So 2012, this year has been my best year to date! The year started well busy at work which has not slowed as yet! I've had amazing family and friends joining me on countless weekends away playing places like Go Ape, countless weekends in enjoying living with my girlfriend Emma, then it really kicked off....... As summer came so did the excitement, I decided that this was the year I would bite the bullet and buy Emma and I a VW campervan as we have both always wanted one. As I trawled though the internet, clicking and searching through every site going! this went on for weeks, I had a rough idea on the sort of money I was going to part with so I arranged the money. A holiday to Portugal booked early in january came around and off we went, Alvor was our destination and it was beautiful. After the first couple of days we rented a car and went exploring, seeing different resorts and beaches all of which were stunning. on the second day of having the car we decided to take an hours drive (with crap road signs) to Sagres to get a day of surf lessons. Along the way I noticed 3 or 4 bay windows rangeing from rust buckets to bright and shiney ones all of which got me salivating. After a day of surfing we got said our goodbyes to the great guys and galls at the surf school and set off back stopping off at Albufiera on the way to visit a restaraunt we had frequented on our last little holiday to Portugal which unfortunately was out of buisness feeling a little sombre reflecting on how amazing the food was and how lovely the people were we carried on back to base. We finished our amazing holiday and came back to reality which was slightly obscured by the very real possiblity of owning a vw camper. The search continues... First night home from work I was straight on the internet looking for my bus to be, after a few days of looking I found an ad, got the number and rang to arrange a viewing, The bus was an hour from where I was working so I had to go and see it. As On the 17/07/12 I arrived at the meeting point a little blue and white camper came into view, a smile started to grow from ear to ear and my eyes widened as I took it all in. I parked up next to the van and had to get myself together to introduce myself to the wonderful man who was going to let me take his pride and joy for a sum of money. He hadn't cleaned the van outside or in so it looked a little scruffy but upon inspection I could see it was in pretty good condition so I made an offer which he accepted, at this point all I wanted to do was bounce around grinning like an idiot but managed to keep my cool to sort paperwork and money out. I said my goodbyes and the camper said his and I was homeward bound. I stopped off 30 mins in for something to eat on the way home and rang Emma to tell her the good news, bursting with food and excitement I set off, the journey was long and slow but not long and slow enough, with the stereo out of order I enjoyed every bump clunk ching and rattle that surrounded me, windows down I let the engine sound fill my ears and I loved it, waves and flashes came at regular intervals, proud was not the word! The next morning my little blue and white camper was given his name, Archie due to him having Two quite obvious new arches. Emma got back from Nottingham and was greeted by Archie and myself at the train station big hugs and kisses were given and taken, Emma got sat in Archie and our life as we knew it got a whole lot better. Emma and I fitted a laminate flooring to save on mess and off we went, our first trip away was to Ripon as me and a few friend were joining in with the spartan race ( a muddy obstlcle race ) in which we all did well 62nd out of 1200 in fact it was beautifull weather all weekend and beat the hell out of staying in a tent! So from that day on we were away every weekend without fail surfing weekends at cayton bay mostly but all fantastic. Archies next big moment came on the 27th October, Me and Emma decided that for our 6th yr anniversary we should have a meal in Archie. In the week leading up to it i decided that this was as good time as any to ask Emma to marry me so I bought the ring, asked permission, baked some buns and wrote the question on and hid them away. The night of the meal arrived, we cooked a meal in the house to warm up in Archie and got set up. We had a lovely rissoto and some red whine and relaxed with music playing away in the background. being only 2 mins from home I made an excuse of needing the toilet and left Emma to take in the atmosphere, Grabbing the buns which were neatly packed away in a wrapped up box mascarading as an anniversary present I made my way back to Archie thinking of what I was going to say, I opend the sliding door and handed Emma the box, waiting for the moment when she opened the box and saw the buns I popped the question! She said yessssss! So 2012, An amazing year and today I have put a little cherry on top by finding Archie a bed for the winter, a bodyshop with everything I need to carry out the body work Archie needs doing! So heres to christmas coming up and a lifetime with Emma and Archie. I cant wait for the adventures! Sorry about the grammer I just needed to tell the story
Nice times - got a bit confused when you were 'grabbing the buns' but read it again and it all made sense
Excellent, that's the second warm glow from this site tonight! I'm gonna have to switch off before I start blubbing...
