I thought it might be interesting for people to know how Viv and I came to be together, from both our points of view. If you’re expecting it to be all mushy then I do hope one of us doesn’t disappoint.

Viv and I have known of one another since our first year, yet it wasn’t until our sixth year of study until we came together. We both were over those intial years members of the Christian Union and therefore probably saw each other on numerous occasions, though I can’t think of any time we actually spoke to one another. So to say it was love at first sight would be a blatant lie!

Being a computer scientist meant that during my undergraduate years there wasn’t a lot of interaction with females and to be a Christian computer scientist meant that I was basically asking for trouble. So instead I turned to my studies and came through, deciding to continue on with a PhD.

At that time some of my friends suggested I attend a fairly new Church plant, Cardiff Vineyard, and pointed me in the direction in some great people who I felt instantly at home with. I adopted Vineyard as my own and was really happy there. This was where I found Viv.

As Viv and I were placed in different housegroups, it wasn’t until a mutual friendship through Jon and Cathy Matthias until we really started speaking. We began to form a good relationship and Viv volunteered to move in when housemates were to depart my living quarters and we needed a tenant. At the time, I didn’t have a problem with this, as we were only good friends. As time moved on however, I saw that it might become ever more difficult to have Viv living in the same house with me and had to tell her why….

There then follows a period of a very confused 6 months for me, being very angry, upset having effectively been denied my advances and what I would assume were a very confused 6 months for Viv as well. What made it worse was Viv’s joking attitude to me as she knew I was interested! Also I think there was a 6 month period of amusement for all our friends who knew both of us.

I decided that my reading of “signals” was extremely poor. Just as I decided to move on, Viv asks me if I’m still interested and the rest is history.

I proposed to Viv in July 2006 while we were on Holiday in Mull. If you have good eyesight, the photograph reveals I proposed in the most innappropriate t-shirt ever.