Life lately, with love to Trav. ❤️

It’s going to be a sort of short post because these have been the shortest two years of my life. They’ve passed by so quickly, between a new job, a new house, a baby now toddler, new Seamus' business, old business brought back to new life, new citizenship… yes, it’s been great, fantastic actually! and I’m grateful for every second of them and cannot wait to experience more.

However, my story goes back to 7 years ago when I landed in a country that gave me what feels like a big hug and meaning to my life. Ireland is a country that embraces diversity despite what the news say, it's a country where its people are warm and hilarious, despite the banter that might be confusing at first and it's a country where neither Seamus nor me were born but it's a country where our lives shaped and continue to evolve and while I'm always up to tell stories about Ireland, I want to dedicate these lines to Seamus, my partner, who’s held my hand in every step.

It was March 2019 when he made me “Facebook official” and we were celebrating Paddy’s day in London and I was ticking a very important box of my bucket list: LONDON. We didn’t know back then what life would look like 6 years later but all I knew is that he was fun, smart and adventurous and that’s what I needed in my life.

It’s funny because recently Ethan keeps saying: let’s go on an adventure! And when he was born, the song I played was Adventure of a lifetime by Coldplay (and if you don’t believe me go check my instagram, it’s right there). Life since then and lately has been that: an adventure! Hard to believe though because I’m a walking planner and unpredictability is not where I thrive but somehow, it’s what’s kept me grounded and in love.

Every unknown step like Covid times, every bump in the road like a layoff while I was 8 months pregnant, every celebration like getting a new job, getting the keys to our own house, or opening a new pub, or getting my Irish citizenship, every trip like the ones we plan and the ones we don’t plan but end up being hella fun! Every win, every loss, every change, every nappy change, every season, every argument, every apology, every day, I’m grateful for you, Trav.

Thank you for holding my hand and scratching my head until I fall asleep all these years. Thank you for believing in me and in us. Thank you for teaching me to turn my challenges into opportunities (like the mornings that you've won and that I now dedicate to bonding with Ethan). Thank you for showing me that getting help is ok. You've shown me that I can do it all but why should I? Thank you for all the politics conversations, the economics ones, the social ones, the engineering ones, the non-sense ones. Thank you for agreeing and disagreeging with me, for all the memes, the reels, for all the jokes, the inside jokes, the serious stuff and thank you for always asking "how you doing?". You might think it's a simple question but it ticks two boxes for me, one: you're ckecking on me and two: it's a Joey's quote. Oh and thank you for embracing my home decor skills (aka Friends stuff around the house) and for loving dogs less than I do so I can still be their favourite. Thank you for making our house a home and above all, thank you for giving me the tiny human that makes my heart explote of joy and love like no other.

Last but not least, thank you for being the same you in every room and through it all.

Here is to many more years of adventures together and to the love that keeps on growing. ❤️🥂