ten years plus one

tomorrow is our first wedding anniversary, and since I plan to be busy doing nice things tomorrow, I'm writing this post now. It's funny celebrating our "first" anniversary, since we'd been together for a bit over ten years before that. We decided (well, actually, there wasn't any real planning involved) to do everything backwards. We had a baby, then bought a house, then a had another baby, and then a while later, we thought we'd get married. I did write about this happy event a year ago, but I feel like going back there again, as it remains the one of the most special days of my life, second only to the days when my children were born. We chose not to have a big wedding, it just wasn't "us". Instead, we gathered together our immediate family and two close friends (gave them a couple of weeks notice) and dragged them all up to a huge rock in the middle of the national park near where we live, one of the first places arran used to take me when we first met, and which has panoramic views over the whole area. It was the most perfect october day, sunshine, a gentle breeze and blue sky as far as you could see. We had a simple, no fuss, five minute ceremony and then cracked the champagne and spent the next two days celebrating with friends and family, none of whom we had told, and who were all blown away, as you can imagine. And here we are a year on, and so much has happened during that time. I have my own shop (sometimes I still can't quite get my head around that one), arran made his first surfboard, and I must say, just quietly, did a darn good job of it, which is quite a relief considering there are 25 blanks sitting in our shed just waiting to be turned into boards, as soon as the "shed transformation" is complete...but that is a story for another day. Our children continue to amaze and inspire us as they prepare for a new little soul to come and join them, fin especially has become quite the responsible young man, and is skateboarding like a pro...willow continues to entertain us. Of course, so much happens every year, but this year it has felt special, because our family feels complete (well, there's still room for one more), and I am married to the most wonderful man in the world.