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I’ll love you always

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The perfect way to wrap up this whole process ❤️

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This one’s for us…

How do I possibly end this?

I guess I should say that when I started this blog, I hoped it would help me to win you back. Once we got together, I immediately thought to myself that somewhere down the line, i might need to use it again. I remember thinking how good it would be if I filled it with my thoughts from time to time, and showed it to you when we got married. Or, in this case, when I asked you to marry me.

In many ways, our story has been complex. No one else will ever be able to appreciate what those first 5 years of our relationship were like. Only we know. Only we know the connection we had, and why it lasted so long, despite physical and emotional separation. We can attempt to explain all that period to other people, but they’ll never quite get it. And I like that. Throughout it all, I knew how I felt about you, and I know you knew how you felt about me. I knew that one day, we would get to see just how great we would be together. It felt inevitable. Perhaps that’s why I took our relationship for granted a little at times? I’ll blame that on youthful naïveté.

Regardless, as we’ve said many times in the period since, I’m glad we didn’t get into a full blown relationship when I was 20 and you were 17. God knows where we would be now if we did. It wouldn’t have allowed us to devote the necessary time to our relationship, and we wouldn’t have been able to spend anywhere near as long together as we did in 2018 and onwards. We’d have put ourselves in a bad position to begin with. Instead, we formed a relatively unbreakable bond in that time, one that kept us both coming back for more until the time was truly right.

If the first 5 years of us was super complicated, the next 5 and a bit years has been anything but. It’s been what I always knew it would be. Simple, effortless love. Not once have I regretted doing what I did in 2018. All I’ve done is focus on our future and trying to make myself into a person that is deserving of you.

I know you’ll make an amazing wife, and I also know you’ll be an amazing mum to any (god willing) children we go on to have. The thought of doing those things with anyone else but you will always seem like a very distant second best. And I honestly can’t wait to have a crack at them with you. It’s what I’ve always envisioned. Since day one.

With this post and todays events, a 10 year story comes to an end, but I know this is just the first chapter. I can’t wait to write the rest of our story together.

All my love always,

Luke x

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On the way. You’re winging it as usual…running round the station to pick up last minute stuff you’ve forgotten 😂

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Nice day today 🌞

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This time tomorrow the question will have been asked and we’ll (hopefully 😂) be enjoying a great evening together.

I’m like a kid on Christmas Eve right now. Had to come to the gym to release some of the energy!

I wonder if you have any idea what’s going to happen tomorrow

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1 week today 🤞🏻

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After I found the ring your mum bought you, it was time to actually start visiting jewellers and trying to get a feel for what you would want in a ring, as well as getting a feel for what I liked also!My first trip was on the 22nd of November, and on that day the world looked a little something like this…

I told you I had to go into work for my appraisal and a team meeting, but in reality I already knew that Jonathan wasn’t going to be there, and that there was no meeting 😂 Jonathan cancelling also gave me the perfect cover for a subsequent ‘office day’ when my appraisal was rearranged.

After spending the morning in the office I got the tram to Didsbury Village after lunch and then began to walk to the jewellers. Apple Maps unfortunately took me to the old (disused) shop. I had no idea that the jewellers I was visiting had moved offices 6 months earlier! I had an appointment scheduled, and had only got there with 15 minutes to spare! I quickly jumped on Uber and saw that the actual shop was 15 minutes away in an Uber. Never have I been so grateful for Uber!

When I got there I was massively impressed by the building, and the member of staff that I met was super friendly and helpful. Gave me good vibes immediately. The same cannot be said for all the places I visited! I think deep down I knew that this was going to be the place I bought your ring from, even though it took me another 3 months to actually decide! The first ring she showed me based on my preferences was the one I ended up choosing. I though it was perfect from the beginning.

After I left I walked back to the tram stop and rang my mum and your mum. There were 4 ring styles I liked at this point, so I said I was going to send them both a series of pictures and asked them to tell me their favourites. This is where the issue of ‘plantinum vs yellow gold’ first arose…which was my toughest decision! I had always assumed I would buy a platinum/white gold ring as I just thought they looked the best. But after reflecting on it that day, I was starting to reconsider. If you remember all the conversations me and your mum had with you about yellow gold around Christmas, it will now begin to make sense! We were just trying to figure out what you liked! I hope I got it right

That day your mum was so happy to hear about it all and she thanked me numerous times for including her. I think she was on a beach somewhere at the time. She also told me to make sure I documented the whole process so I could look back on it. I said don’t worry, I already had plans for how I was going to do that. And here we are…

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16th of February 2024.

What a moment. Words can’t describe how buzzing I am!

I was worried about the size of the diamond feeling a bit too big, but after seeing it in person I think it’s going to be perfect for you. All those hours of agonising over the perfect sizes and colours may have paid off (we hope).

Now all that remains is to remember to take it to Windermere with me and ask you the question

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And right after I finished preparing the prints, I got this email.

I can’t wait until this arrives. As far as you’re aware, I’m getting you ‘something small’ for your birthday.

That’s one way of putting it I guess!

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Busy day at work today bringing my secondment to a close. But….I also found time to prepare the rest of these prints! Just had to go into the shower rooms in the office to do it 😂 the lengths I’m going to!!

Also made use of the endless office stationery and envelopes…taking me one step closer to making this a reality

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The rehearsal

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If you search deep on this blog you’ll probably find me talking about how much I couldn’t wait to have you down in London with me. In the period after you said goodbye to me…I spent so long thinking about what that would be like. It was one of the main motivating factors behind doing everything that I did. The way that I felt about it, I just knew I could never not actually get to experience it.

The prospect of not having to sneak around with you like we always had done. To go places together and do whatever we wanted.

Taking you to the sky garden and around a lot of the London sights. Taking you to winter wonderland and the Christmas cinema. Taking you into the world I’d been a part of since I left Yorkshire, they’re memories that I’ll always treasure

I remember when we first went to West Silvertown DLR station - which is the first photo in this set. I loved taking photos from that spot - it used to get great sunrises from time to time. But that photo right there is my favourite. I knew I had to hang back and get one of you, just to remind myself that it had actually happened. My two worlds finally meshed into one

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Thanks for introducing me to the Boots photo printers 😂 I was planning to have all these printed through some online service, but I’m glad I went out with you that lunchtime to print Dani’s birthday stuff off. Made this whole process a lot simpler!

The whole time we were in there I was like…

Thinking about how I could use this to my advantage!

I hope you love the prints. They’re a nice little walk back through our story together

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The build up to that Christmas, our first together, was like nothing else. The only thing I can kinda liken it to is the feeling that I’ve got right now as we build up to our trip away together, and the build up towards sending you this blog for the first time. Those moments really gave me that burning feeling of excitement and anticipation in my chest constantly

That entire first 6 months of us being together just felt like a massive outpouring of emotion, and some of that was most beautifully expressed in the Christmas card you got me. Im pretty sure we both cried reading the cards, and when I read it back now, I’m not surprised. I’d always wished that you could open up to me like this, and at last I had it, and it was everything I hoped it would be. Also such a meaningful song….I feel like I walked around half of London listening to that and thinking of you and us.

When I look back I really can think of no better words. I really haven’t stopped loving you once. This was always going to happen, and I’m so glad it has

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Planning the things I’m planning give you a lot of reason to reflect.

I’m so glad that I’ll never be regret in the back of your head. The song you try to forget

I know it’s something we’d have probably regretted for the rest of our lives