[one year]

Everyone said before we got married, that the first year is the hardest.

I guess we were lucky because the first year was a truly wonderful time in my life.

It helps that I married a man with incredible patience, love, and support for me.

Still we learned more about the “ugly” parts of one another and loved each other despite them.

For example: Todd learned I am not a morning person, 

and I learned the boy can’t close the washer door to save his life.

Todd learned that I do not cook everything just like his mom, 

and I learned he punches in his sleep.

Our biggest “disagreements” were about cleaning 

and our aggravations were petty and forgotten quickly.

All in all, I’d say we had a relatively easy transition.

However, I think the harder part was intentionally making every day count in our marriage.

It is easy to get in the routine of waking up, going to work, 

making dinner, and getting ready for the next day.

And it is just as easy to forget to make the other person feel special on an ordinary day.

Therefore, we started a tradition of making each Sunday night a time to focus on just this.

We have a list of questions we ask each other that include “How can I pray for you this week”

 and “What could I do to make you feel loved in the upcoming week” etc.

I believe what made our first year so easy were these questions,

the daily texts just to say “I was thinking about you,”

the dance parties while washing dishes to make the mundane tasks fun,

and the prayers we said together each night.

What made it so easy was reminding ourselves and each other how much we are in love.