I mostly keep my work and personal life quite separate. But I have some news I think is rather worthy of sharing!

Most of my clients are aware that I’ve been a single mum to three children for a few years now. Juggling the house, mortgage, the studio, kids, work, life in general was at times both rewarding and daunting. I have the utmost respect for all parents, parenting isn’t the easiest of gigs. BUT I have a new understanding of just how difficult and emotional it is to raise a family, a house and a business on your own. When I became a parent for the first time I certainly never thought that my life would take the path it did. I had the usual vision of a house, a family and a loving partner to share that with. But that all changed, and I had to do the only thing you can do under those circumstances, get up, keep moving and just keep living.

Being in my late 30′s I was unsure if I’d ever meet and settle down and find real love. During my time on my own I had a few attempts at relationships, most met with a massive ‘fail’. I went through the ‘are all men losers’ stage, I took time to heal and I enjoyed my time with my family and friends. I sometimes wondered… How on earth would I even meet someone with my busy lifestyle? Will I remain on my own forever? Life went on.

Then during last year I decided to hop onto a dating site (RSVP). I’d used them before, though had chosen to use free ones in the past and had too many hits from the wrong types of men. RSVP is a paid site and has what seems, a good reputation. I was a little nervous and hesitant but figured ‘what have I got to lose’ and put my profile up. After only a day or two I was contacted by someone who caught my eye… and that is the beginning of how I met Campbell.

We chatted only the once through RSVP before exchanging numbers and texting over the next few days. During this time we found we had a lot in common and we decided we’d take the plunge and meet.

Campbell arranged our first date. We met down the beach before sunset. When I arrived he was sitting at a table overlooking the sea with his dog by his side. It was a lovely (yet windy) evening. I walked up and said hi and gave him a hug hello. We both relaxed more immediately and sat and chatted the night away getting to know each other better. He’d brought dinner and a few beers along. So we sat and ate and sipped and talked as we watched the sun set. We soon realised we had loads in common -  A love of photography, (Campbell is also a photographer and he’d brought some albums to share with me) -  A love of good food (he said he’d brought ‘hotdogs’ for dinner, the gourmet rolls certainly weren’t the hotdogs I usually know) – A love of good wine (and conversation to go with) – A love for animals (our blended menagerie is 3 dogs, 2 cats, a rabbit, 5 chooks, a turtle and some fish) – A love for family (between us we have 5 children, myself 3 full time and Campbell 2 kids 50% of the time) – and matching purses/wallets (I think you had to be there that day to understand how funny it was!)

 

At the first meeting I knew something was different. I felt a connection I don’t think I’ve ever felt before. We sat and talked for 5 and a half hours on our first date…. and we haven’t stopped talking since!

Soooooooooo

Rather than drag on and on about how we fell in love and how we love nothing more than spending time together and with our friends and family, about how wonderful Campbell is and about how well we fit together…. I wanted to share the news.

I’M GETTING MARRIED!

Campbell proposed on the 31st of January… on my birthday. I of course said yes! So now I have a family, a business, a house and also a wedding to plan… but I also have a huge bonus… someone to share all of that and life with.

So yes, this is not a standard blog post. But I wanted to share. I am always let into the lives of others through my work as a portrait photographer. So now I am sharing a piece of mine with you all.

 

This entry was posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 1:09 pm and is filed under Family Photography Melbourne. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.