13 random things about my first year of marriage

1. The first several months (probably nine) were tough. We fought and bickered a lot, about the smallest things. Now we have learned pick our battles wisely. ;)
2. It’s both scary and comforting to realize that, for better or worse, I will be spending the rest of my life with the same person.
3. I think that we've both matured a lot in this past year due to numbers one and two, which made us a lot wiser than we once were.
4. We moved twice. The first time was into a suite we were renting within a home while looking for a house. The second was on January 31 to our first home. It was freezing and I hope to never again move in the winter, but we learned a lot through the home buying procees.
5. Since we moved in the winter we did not start doing anything to the house until the end of April, and then it was a whirlwind.
6. On a whim decision we adopted two adorable puppies on May 25.
7. While they’re still adorable they are now quite large (at least 25 pounds) and six months old. I wanted a small dog and Bryan wanted a beast, so I suppose we compromised.
8. We had our open house on May 31 and since then we’ve done very little to our house. I think our next move will be to install and electric fence for the hounds.
9. We’ve been able to go on several small trips, in addition to our honeymoon to Aruba. We went to San Francisco and the Silicon Valley in October, and then this summer we visited Chicago, Mackinac Island, Traverse City, and Bay Harbor.
10. I hope to go on a wonderful trip to the Caribbean this winter, as I have said before, in lieu of any random first anniversary gifts. Cruise or resort is still T.B.D.
11. We’ve had some conflicts about household duties that culminated in him agreeing to do everything. And then not remembering that. Recently I have done the majority of the cleaning since he’s been pretty busy at work, but he’s usually very helpful with the dishes.
12. We’ve been trying to find a church together, but it’s been a slow process. We both grew up in different denominations and think we may have found a church that fits both of us. We both are challenged to keep an open mind in the process.
13. Our family is very important to both of us and that is fundamental for our marriage, even if my family is occasionally crazy.

Monday, September 22, is the official anniversary day. I can’t believe it’s been a full year already!