ENGAGED!!!!!!

Oh my GOODNESS... Was I actually engaged?! Could it actually finally be happening?! You know, I think it is! No doubt you want to know our proposal story so here it is - I'm afraid it's a very boring one unfortunately but early on in the summer we started talking about married. We both knew that we were with 'the one' and it was never a case of if but when! We started looking around for engagement rings that we liked and eventually we found two rings that we both liked.... Once they were ordered, we decided that we would put them in their respective boxes and store them safely in the safe until Christmas Day when we'd get engaged officially..... Well, as you can imagine that didn't happen because as soon as they arrived in store and we tried them on, we didn't want to take them off! This left us in a bit of a predicament though because according to the family, we'd only been together since May which isn't exactly long in their eyes and given the fact not everyone was happy, we were understandably a little apprehensive of telling 'certain' people but it had to be done so we bit the bullet and told my parents over the phone while they were on holiday..... Our thinking was wait until they are home from the evening quiz at the pub, catch them after a few pints and with them being abroad, there's no way they can stop me!!! They took it surprisingly well and after that it was easy. We wrote more letters to all my family telling them of our good news and although some were a little surprised everyone of them promised that as long as I was happy, then so were they and they'd support me! This was more than I could ever have dreamt of so now it's onto the best part..... WEDDING PLANNING!!!!!!!!

An interesting summer and start to uni.....

So we've moved into our student house but we can't actually LIVE there until 1st September... Don't ask! Because of that, the whole summer we are moving from Surrey to Dorset never really settling. To start with, we traipse down to Dorset at the beginning of July and luckily we both fall into jobs; me into my old nursing job and Debbie gets bar work at a pub (for a grand total of 2 days!) and more bar work at a holiday park.... Great yes?! Well it would be if the boss wasn't such a bitch!! We plodded on for several more weeks until eventually admitting defeat... Debbie's Dad was ill and we'd lost all independence there, not to mention feeling uneasy in the house because my mother wasn't quite adjusted to my new situation so we tottered back up to Surrey for the rest of the holidays but there were many good moments that summer.... Debbie was accepted unquestioningly by my whole family - She was invited to Sarah's 18th birthday celebrations (my not so beloved sister who I'm sort of starting to like!) and also to my cousin's wedding at the beginning of August which meant so much to me because it meant that we were like any other couple there, in love and most importantly ACCEPTED!! The last thing good moment was pretty monumental because we felt that the time was right and...... WE GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7th May 2013.... A couple at last!

So, we are finally a couple which is great..... BUT..... That means actually TELLING people... ARGH!!!!! Our friends at uni were easy to tell because rumours had been going around long enough that when we eventually put paid to the rumours and admitted that it was actually true, nobody was that surprised and not one person was upset or shocked, infact, everyone was so thrilled and pleased as apparently we make a wonderful, sweet couple! Our family however is a separate issue and I could be here all day going through that sh*tstorm but I won't - To cut a long story short, the majority of the family is more than happy with us, no problems at all..... But there is one exception, my mother! She is struggling with the fact that her daughter has become a 'lesbian' even though she hasn't *whispers* she's actually bi-sexual but anything in her eyes where a girl is with a girl appears to be a lesbian regardless of what you say.... Mind you, she's never said anything about it this is just what I've managed to gage from various family members as the typical person in denial of course doesn't bother to actually talk or confront the issue!! But annnnnyway, I could go on about my mother for a long time and still have more to say so it's probably best I stop now before I bore you all (she says hopefully thinking people will actually read which I think is debatable!) and drive you into insanity about my mother!

So, we're a couple that has been accepted in general by the majority of our clan, we've taken our exams, we've moved into our student house for next year and the summer holidays are about to start!

Friends with benefits!

From then on it was very easy, secretly we were friends with benefits meaning we had the perks of the bedroom without any of the emotional stuff but still keeping our friendship.... Or so we thought. At the start, it was great fun sneaking about and just having fun. We came to the Easter holidays and secretly we were both heartbroken to be parted again but this time it was only for 10 days because we both caved and I came up to Surrey and spent the rest of the holidays with Debbie and her lovely, adorable family! During the holidays though, we were involved in quite a serious car crash resulting in me dislocating my knee among other things and Debbie suffering from very bad whiplash..... That was the start of the realization for us - We knew that we couldn't go on much longer as we were and if we did, it would tear us apart. Despite knowing this, it still took us 3 weeks to have the dreaded, anticipated 'talk'! We finally sat down and had a heart-to-heart one night in early May and we actually talked about that alien thing; FEELINGS!!! Never before had we done that about us, what a strange thing to do... 2 best friends actually talking?? Heaven forbid!! But anyway, I digress.... As a result of this night long conversation, we finally became a proper, genuine, bonafide COUPLE - HUZZAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Christmas full of change!

