Oh my goodness. December has been and gone now it is nearly February.
Christmas was everything we wanted it to be.
Peaceful, love filled, Bucks Fizz & Croissants in bed. 
So many beautiful presents.
I was completely spoilt by my husband.

We watched "The Gruffalo's Child" and Mike set about making a wooden ship which I brought him.
We visited family too both before and after Christmas. But the day itself was ours <3

January is my worst month. The cold, the snow, the dismal moods, the slush & the poverty of having spent far too much over December.
We're just getting over the lack of funds. It was somewhat fun towards the end. We went back to vegetarian meals, pasta mixed with tomatoes, spices and random vegetables, bottom of the cupboard meals.

I have put on weight since getting married. The weeks building up to it - the nerves made me so skinny, then the relaxation, honey mooning, comfort, Christmas, finally living with Mike as well as feeding a boy & contending with the portion sizes has inflated me . BUT the weight is slowly dissolving now . I work during the day in a pre-school in a village, I walk there and back four times a day, there is no time for snacking. It's good for me!
The pre-school is really lovely, I am really enjoying it. 

We've been talking about babies, when to decide to try. I love us but somehow I know, like deep down we are meant to have a baby soon.  Perhaps it's the age I am at or the fact I look after other people's little ones.

The snow is melting it has been replaced with sunshine & green grass. I'm hopeful for spring, for flowers, for pretty clothes, not needing the heating on & feeling free. Winter always was my worst season.

So Mike is leading worship at a Church in Aylesbury this morning.
I am taking the time to tidy our house , drink coffee and update this.
It's almost time for Christmas..I am *so* excited. Our first Christmas together.
We are spending it just us . My parents are away in India for all of December. It is my first Christmas without them.
I keep buying things for Mike. He's so easy to buy for. We really have not got a lot of money at the moment. The wedding did not put us into debt. It is our rent, bills, food , gym memberships.
Oh dear!
Still we are only a thousand pounds each into our (agreed) over drafts & to be honest considering we have just got married, just got a house & went on a two week honey moon. I think that is not so bad.

This Christmas though. I want green ribbons on our chairs, real mistletoe everywhere & cuttings of pine (my favourite tree!) covered in glitter along all the fire places. Simple , natural & pretty. My favourite style currently.

I've made up a recipie for a cake which I am trialing on Friday. We both detest mincemeat but love the flavours of cinnamony, gingery Christmassy food. So I am making a : pecan, cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger cake, which I will ice.
I might even make two tiers.
Very exciting.
Our Wedding album arrives Tuesday. All the way from Italy. We are so blessed. It should be ridiculously expensive. But is costing us £30 for a couple of extra pages. As it is a gift from my employers / friends.
I love our Wedding still. I keep looking back on it. It was so simple, light, pretty & relaxed, but elegant & natural .
I have been babysitting alot lately. With Mike. He is so wonderful with children, because he is such a kind, gentle but confident person, all his loveliness sort of magnifies. They love him. Last night he played "Twinkle, Twinle, little star" to Penelope on her pink guitar & she snuggled down & slept with a smiley face. Normally she will throw a tanrum when it is just me & her.
Mike is going to be a wonderful Daddy one day.

It is very cold.


I am wearing my equestrian jumper & leggings.

This outfit makes me remember my horse riding lessons when I was younger.; Hay in my mad, fluffy curls, a hat far too big for my head, my jodpurs which were black and my favourite item of clothing ever, big clunky heeled steel capped boots and a padded blue gilet.
Still now the smell of Autumn; wet leaves, earth, smoky warmth mixed with cold sharp air and horse manure. It takes me back to my childhood.
Oh! The smell of clean hay.

Today is a tidying day. Our house looks very messy today. Kathryn has placed poor Nala in the fire place, along with a pair of sparkly pink fairy wings. There are "Thank you" cards dotted around the living room, running magazines, heart wrapping paper. We are an eclectic pair. I love our contrasts.

Life has been strange. My Grandads death saddened me so deeply. How old bodies seem to steal young love and youth. I cannot think about it too much.
My Grandad has a new body and a free spirit now. Secretly I pray my Nana is not lonely and her time widowing is short. I cannot imagine being seperated from Mike. I am connected to him so deeply.
I am such a romantic..
When Megan Stammers and Jeremy Forrest were hunted down I cried. I completely shared the French's view. Let them be in love! I hope in a year they are reunited.

I am now a married woman. 

I am married to my lovely beau.

It is so nice to live together. 
When I thought about it the other day I realised our “love story” has only really begun.
All the time before us being married was the start of it all..
Full of love always but now it's even more complete.
At first after being married I felt slightly as though we need to have babies “now “and be sensible ”now” .

But that is not really what I want at all. I have far too much of a peter pan complex to be a Mummy just yet. Truth be told I love it being

Mike and I.

Us.

We could run away to Paris tomorrow with nothing if we wanted to. 

We realistically have nothing that ties us down. 

We have each other and are entirely free with that.

Our wedding was everything I wanted it to be and more.
I tried to write it all down but no words will do it justice.
I was the happiest and most relaxed ever. It was beautiful. 
It was the hottest day of the year.
My dress was wonderful to wear; I had flowers in my hair and felt like a woodland princess. I walked down the aisle to Enya’s “fairy-tale”
Mike sang to me. I held his hand through the ceremony. I loved our wedding I wish I could get married every single week to my Mike.

Our honeymoon was magical. Our hotel was right on the beach, we found secret hidden beaches, went on a sailing boat, swam in the sea, climbed caves and went up a mountain. In the mountain there were natural springs. We filled a water bottle up with water from the mountain. We will use it to christen our future babies with in the Church we were married in.

Life is so wholesome and so happy. I love our house. It’s so pretty and cottagey. Full of fireplaces, big windows, miss matching frames and it always smells like vanilla and cocoa butter.

I start my new job "officially" next week. Nannying for Kathryn. Volunteering at her lovely CofE school which is in the prettiest village.

 So that is life for right now.

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