Happy Anniversary to us! Our first year of marriage…

Well, well, well…I can’t believe that a year has gone by already. On December 18th 2014 I married the love of my life, Patrick Wynn right here in Dubai. It was such a beautiful day – we had an intimate ceremony with our family and friends at Christchurch Jebel Ali followed by a reception in my Mum’s garden. If you want to read more about my lovely wedding day you can visit my earlier post here.
As you can imagine I spent most of yesterday reliving the day and thinking “what would I be doing right now?” – take me back please?! I am in Dubai at the moment and my husband is still in India so unfortunately we didn’t actually get to spend the day together BUT he will be flying in tomorrow evening (I literally am bursting with excitement to see him after 10 days apart) and he sent me the most gorgeous bouquet of roses so the man gets major major brownie points! Oh did I also mention he bought me golf clubs as a joint anniversary and Christmas present? I am seriously the luckiest girl in the whole wide world.
I got to thinking about our first year of marriage and I wanted to tell you guys a little about it. It has been quite the year for us.
Like a lot of you lovely readers, we are an expat couple which means we have depended on each other a lot to navigate the craziness that comes along with moving to a new country. For us, this was India. We are coming up to marking our second year living in India and I have to say it has been one of the best things for us a couple.  When we were living in Dubai, I would usually be doing my own thing 2 or 3 nights out of the week. Even when we would go to social things on the weekend, I would usually end up down one end of the table with the girls and Patrick with the boys and we would joke that we would see each other at home.
Moving to India changed all that as for a long time, it was just the two of us. It made us stronger as a team. We had deeper conversations. We learned so much both individually and as a couple. We laughed together about just how insane life can get. With Patrick only having one day off, we usually spent it together because time was so precious and it turns out we only really need to be with each other to giggle and have an amazing time. He is my best friend and he honestly makes me laugh more than anyone in the world.

Earlier this year, Patrick saw me at my absolute worst when I cried myself to sleep every night because I missed my family and friends and had no idea what I was doing with my career or how to live in a country that thrives on chaos. He talked me down when I was yelling down the phone in frustration about how my visa had been delayed yet again. He helped me find my feet and supported me 100% in whatever way I tried to ground myself in a strange place, whether that was travelling to study yoga, buying me my first camera so I could try photography, or simply taking me out for a nice dinner to cheer me up. He is my absolute rock and I definitely don’t give him enough credit for always being the strong and steady one in our relationship.
One of the harder parts of the last year is that between visa delays and me being in Dubai for family-related matters, we worked out the other day that Patrick and I have spent 4 out of 12 months apart. Now I’m not playing my violin because I know couples who go through much longer time away from each other but it is still a third of a year! It is a good and a bad thing. It certainly makes us appreciate each other a whole lot more when we’re away but it can also be tough when you are both essentially operating independently and you are coming in and out of each other’s lives on a regular basis.  It has at times meant that our marriage has, a lot of the time, had to be functional with WhatsApp exchanges and e-mails back and forth to arrange flight bookings and visa documentation which – no surprises – tends to kill the romance a little bit. That being said we worked through it together and definitely came out the better for it.
Looking forward, the new year brings a number of adventures for the Walker-Wynns – after officially signing up for another year living in Bangalore, we have just moved into a new apartment yay! We also have new work challenges on the cards for both of us and some super exciting travel plans not to mention we are surrounded by truly amazing family and friends so I honestly couldn’t ask for more. If I had to set any resolution or intention for our next year of marriage, I definitely want to focus on enjoying our relationship. It’s so easy to get tied up in the day-to-day and focusing on all the things you have to achieve both individually and together that it easy to let the date nights and the fun parts slip a little bit. Life will get in the way. Some days will be harder than others. But at the end of the day, if I get to come home and have a cuddle on the sofa with my favourite person and laugh about whatever happened then I am already winning at life.

So to my husband – I love you and thank you for being you and making me your wife. Here’s to many, many more years of happy memories 🙂
All my love always,