Our First (Married) Year

It's crazy to realize that Scott and I have been married for a year.  I've heard that the first year of marriage is the hardest.  If that's true, I think we'll make it :).  Trust me, we've butted heads multiple times over or first year as newlyweds, but the good times we've had and memories we've made far surpass any arguments.  I definitely learned a lot during our first year in marriage, and I figured I could share some advice to my soon-to-be married friends (I'm looking at you Caitie & Melissa!).

1. Take turns

Take turns making dinner, doing the dishes, picking out restaurants, choosing a weekend getaway, and being the romantic one.  It's not fair to expect one person in a relationship to always be the one responsible for making decisions.  I'm not the best decision maker, but I do my best to offer suggestions and go out of my way to do little things to surprise Scott.  It's always nice to find a random note or your favorite greek yogurt in the fridge ;)

2. Compromise

Once you're married, it's not just your decision anymore.  Before I got married, I would occasionally check in with Scott on little decisions I was making.  But now everything from big purchases and travel arrangements, to little things like homemade pizza is discussed so that we both know the options.  I may not always want to watch ESPN, but I know Scott doesn't always want to watch Teen Mom or The Big Bang Theory either.  Giving in to what the other person wants every once in a while is necessary to keep the balance.

3. Keep each other in the loop

I don't think couples need to be in constant communication and honestly get a little annoyed when I'm spending time with someone and they're texting their bf the whole.time.  While I don't need to know every move Scott makes during the day, I do think it is important to check in with each other a couple of times and keep each other in the loop.  With Scott traveling daily, it's nice to know where he is at or what time he thinks he'll be making it home.  This may seem obvious, but keep each other aware of any upcoming plans you may have made with friends, too.  Marriage takes working as a team together... i.e.don't just go to happy hour with your gfs and eat dinner without even realizing that the only thing at home for your hubby is a frozen hot pocket.... whaaaaa?

4. Remind them what you love about them

Straight off of Pinterest, I made an "I love you because..." frame that we have in our bedroom.  We take turns writing on it and the messages vary, but it always makes me smile when I see Scott wrote something.  It's been anything from "you cleaned the whole house!" to "you are so determined and it's inspiring!".

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Our first year of marriage was filled with fun trips and dates; we saw new places together, celebrated "married" holidays and birthdays, tried new restaurants, worked on home "improvements", tried new recipes, and had a lot of laughs over the past 12 months.

Tonight we're off to celebrate with dinner and attempting to eat a year old cake!  Cheers to many more anniversaries and birthdays and holidays and babies and vacations and memories together, Skitt. xxo :)