My First Blog Post

This is my first post on the first blog I’ve created, and I’ve been a little bit lost in knowing where to begin.

This blog isn’t a place for me to teach or preach. It’s not somewhere that’s filled with words of wisdom. (Well, at the moment it isn’t filled with anything. It’s empty!) I’ve created this blog so I have a place to share the incredible journey of fatherhood, with all its highs and lows and the moments in between. I don’t know what this blog will end up looking like. It seemed like a good place to start, however, would be a little letter to myself.

Dear Future Me

Well, even though this is a message for myself, it seems like a good opening line is to say I hope that you’re doing well.

I’m writing this post (and future ones) because I’d like future-me to look back and understand the person I am today. I’d like to be able to look back and more clearly remember the happiness I have in my life. I’d also like to be able to be proud of the journey I take through life, and writing down a where I am today can only help with that.

Life as it is today

It was my 31st birthday this week, and here’s the rundown of life at 31.

I live in Stow in the Scottish Borders with my beautiful wife, Jordan; our 22-month-old daughter, Alice; and our 3-year-old Springer Spaniel, Tilly. We have a lovely small home, and I’m incredibly thankful for everything I have in my life.

I work for Developing the Young Workforce on a project which aims to introduce more young people to the career pathways that exist in the construction sector. At some point, I would like to start my own business. I just don’t quite know where to begin with it though.

In my spare time, I like a good run. I ran the London Marathon this year, which was my first time running a marathon after having previously run three half-marathons. I’ll be running London again in 2024, this time raising funds for Tommy’s.

We moved to Stow at the end of summer in 2019, but Jordan grew up here. Since moving here together, we’ve bought our own place, lived through a pandemic, and started our own little family. Life is returning to normal, and we’re enjoying meeting more people through the various groups and activities we get involved in.

Jordan’s parents live in Stow too; it’s great to have them nearby. They do so much for us, particularly in helping to look after Alice when we need some childcare support. But they do so much more than that and always have done.

I’ve got lots of hopes for the future, and I won’t go into too much detail here. Generally, I just want to be a good person: a good dad, husband, son, friend and colleague. I want to support my family to the best of my ability and provide for my children. I’d like to start my own business and make that move towards greater financial freedom. I’d like to stay healthy. I’d like to do my bit to make our community a better place to live. I’d like to be there for my family and friends if they ever need me. I’d like to succeed in my career. I’d like to be happy.

And of course I have my fears. I worry that I’ll go through life without being true to myself. I worry that I won’t achieve what I’m capable of. I worry that people won’t know how much they mean to me, and this blog will hopefully help with that last part.

The Journey So Far

I’ll spend time reflecting on the journey I’ve taken so far in future blog posts. There are memories, feelings, and occasions in my past that I regularly reflect on which deserve more time than a couple of lines in an introductory blog post. But here’s a summary.

I was born in 1992 in Edinburgh. I lived in Scotland until I was 6, then we moved to Romford, Essex.

I went to school in Essex until I was 14, and we then moved back up to Scotland and lived in a small village 10 miles outside of Peebles. After high school, I went to Strathclyde University to study History, which is where I met Jordan.

After graduating, I started working for Barclays in Glasgow. Two years later, Jordan and I moved to the Isle of Coll, where we lived and worked for three and a half years. I’ll talk more about Coll in future posts, but it’s worth noting at this stage how incredible that time in our lives was. We met so many of our closest friends whilst living on Coll, and we’ll arguably never live anywhere like it again.

And that brings us to 2019, when we moved to Stow and which is where we live today. That’s the briefest summary ever! But I’ll expand on everything in future posts.

Signing Off on Post One

So, future-me, this is a bit of a reflection on life as we know it in August 2023.

I’ll do my very best to add to this blog regularly and to record the journey that life will take our little family on in future months and years.

I am incredibly grateful for everything that I have in life, and I know how fortunate I am to have as much love and happiness surrounding me as I do. If I have one hope for future-me, it’s that I’ll get to look back on this post with as much happiness and love in my life as I now.

Signing off for now,

Simply Dad