The Christmas holidays started and for the first time since uni started, we'd been separated, we weren't at each others side 24/7 and we weren't enjoying it at all! We didn't really have much contact because Debbie and her family were ill for most of the holidays so she was on nurse duty and we were both working so and when we did get some free time, one or the other wasn't free to chat. As the holidays continued, we both started realize that actually, if we thought of each other as friends then we wouldn't be pining for each other quite so much as we were......

I returned to university a few days before the new year and saw the new year in with my essays alone in my halls. I did get a chat with Debbie but understandably, she was busy with various family members who were round that night to celebrate! The next 5 days or so until she returned were pretty hell-ish without my best friend so when the day arrived, I was bouncing off the walls with excitement. As soon as I got the text through saying her Dad had departed, I raced around to her house with my blow up mattress straight away. As soon as I saw her I wasn't thinking 'there's my best friend!', I was thinking 'there's the woman I love' and when I hugged her, I finally realized it... So now I was in a predicament! Here I was the good little church girl going to uni getting her degree expected to come out with a decent, reliable but essentially boring boyfriend who I would eventually get round to marrying but instead I'd fallen in love with my FEMALE best friend.... Considering that I'd never been out with a girl, let alone had feelings for one, this was a bit of a shock to the system!

As January progressed, we got closer until mid-January when we kissed. It was nothing much at all but it was enough for me to freak out a little! You see, at the time, I had no idea that she liked me in that way Although I knew I liked her very much, I had never kissed a girl before so I sought the advice of a very good friend who I knew would understand. A week later, Debbie came round to my house after going to a concert to see her inspiration Alison Balsom. We finally talked and admitted what we'd known all along; That we were starting to fall for each other. The next morning (after the night before!), we decided to.... Well, become friends with benefits!

A new life....

The 22nd September 2012 dawned a bright and hopeful day for us and all freshers making the journey to Canterbury that morning especially those that had an early check-in like us! Although we had different halls, we were in contact via text all day saying 'where are you?! Are you there yet?!' ..... While we were both settling in at our respective houses, our father's made the long trek back to Dorset and Surrey; They could have even passed each other on the motorway home along with all the other weary father's dropping off their children! We always knew when we passed a fresher going down to Canterbury as the heavy laden and ruined suspension-ed cars with a parent or two in tow were a familiar sight on the way down! The next morning, we both made our separate ways over to Augustine House where we were joined the long queue of students bringing documents to get registered properly and I finally found Debbie by leaning over the first floor railing and shouting 'I'm up here!' Such a student!

Over the term there were ups and downs for both of us, but somehow, we got through the term and probably wouldn't have if we hadn't got each other. We made it to December and the Departmental Christmas Ball...... We both got very drunk but surprisingly sober by the end of the night although I don't think anyone has done the macarena QUITE as energetically as me! The term then rounded up very quickly finishing off with me falling down some steps in the cathedral and ending up in the back of an ambulance trundling my way to A&E!

Where it all began....

Picture this, it's 4th June 2012 and 2 girls who had never met before started chatting online on a group for freshers going to uni that September. One in Surrey, the other in Dorset started criticizing HM The Queen's Jubilee Concert performers. The whole evening was filled with frantic typing, giggling and awaited replies from the other but most importantly it was the first time in a very long time that we both genuinely smiled, laughed and felt happy. We had both been through tough times over the last few years but here we were chatting as though we'd known each other our whole lives when in reality, it was barely a few hours. We opened up, we confided and we both realized that we'd found that person that understood 'me'. Little did we know that it was a friendship that would last a lifetime and without realizing it, we had just met our future spouse...

So you may ask what happened next? Well, over the next 2.5 months we chatted for hours upon hours about everything and anything from how annoying our families were to how I wanted to kill all the seagulls until eventually it came to the night before results day for Debbie and that's when I proved myself as a genuine friend. I stayed up all night talking on Facebook trying to keep her calm until the morning but our patience was rewarded though because at 8.30am, I got the message I'd been waiting for all summer to hear - Debbie had got into Canterbury Christ Church University as well!!!

Now that we'd both had places confirmed, we both went into planning for uni mode and we decided that we'd see if each other were real and not crazy aliens trying to lure us away from the safety of our houses! So despite some reservations and a fair bit of lying on both our parts, Debbie made the journey down to Dorset to stay the weekend and meet me! When she finally came trundling up the hill wearily (baring in mind it took 5 hours because of the bank holiday and the Great Dorset Steam Fair!), it was unanimous that we were both pleased that we were who we said we were.... That evening, I cooked up a breakfast for us both and we laughed over monopoly, wine and cupcakes until the early hours and that was just the start of our long friendship to come. All we needed was for university to start and we were away!