by Johanna Osborne

There are a few quotes that get me every time, especially this one as it’s just so true …

”Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different?” CS Lewis

It applies to us all as that’s obviously the one constant in life, that nothing stays the same forever. It’s even more significant when I cast my eye back over the last 5 years of my own life and how much things have changed since then—not to mention all the rollercoaster highs and lows that brought me forward to today. What a mix of extreme joy and bountiful happiness, as well as unexpected tragedy. In 2009 my darling husband and I found out we were expecting our first baby, which was the most exciting news ever. This news delighted our entire family and everyone was excited about what lay ahead. A short 5 months later, I devastatingly and suddenly lost my beloved dad. A blow too extreme to even begin to describe. A few months later as the birth of our boy grew imminent I left the job I had known and loved for many years to become a full time mummy. A new, exciting and most exhausting world! Becoming a mother has let me experience the biggest love of my life, and I wonder how my heart could possibly fit it all in without bursting. We moved from our treasured inner city apartment to a house in the suburbs, I joined playgroups and kids clubs and traded in my pencil skirts for denim and my heels for cowboy boots. I met a whole bunch of new friends that not only had children the same age, but also hearts and souls that connected with mine. I began working as a freelance writer for The Wellington Wedding Show – to be able to write and let my thoughts flow had always been a lifelong dream of mine, and for someone to actually want to read what I put on paper (or a screen) was the biggest buzz ever (thank YOU so much for reading our blog and magazine!). We travelled with our son and shared amazing family holidays with my brother’s children, forming memories that will last a lifetime. Yes, it’s fair to say that things have changed a lot for me in the last few years, my whole life as I knew it was turned upside down and the journey has been painted with great loss, but thankfully also with plenty of good fortune and joy, in large brought to us by our son Milan. I guess that’s what life is… a mixed bag of fate’s confetti, who knows what you are going to get but you can make sure that you hope for the best and take nothing less than what you deserve. You might not be able to grab a moment and hold it still with both hands, no matter how much you want to. But instead the good moments teach us to appreciate what we have, and to do all we can to make them last.

Why I am I writing this? It’s fair to say I am on the cusp of another major life changing decision. Perhaps the biggest yet. It will impact a lot of people and change a lot of things. So it’s only natural that I need take a moment to breathe, reflect and consider which way the path of my life should lead me. Perhaps the answer has already been decided, it’s just me who has to catch up.

I feel much like I did in the months leading up to my wedding day when I physically and emotionally felt so excited, but also so very aware that my life would be forever changed from the 5th January 2006. I was going to be a wife. I would be bound to the man of my dreams for the rest of my life, a big commitment and one that I felt more than ready for … but the responsibility of being that amazing, trustworthy and rock-solid person for someone else, to be a good life partner, well that was a major thing, and I vowed to try and always be someone my husband would love, admire and most importantly be able to rely on. He certainly deserved that.

Marriage, having children and deciding where and how to spend your life are some of the biggest decisions in life. In fact they are more than that, they ARE life. And famously some of the most significant and stressful things in life are changing jobs, moving house, divorce and bereavement… most of us have been through at least some of these. Are they hard? Absolutely. Do they make us stronger? Most definitely. In hindsight the things that have scared me the most in life have also been the things that have paid off with the greatest rewards – such as changing jobs and having a baby. I don’t take things lightly, but sometimes a leap of faith is required. Sometimes we need to be brave. If I were able to time travel back to my younger self, perhaps the first piece of advice I would give to myself would be “Don’t worry so much. It will all fall into place.” A little faith truly goes a long way sometimes.

Thank you for following our blog for these last few years and hopefully you will stick around to hear more about my own personal adventure, as well as many more wedding tips, ideas, inspiration and details about exciting suppliers. I have a feeling things are only just starting to get good! It’s all coming your way. We hope you can join us for the ride.

xoxo Johanna