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Thursday, March 19, 2015

Six Months In.. What I've Learned {Thoughts for Thursday} + Giveaway!!

I feel like our one year wedding anniversary will be here before we know it!
As much as I loved being a bride, I really love being a newlywed.
I love doing life with my husband.
Running errands. Taking the dog to the vet.  Driving in the car.  Cuddling on the couch.
I love doing it all with him.

Looking back to the weeks after our honeymoon; we've already grown a ton.  
I know we will continue to grow as well.  
We learn from our problems and mistakes, work on things and better ourselves as a couple.

None of these are huge things.  
It's the little things that I love and sometimes the little things that can be important.
{Put your family first}
When you say I do, the two of you become your own little family.  Put your intentions above anyone else's. Live to make yourselves happy and each other happy.  Spend a weekend the way you both want to.  Spend each holiday how you both want and where you both want to be.  
We've really put an emphasis on making choices that make us happy first and foremost.

{Say, Don't Yell}
 In the beginning it was easy to get worked up easily about adjustment issues, compromise, meddling people, those little quirks and instead of just having a conversation just yell.  After about two conversations like this - we vowed to both work on it and when a "problem" arrises, it's now a calm conversation of talking instead of yelling over each other.  Usually we end up joking through the "issue" and go back on our merry way.

{Continue Dating}
Just because your not "dating" anymore doesn't mean not to date anymore.  Make sense?  
We go on a date night (or date breakfast, date lunch, date activity, whatever) at least once a week and it's still just as fun as it was when we were just "dating."  
I so enjoy dates with my husband, dressed up nice, out of our house and somewhere fun (and he enjoys them too!).  I enjoy planning the date night, I enjoy looking forward to it,
I enjoy the laughs, talks, flirting and special time together.
{Common Hobbies}
Make it a priority to have a couple hobbies that you jointly enjoy (you should have plenty, right?!)
For us this is going to church, TV watching time, traveling, watching sports and going for walks to name a few.
It's nice to keep the common interests a priority.

{Appreciate}
Say thank you. Notice when a nice gesture is done.
When Derek makes the bed or unloads the dishwasher or wakes up at the crack of dawn to take the dog out after staying up late to take her out the night before - I like to make a point to thank him for doing that for us.
When I come home with groceries or do a big house clean or do loads and loads of laundry - he always praises it and lets me know I'm doing a good job.
Either of us would do any of the chores not expecting or needing praise, but it's nice to hear you're appreciated sometimes.

{Get in Each Other's Shoes}
Try out things that your spouse likes to do.
Derek is my favorite person to do anything with.  I  love to shop with him (He's even been offered beer at Lilly.  More than once.) He also now loves coming along for pedicures (I've created a monster).
In return I've tested out the driving range (and have fun shooting off some golf balls every now and then) and made some bowling alley trips for him.
It's fun to do activities each of you like individually with each other sometimes.
{Compliments}
I'm Derek's biggest fan and vice versa.
I don't always think super highly of myself.  Derek's little compliments can make me feel perfect.
I love telling him he looks handsome.  I love telling him he's funny or he did great at something.  I love being his biggest supporter.
I love knowing how much he loves me just by the way he acts.
I love doing all the same for him, too.

{Make your own traditions}
As we put an emphasis on our family it's nice to come up with our own traditions.
Things that just the two of us do together.
Brunches after church, Holiday activities, anything to make memories, together.

{Weekends Away}
Together.  It's nice to travel (we love to!) and it's nice to also do quick little weekend getaways.  Traveling brought us so much closer when we were dating and it still does now!  There's something special about it.
Separate. We're both content spending time apart for each other for a weekend (not all the time!) and doing our own thing for a day sometimes.  
{Let Yourself Adjust}
It might not click right away.  Derek and I didn't live together before we got married (different topic for a different post) so after the honeymoon, it took a week or so to get used to our life.  
That is normal.
I was out of my parent's house for good for the first time, every other time, I knew I was coming back.
I had a little home-sick breakdown every day for probably a week or so and cried.  Not because I wasn't happy just because I was adjusting to the change.
Instead of letting it upset him or get mad, Derek supported me, loved me, helped me.  He made it better.
I live 15 minutes from my parents, ha! could you imagine if I had to move across country.  I still get homesick every now and again and we just try to laugh about it and make a joke.
We took time to learn each others living quirks, habits that we may or may not have liked and took time to adjust and settle in.  We were always happy as we settled in but we didn't jump on each other if clothes were on the floor or dishes were on the sink.
It's okay to adjust.

{Say I Love You}
This one should go without saying.
I think it's important to say I Love You as many times a day as possible.  (and we do quite a few!)
Yes, I know Derek loves me and he knows I love him but it's great and beautiful to say it out loud.
When we wake up, when he leaves for work, when he gets home from work, Before bed, at the end of a phone call.. and my favorite, just because.

What have you learned through your marriage?
What are some of your favorite special things you do together?

Linking up here and here for Thought for Thursday

Enter below for a $25 Bauble Bar gift card!!  With the weather heating up, it's the perfect time to treat yourself to a new piece of jewelry! The winner will be announced next Thursday, so be sure to check back then :)
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

28 comments:

  1. From Thoughts for Thursday - I read your story. Very sweet and I hope you have many years of happiness! I've been in it for almost 30 years now and I must say, the first 5 are the hardest - you have all the right attitudes and it will take you through all the times a marriage can have. By the way, I absolutely love that golf picture and your writing room in your previous post. Keep loving on that husband of yours!

