I can’t believe I am writing a reflection on our first anniversary and sharing , what I consider to be, three newlywed myths. Time is flying in so many ways, but it also feels like it stands still as we’ve indulged in so many terrific moments.
Your wedding day is the best day of your life to date.
It always gets me when people say that your wedding day is the best day of your life. Our wedding was terrific, and we loved every moment of our classic church ceremony and intimate outdoor celebration. I still get chills thinking about how incredible our ceremony was. I honestly felt like nobody else was there but the two of us and our priest. In reality, we had about 150 family, friends, and former students sweating bullets in the pews behind us.
But, it wasn’t the single best day of my life.
In my life with Ben over the last three and half years, I can’t pinpoint a single “best” day. As weird as that may sound. Instead, I can recall dozens of days- some typical days and some milestone ones- that are the “best” days we’ve had together. The night we got engaged tops that list for sure. I often tell Ben that the “best” day was the day he told me he loved me, because everything suddenly seemed to make sense to me. (It’s totally okay if you’re rolling your eyes. It’s a lot of cheese to handle this early in the morning.) Naturally a guarded person, I don’t receive or say those words easily. Even on a bad day, I still feel lucky to have Ben and slightly confused as to what I did to deserve his love.
The first year of marriage is the hardest.
People also say that the first year of marriage is the hardest. I really chuckle when I hear that one. Sure, it’s challenging to find your roles as “husband” and “wife”. However, I think about all the amazing married couples I know in life and the challenges they have overcome together. Most of those challenges didn’t happen in Year 1. I don’t know what lies ahead for us, but I’m sure that Year 1 will be remembered as an absolute delight in which we felt blessed all 365 days, despite life not always working out perfectly as planned.
Yes, we’ve encountered some private challenges this year and made some life-changing decisions. There has been so much laughter, but there have also been a few tears of sadness. From those tears, our bond grows stronger. I never considered myself an emotional person, but I tear up thinking about how lucky I feel to have a husband whose hug can truly make everything better.
The honeymoon is over.
Really? I sure hope not. If there is one thing I appreciate, it is listening to the advice of our friends who have been married for a longtime. They all say the same things about prioritizing time for each other and the importance of ‘date night.’ 2020 has taught us we can be creative in planning date-nights, even if we never leave our home.
We are very excited to celebrate our official 1st anniversary tonight. We’re going to grab a special bottle of wine (Coors Light for Ben haha) , takeout dinner from the spot where we had our rehearsal dinner and head to our wedding venue for a picnic. And yes, George is coming, too.
All pictures were taken by Brooke Allison Photo.
