Rollercoaster Month

A lot has happened since my last post — some good, some not so good. People have been asking me to update, so I’ll try to summarise the biggest news here. Sorry if this post is short, and I hope to post more regularly soon. First of all, we received the extremely sad news that my sister Kirsty lost her baby, Matilda. We felt the distance between Australia and the UK more keenly over that period than we have before, and it was upsetting not to be able to be at the service.

Some good news after that however, when I asked Lotte to marry me and she said yes! The entire story about the proposal will have to wait for now, but it was a wonderful day, and we’re planning for a big engagement party in October in Utrecht, and a wedding about a year later in Melbourne. Mum and Dad then decided they’d push their UK visit forward to May, so we were starting to feel a bit more positive about things. Then more sadness: we got the news that Lotte’s mum is ill and will need an operation in early May, so we’re currently making plans to be in Holland for her recovery. However the initial signs are good, which is a big relief. For Lotte and I, life goes on and we’re both fine and looking forward to Mum and Dad’s visit.