I am going to start this off with the fact that I am NOT an expert and I am just posting based off of my experiences in the past year and a half. I feel like I have learned SO much this past year and a half. My perspective on marriage has changed so much!!

This past year and a half has been SUCH a blast but has also had its own set of challenges that I never expected.

1. I have a friend who said she and her husband don’t even start talking about anything that might start a fight or anything of great importance after 8pm. If they have any issues they will talk/resolve it the next day. Once we started adapting that it has been so much better. Now, we do still sometimes fight, but this helps us eliminate staying up super late fighting and saying things we don’t mean out of pure exhaustion. Sometimes it’s worth putting a pin in it to go to sleep and wake up refreshed and hopefully with better clarity about the situation
2. DATE NIGHT is SO IMPORTANT. Not just going out to eat because somebody doesn’t want to cook. Getting ready separately and coming out of the bedroom for him to see your cute date night outfit is so important. It is NOT about where you go out to eat, if you can only afford a fast food place it is worth it to still go out once a week or once every other week intentionally getting ready and going out on a date night.
3. I feel like I have truly learned what unconditional love means and I have also learned that love is a CHOICE and not always a feeling. Some days I have to chose to love Jeremy even when he is driving me up a wall. This one is so hard to explain, but this point is more of a heads up.
4. As much as I LOVE Jeremy and LOVE spending time with him. Now that we are ALWAYS together we also need our alone time and our own outlets. We each go to a church-based small group which is AMAZING but finding our own hobbies and interest has been so helpful in not losing our individual identity. This is partly why I am trying to pick up blogging again, this is something I love, but in the busyness of life, I have let it slip. It can even be as simple as me watching a real housewives show while he will go and play video games.
5. The biggest thing I have learned this past year and a half is that he and I are now a TEAM. Every decision I make directly affects another person. I knew going into the marriage that Jeremy and I were becoming one, but I didn’t truly understand what that meant. This person has my back all the time, he cares about what I care about, he loves me and accepts me. We joined our lives together the good and the bad.

This past year and a half have been the most amazing and challenging time. Learning how to live with and love somebody can be challenging, but this has been the best time of my life. I am so thankful for this past year and a half and I am so thankful to be married to Jeremy.