TRAVEL: The Ultimate Time Together at The Dower House Hotel in Woodhall Spa with buyagift

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When you become a parent your whole life changes and something that used to be plentiful but is now a rarity is the quality time you can spend with your partner. Babies, toddlers and children all require a lot of time, attention and love that fills your time, house and heart, which makes finding time for date night or one-on-one time with your partner very challenging. Since giving birth to Isabella in 2015 my husband and I had only enjoyed one night away together and I had only left Isabella overnight twice (once was to have Poppy!). However, now that they are old enough to be looked after by their doting Grandparents we thought we'd make the most of the opportunity to enjoy a rare night away together.

LIFE: Do we ever really know what happens behind closed doors?

Do we ever really know what happens behind closed doors? The simple answer is no, not even the start of it. Miscarriage, the breakdown of a marriage, abuse, mental health issues...the list could go on, which is both heartbreaking and reality. Our friends, loved ones and those we follow, even admire, on social media. Any of these things could be happening to them and we could be completely oblivious. Blissfully wittering on about holiday plans, what they did at their Grandma's last week, watching the children play and commenting on how quickly they are growing up, how the weather has been etc., without a thought that something may not be quite right. That actually inside, behind closed doors, their heart is breaking, they are experiencing yet another loss, they are being subjected to physical/ emotional/ domestic/ sexual abuse, mental health issues that see them hiding away crying silent tears for hours on end. In reality, how well do we know those we are about? Do we know everything about their lives or do we only know what they choose to share?

MARRIAGE: Our 1 year anniversary

One year tomorrow I woke up as someones fiancee and went to sleep someones wife. My husband and I got married this time last year, surrounded by friends and family. I absolutely loved planning our wedding, a lot of which I documented on here, but by the time our wedding arrived I was ready to not worry/stress/plan it anymore!

LIFE: We're married!

Firstly, I'd like to say sorry for the blog content being a bit sparse recently, it's been an incredibly busy month! The most important, and exciting, part of the last month was the moment Tom and I became husband and wife. Our wedding day was overwhelming, memorable and eventful - everything we hoped for and so much more. I wish I could sit here and write every little detail of our wedding day, after all you have all been part of the run up, but it was such a blur. I think if you ask any Bride and Groom to tell you about their wedding day they'll say how much of an overwhelming blur it is. In the space of 12 hours you feel every emotion going, you smile until your cheeks hurt, you say 'thank you for coming' more times than you care to remember, you are overwhelmed by everyone's love and generosity, you can't believe everyone has come from far and wide just for you two and you just can't believe that all of those plans have come together to create such a lovely wedding day. I'm telling you, all of that in 12 hours is exhausting!

After our magical wedding day the whirlwind didn't stop, we then jetted off on our honeymoon. We went to New York and Mexico over a two week period, which was just incredible! If these past three weeks have taught me anything, it's just how lucky I am. How lucky I am to have my family and friends, how lucky I am to have my husband by my side, how lucky I am to be able to have the wedding of our dreams, how lucky I am to go on such an amazing honeymoon. I really am so grateful for all of this.

We haven't met with our wedding photographer yet but I have a couple of photo's from the guests that I thought I'd share with you...

I will be back blogging regularly soon, just after we sorted out all of the 'jobs' we left behind when we went on our honeymoon.

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x