Well, the story of how we met could be told in two versions; Mine or Matthews. Matthew's; "We got messaging, met up for a coffee and then out in the city." Rachele's version; a friend told me of this handsome aussie guy called Matthew, she knew of him as he played Ice Hockey at the same rink as her partner, "you should come watch a game and meet him". Both of these stories are true and I did eventually go and watch him play but we actually started talking via a dating app and arranged to meet at my local Cafe. I was late (as usual) and nervous to say Hello so I went straight in for a hug to break the ice, but then apologised as I thought jeez this is a bit forward for our first hello. "Oh um sorry I'm a hugger!" It was an awkward start but we soon got comfortable discussing our love for dogs, travel and scuba diving. It was safe to say we wanted to see each other again ....... Neither one of us knowing that it would actually be later on that same evening. My friend Martha stole my phone and sent the text I had been mulling over, asking him to join us out for a drink. Within the next hour we were dancing the night away.... and the rest is history!

It was the first sunny day that Matthew had seen since arriving in the UK, we took advantage of this and went out exploring the countryside. After a visit to my work stables we headed towards Minehead, Matthew was looking out the window and saw the historic Dunster Castle up on the hill, "lets go have a look at that!" We toured around the castle then went off to explore the gardens on our own. I was taking a photo of a beautiful old bridge we had found in the lower gardens, not knowing that Matthew was waiting patiently for me to put my phone away, as I turned around he was on one knee, "Rachele will you marry me?" " What!? YES! "