters

good mascara

friends

 family

..................

  but really the one thing I can't live without is him. Just him. 

You were not what I expected, but I have found you to be everything that I will ever need 

Linking up with Helene and Taylor for #Blogtober!

To New Beginnings

Back in my uni day!

New beginnings, what wonderful things they are. Today we took H's eldest daughter to university - yes my boyfriend's daughter is starting uni, just 6 years after I finished but that's a whole other story. We helped her unpack and settle in, watched her start to make new friends with her housemates and take the first steps of independence and the rest of her life. I've taught her all I know about surviving living in halls and a little on simple meals she should be able to cook, its all I've got. Oh how we will miss her but how excited we are for her adventure. 

Why We Work

Linking up with The Life of Bon and The Daily Tay to talk about why My Beau and I work.....

We work because I think the man is the most gorgeous person on the planet and he loves my curves

We work because he makes me giggle everyday and I take away his tiredness by making him chuckle at my goofiness and rub eye cream on his eyelids

We work because we are always on the same team and we kick ass at quizzes

We work because I will sit and listen to him play guitar and he lets me sing along to tunes in the car (badly)

We work because he says every meal I make him is the best he's ever had and he will always pick my homemade food over going out for a meal. And I always think he is a rock star

We work because I see what a brilliant father he is to his children and he loves that I get on with them so well

 

We work because we both don't buy into the whole valentines day thing

We work because he lets me talk through everything I'm thinking, always, and I know what he's thinking even when he's not talking

We work because I listen to him rant about his tough day at work every evening on the phone and he will always text me back

We work because he calls me bumble and I play up to being bumble like in all I do

We work because we love spending time together - walking, eating, just being with one another. And we never run out of conversation

We work because after a long Sunday walk he runs me a bath and I make him chicken noodle soup when he is poorly

We work because we always try and be kind to one another. He calms my anger and I make him positive and stop him frowning

We work because he never fails to support me and is always there for me and I surprise him with birthday trips to Whitstable

We work because we make each other happier and we have enriched each others lives

 

We work because despite the fact that our situation should be difficult with lots of obstacles, falling in love with each other has been easy and our relationship just makes sense. He is the best man and he makes me want to try to be a better woman.

Happy Valentines Day - What makes your relationship work? Join in the link up or write your answers below