This is a post I have been meaning to write for a while and have only been putting it off because it's hard to remember the full story in detail. Kirsty and I have been together for 4 years, 6 months now. I really want to write our story down, especially now we are planning our wedding. I want to be able to remember it forever.
So let's start from the beginning.
How did we meet?
Tumblr is a blogging site and I joined when I was in college in 2009 and used it every now and again for the next few years to post photos I liked or personal posts.
Kirsty had joined in January 2011 and updated her blog quite a lot.
When I was on holiday in Pontins with my mum for my birthday in May 2011, (our reflection is in the TV), I saw a post that linked to her blog.
I was getting ready to go out to see the shows with my mum and sent her a message (which she never actually got) and followed her blog. She sent me a message that said "This blog <3 You <3"
Obviously the hearts meant nothing at this point. She didn't know who I was. But it was such a perfect first message for what happened after.
She posted a link to her YouTube channel which had videos of her doing song covers and funny videos. I binge watched them all and really started to have a crush on her.
But she lived in South Wales and I lived in Manchester, a 4 hour train ride apart.
We would message each other every few days and just talk about films we
liked or what we had been up to. We would send each other questions to
answer like "do you have a crush on anyone?"
She sent me a letter which I stuck to my wall. We kept writing letters for the next few weeks.
One night in early July 2011 Kirsty posted her phone number and asked people to text her, so I did. I didn't tell her who I was at first but I think she knew anyway.
After that we would text each other every day and make YouTube videos for each other talking about our day.
Towards the end of July I realised I needed to tell my parents how I felt about her. I wanted to meet her and I couldn't travel that far without explaining why I was going. It took me about an hour to tell my mum and she told my dad. It's not that they're homophobic or anything like that but I never talk to my parents about personal things.
It was the day after I told them that they asked if Kirsty was my girlfriend. When you're young it's assumed that if you like each other, you're in a relationship. But when you get older you need to actually ask. I don't know why the rules change, but they do!
I was planning on asking her when we met but I was worried that she wouldn't understand why I was asking. She was 16 and I was 20. So I text her instead. I said "are you my girlfriend?" and she said "yea if that's what you want". So there it was! We became Facebook official in early August and I booked a train ticket to see her on 16th August and to stay 2 nights.
How did we meet in person?
We decided that I would stay at her house because it was easier and cheaper.
She came to pick me up from the train station with her mum, stepdad and sister. The first words she said to me when she got out of the car were "is there a bin in there?" I said "I'm not sure." What an amazing memory that seems to always stick with me.
We didn't talk in the car which was fine with me because I was so nervous, I didn't want to have to talk in front of everyone.
When we got to her house she took my suitcase up to her room and showed me around her room. She kept saying "this is my room" over and over again which I just found hilarious. It helped to make me less nervous. We went downstairs to eat pasta and then went back up and watched a DVD on her laptop. She went to get in her sister's double bed and I slept in her bed. It took me ages to fall asleep and I woke up really early the next day but she didn't wake up until 1pm.
I won't write down everything we did the next 2 days, but I will tell you that we listened to music together and she kissed me. I wouldn't normally kiss someone the day after meeting them in person, but we had already talked a lot and I felt a lot closer to her than I would normally.
We walked to McDonalds together and had an awkward meal where we didn't talk.
We kissed again at the train station before I got on the train and then we text while I was on the way home.
A few weeks later she came to my house and we went out with my family to a few places. I said "I love you" to her for the first time. We hadn't actually been out alone together (apart from the awkward McDonalds time). We hadn't been on a real date yet.
Our first date
I visited Kirsty in November for her 17th birthday. We decided to go to Frankie & Bennies together. It was our first date. I don't have any photos from that time. I don't remember what we wore. I don't know if we got dressed up. I know Kirsty paid and that there were fireworks outside while we were eating.
After that first date we went on a few dates to the cinema and bowling. Or we would just walk to a park with a picnic or sit on the swings and talk.
How did we move in together?
It actually happened before our one year anniversary. They say lesbians move fast! I think we moved fast partly because of our long distance relationship. When we were together, everything was fine. But in the inbetween times we were trying to afford the train tickets and just really missing each other.
It took a lot of persuasion on my parents part but we decided that she would move in with me in Manchester and she would start Alevels here. I got a double bed which we spray painted with glow in the dark paint and she was moved in by September. We would bring more of her stuff home each time we went to visit her family because you can't bring a lot of stuff on the train, but we were now in a serious relationship and I still regret nothing about how fast we moved.
When did we get engaged?
We went to Disneyland Paris for my 21st birthday with my mum which was amazing. We decided to go again a year later, just the two of us. We booked it for September 2013.
We had been together for just over 2 years. I wrote down my engagement on cards and had a ring box made. We had already discussed engagement rings we liked when we looked in the Argos catalogue together. So I had a feeling she was going to propose soon. I wasn't sure if she was planning on doing it in Disneyland too.
We decided to dress as Mickey and Minnie on one of the days. I bought a red and white dress and Kirsty bought red jeans and had buttons sewn on.
We decided to wear those outfits on the 3rd day so I chose the 3rd day as the day I wanted to propose. We walked to the Sleeping Beauty castle and I asked her to come to the side. At first I couldn't do it and we were just looking at the ducks over the bridge. But I eventually managed to pull the cards out and read them to her. Then I showed her the box and ring and she said yes and I cried. (She didn't cry and I never let her forget it.)
Then she seemed to want to rush off so I had a pretty good idea what was coming. We went to the pirate ship but it was locked so we went inside the skull rock cave which you can see the pirate ship through. She didn't have cards. She told me how much she loves me and wants to spend the rest of her life with me. Then she pulled out a treasure chest box she had made and the ring and got down on one knee and I said yes and almost cried again.
We had got each other almost matching rings. For that first day of us wearing them we were both so scared that they were going to fall off on rides or just walking around so we were clenching our fists.
When is the wedding?
We started thinking about our wedding not long after we got engaged and started saving up almost straight away. We have settled on our dream venue which is about halfway between both of our families. We have planned our table names and wedding decor. We have picked which menu we prefer and designed our wedding cake. We have saved close to the full amount we need, including money for our honeymoon (a Disney Cruise in Europe). And we have a dream date in 2018 which we hope we are able to book late this year.
What next?
We started trying for a baby in August 2014 using artificial insemination.
It didn't work for 10 months so we took a break and since then I have had a lot of tests done.
We were referred to the reproductive clinic in January 2016. I have been told that I have low egg count and we probably need to self fund six rounds of IUI (it's less invasive than IVF), so we have started saving up for that but its going to cost around £13,000.
So that is our story so far! I may make more posts in the future about our baby mission.
I will definitely most more about our wedding planning.
And I am currently posting once a fortnight about the alphabet dating we are doing this year
Thanks for reading!
