Forever | But I Smile Anyway...

16 years ago, I finally became a Mrs.

It was a beautiful day, albeit a little cold, being November!

A year of frantic planning, which had followed a beautiful four-year romance, during which we made the choice to be together forever ♥

We did the whole shebang, full on traditional craziness, from all the colourful customs, like the Maaiyaan (turmeric ceremony) and the Chura (Bangle ceremony), to some more modern, personal ones like a fancy dress night – well my family did anyway!

And the day itself was magical.

The beautician turned me into a princess, and my prince was there waiting for me at the Gurdwara, ready to take our vows in front of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, and our loved ones.

We had a beautiful ceremony, followed by a fun-filled reception (I even had a bubble machine for the kids – and me!)

The Doli (leaving ceremony) was emotional, where it really hit home that I was leaving my parents, but after a heart-wrenching set of goodbyes, we finally set off on the journey that would take me to my new home.

And here we sit, 16 years on.

Happily together, with our own home, two crazed tweens, a furbaby and two feathered ones too!!

My Hubby Dearest has been my rock for the last 20 years, to be honest, and every day my love and respect grows for him a little more. He’s put up with my craziness over the years – and there is still plenty of that to come! He lovingly calls me ‘#Hashtag-Valiye’ – Hashtag Girl, basically, having had to share me with this blog, and all the social media that comes with it for the last few years.

I can truly say that I would not want to spend my life with anyone else but him.

Hubby Dearest- Happy Anniversary my darling, I love you more each day, thank you for being who you are, and for accepting me for who I am. Thank you for gifting me with our two children. Thank you for your never-ending support, and belief in me and my capabilities. My wish is that we are together forever, writing new chapters of our life together as we gain wrinkles and memories ♥

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Our First Dance

And so today we are off to celebrate our 16th Wedding Anniversary – sans children or pets – with a weekend away!

Forever…

Well, I can’t continue this blog without telling you about the most key person in my life for the last 17 years at least… My wonderful husband and soulmate.

We met at university, and it was pretty much apparent from the beginning, that this was it, we were in it for the long haul! From the moment I saw him, I knew there was ‘something’ about him, and as I got to,know him, it was just confirmed, this guy was my Mr Right, my Mr Forever…

As I mentioned before in my post about my Precious Pops, whoever came into,my life would have a tough act to follow, but I can proudly say, my husband has more than filled the spot. Kind, loving, caring, generous, brooding, honest, frustrating at times, but he’s all mine!

He had a big task ahead of him, getting to know my HUGE family to start off with, so I had him in training, armed with a large photo album before he even met my crazy clan! (It can take years…even I get co fused sometimes, and it’s MY family!) but he’s done it!

Telling my parents was not hard, as I knew they’d love him, in fact the first time I described him to Mum, she had decided she loved him already, and Pops, bless him was just happy I was happy!

Fast forward 17 years… So now we’re married with our own home and 2 children… It’s never going to be a totally smooth ride is it? Yes we argue, disagree, we don’t always see eye to eye on every issue. But who does?
Still the moments of happiness, and love totally outweigh these times, and it’s true, that saying,

“Everyone wants Happiness,
Without all the pain,
But you can’t have a rainbow
Without a little rain.”

He’s been my rock in times of sadness and pain, he’s held my hand and been with me through our babies births, celebrated happiness with me, surprised me, made me laugh, made me cry (with joy)… He is my everything, and I know my life would be incomplete if he wasn’t with me.

Love you babe! … In case you didn’t know!

(Oh, and did I mention, he’s my Source of Eternal Youth, my younger other half… Well, you’re only as young as the man you feel eh!!)