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  2. I love your thoughts! And it's good for us married people (for almost a decade - crazy!!) to remember these things too!!

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  3. Sweet! I am saving this! I am looking forward to newlywed life! Thank you for this post!

    Xo

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  4. So much goodness in this post. I love the line you wrote "I love doing life with my husband." That's the most important stuff. It's the little every day things that make life with your significant other special. We always used to say that when we ran errands together and had fun doing it, that we knew the relationship was an extra good one. If you can have fun doing the small, mundane things, you just have that much more fun during the bigger ones! :) Love this post!

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  5. I just read your "about me" over at Home of Malones. I work about 20 minutes from where you live! Small world!

    Anyway... great post! Continue dating is one thing my husband and I really need to work on. We literally got married, honeymooned, closed on our house, moved in, and found out I was pregnant. Our priorities quickly became baby centered and not on US. It's so, so important to make time as a couple, even with children on the way or currently in the picture!

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  6. Great post! I'm stopping by from Home of Malones-- super cute blog! My husband and I just got married on November 8, 2014, so I'm thinking I'll enjoy reading along about your newlywed adventures, considering I'm in the same shoes :)

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  7. Love this! People say the first year of marriage is the hardest and I agree and disagree. It's hard making that initial adjustment but everything else is so amazing! Can't wait to hear all about the rest of your newlywed journeys!

    <3, Pamela
    Sequins & Sea Breezes

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  8. I'm still in a state of post wedding bliss and I'm almost at 2 years lol!! Your tips are right on point...just being each others biggest fan and making sure that you always say I love you is my favorite! xo, Biana - BlovedBoston

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  9. Stopping by from Home of Malones! Totally 100% agree with everything here - especially continuing to date each other! And you can never say I love you too often :)

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  10. What a great post, lady! I love being married and still consider myself a newlywed at 1.5 years, haha. I think it's so important to enjoy the everyday and really feel married. So many people say 'nothing has changed' and that makes me so sad. You're married, that's a huge difference! Learning to have your own hobbies is important, too! You need to enjoy being yourself while being with your spouse.

    Great read, today!

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  11. Love it! I forgot how much fun an actual date night is until we had one about 2 weeks ago. Because we live together, explore on the weekends/travel together, and really just (as you said!) do life together, we never really thought there to be much difference. But, there is! Now we're trying to get out for an evening a little more often, instead of going to bed and reading/watching tv by 10pm! :) -Dorrie @ Bear Den Plantation

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  12. Love this post! Reading it as a newlywed I felt myself thinking over and over that this sounds just like us! Being a newlywed is seriously the most amazing thing but there are growing pains that occur when trying to merge two lives. I love your emphasis on calm conversations and putting the two of you as your new family first and foremost. We're doing that too and it makes life so much happier & easier!

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  13. These are all so true! I love the one about "continue dating". It's easy to get stuck in a routine and forget about how special you are to each other.

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  14. Hi! I'm stopping over from Annie's blog! Congratulations on your marriage! My husband and I will be celebrating TWENTY YEARS next month and we'll be celebrating on an Hawaiian Cruise! Can't wait!!

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  15. Being married is so fun! Especially because he's your best friend! I love reading your blog!
    Lindsey @ brushingourwaythroughlife.blogspot.com

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  16. Great post! It's amazing how much you learn in grow in such a short amount of time. Can't imagine what it's like for people who've been married for 20+ years! Definitely loving being married :)

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  17. I love how you broke everything up in this post-- it definitely is the little things, but at the same time it's important to notice and appreciate the little things!

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  18. This is such a wonderful post! I'm glad to hear you're settling in and loving newlywed wife. My husband and I will be celebrating our two year anniversary (and seven years together!) this October, and I can still say that all the things you listed above hold true and are so important in any relationship. You definitely will have your ups and downs, but as long as you stick together as a family, that's all that matters. And, hey - I lived with my husband before we got married, and I STILL sometimes get homesick, so you're definitely not alone. :)

    I'm new to your blog and can't wait to continue to follow along! I'm over at Miss in the Midwest. Nice to meet you!

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  19. This is seriously so sweet and I agree with so much of it!! We love our weekly (or even twice a week) "date nights," and I've loved trying things he enjoys. Thanks so much for sponsoring this giveaway, too :)

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  20. Loved reading more about you on Annie's page!! We live close and would be fun to meet at KOP sometime?!

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  21. This is all such good advice!!! I have a hard time with continuing to date! I feel like life is always in the way and we just end up on the couch ordering a pizza as date night. I need to work on this!

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  22. Such great advice!!! Found you from Annie's blog - I'm sponsoring her too this month! :)

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  23. New follower from Home of Malones! Can't wait to read more!

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  24. I am sure that I annoy my hubby with how much I say "I love you" but I think it's better to overuse it then not say it enough!!!

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  25. love bauble bar- thanks for the opportunity! Love your blog :)

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  26. This post is awesome Christina! As you know we're getting married in August, and I'm always looking for posts like this to read. It gave me chills just thinking about learning to do life with each other. It's not all fun and games, but it mostly should be! :)

    I'm sure your anniversary will be here before you know it!

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  27. Best post ever. You're doing it right. :) (We're only 1.5 years in - but all things that are important to us too!)

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  28. You nailed this, I love this post! Everything you mentioned is true and important! Xo, Stephanie

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