Truth Be Told: Our First Year of Marriage

On Sunday we celebrated our one year anniversary. It’s hard to tell if it feels like one year, shorter than a year, or even longer. As corny as it sounds, it’s been a beautiful and trying first year filled with tremendous growth for both of us. And truth be told, our first year of marriage was a test. It’s funny because before we got married, I would hear people say that the first year of marriage is the hardest. My reaction to that was always, no way, that could never be the case for Dave and I. We never argue, we’re both so easy going and we always get along so well. Now looking back, I see that our first year of marriage was in fact difficult. We went through getting a green card, dealing with extreme health issues, being away from our families, reorienting ourselves as a team of two rather than one, dealing with opposite work schedules, adjusting to a new job, trying to learn our new roles as husband and wife, and of course, the daily stuff like, who’s paying the bills, who’s unloading the dishwasher, who’s buying toilet paper when we run out… I’m pretty sure any newlywed couple can agree, the first year of marriage is a time of adjustment. I’m so weirdly thankful for our trying year. It sounds crazy but because we went through these hard things, I’ve seen Dave become a better husband and I feel I’ve become a better wife. We’ve learned to love with compassion, because you never really know what other people are going through. We’ve learned to not sweat the small stuff, because they’re so minuscule and unimportant compared to life that’s happening around you. We’ve learned patience, over and over again. I think this one drives me especially crazy, and I’m still learning it as we go. We’ve learned that communication is insanely important, because you can’t read each other’s minds 100% of the time. Most of all, I think we’ve both had a little taste of how big our God is. He’s shown up this year, that’s for sure.

For those of you who are married, I’d love to know what you learned in your first year of marriage.

Oh and of course, I have to give a shout out here. Thank you for an amazing first year, Dave. I can’t even wait for more and more and more. You make me so happy.

Also, the dress I’m wearing in the photo above was my grandmother’s wedding dress. It’s beautiful, huh?

Ok, that’s all for now. Time to get some sleep!

Photo by Léa Jones Photography.