9th May 1998, 10 years ago ......

...a shy young theologian approached a shy young linguist (via her friend!) and love's young dream was born!

Here are some highlights from the last 10 years! With apologies for the poor quality of the photos - these were in the days before digital cameras and also when Andy had longer hair than Shona!

Shona dressed up and ready for the first date, along with her friend Elizabeth who was going out for Lemon Chicken!

The location of that first date was Pizza Express, Exeter, followed by a walk around Marsh Barton Industrial Estate, oh yes, Andy knew how to impress me!!!

And it obviously worked, since 6 months later we took a trip to Torquay to celebrate half a year together! (Awwww!) It was cold and we circled the town many times searching for the public convienieces.

During our third year at University, Shona lived in France. We spent many hours and many pennies chatting on the phone and texting (on our HUGE new moblie phones). We also enjoyed several trips across the channel, including a weekend in Paris for my 21st birthday - a day sightseeing and a day at Disneyland with Shona's parents!

In July 2000, Andy popped the question! He took me to Torpoint to watch a football match (still an old romantic!) and then down to Looe in Cornwall for tea. While we were walking on the beach he got down on one knee, and I gladly accepted. At which point he opened the rucksack he'd been carrying so protectively all day and we toasted our engagement! The date was set for August 11 2001, and after much planning and crafting (and sitting of finals) the big day dawned!

For our honeymoon we returned to Looe in Cornwall, and spent a fortnight in a tiny little cottage on a holiday complex.

Since then we have enjoyed lots of holidays together, mostly in our tent - the furthest away from home that we have camped was in Copehagen in August 2003, we managed to cram everything into our backpacks, and took a cheap flight to Denmark. It was awesome!

The furthest from home that we have ever ventured was the following year, when we visited our good friends the Fage Family in Namibia. We had a fab time and would have stayed longer if we could have!

A couple of months after returning from Namibia we discovered that our lives were about to change sigificantly, as we would move from Exeter to Bristol, and also that we would be welcoming a new addition to the family!

To be continued ...