Jesse: "What?"
Me: "We've been married for two weeks!"
Jesse: "Oh, no, it feels like a year!" :)
ha, that husband of mine. I sure love him!
This conversation took place on Saturday, so today we've been married for 19 days! This means I'm a marriage expert, right? Right? Not really- I have a far way to go, but during the past 19 days I've learned a few things and felt like I wanted to share:
1. Your wedding day is exuasting! If possible try to go to sleep early (or at least at a reasonable hour) the night before your wedding or take a nap in between your wedding and reception if you have time (we didn't because our reception was from 2-4pm). You will need the rest for your wedding day. Jesse and I went to bed late, up with last minute preparations and then had to be at the temple at 9:30am for pictures. We were tired by the time our reception was over. Thankfully our reception ended at 4pm, but my family was there cleaning up until much later- thank you to them!
2. Make sure to take a week for your honeymoon, if possible. It gives you time to spend just with each other before jumping back into real life.
3. From the start, make couple prayer and scripture study a habit. It will help you to grow closer together not only as a couple, but also with Hevenly Father. I love praying and reading scriptures with Jesse.
3.5. Pray for each other and for your marriage in companionship prayer- it brings unity.
4. Be patient with each other and yourselves in the first few weeks of marriage. It's a little bit of an adjustment to be married, but remember to put each other first and find ways to serve each other.
5. Be open with your feelings regarding intimacy. As LDS people I sometimes feel that the subject is taboo, but it needs to be discussed. (Is that TMI? Anyway...)
6. Focus your wedding day on the temple- really that is the most important part. Commit to return often together.
7. Create an album of your photos. We made one for our honeymoon photos (I don't have the wedding CD yet) and have looked through it multiple times already. It's wonderful to re-live the day(s).
8. I love being married. It is wonderful being married to your best friend, knowing that together you are in the process of building an eternal family and knowing that whatever comes you have each other and Heavenly Father to rely on. I believe it was President Snow that said: "Marriage is a wonderful institution. I highly recommend it." I wholeheartedly agree!
We have a cross stitch that we bought in Italy similar to the one below hanging in our living room. Yes, it might make it look like we're Catholic, but I love Jesse's comment about it. "I really like this because it represents not only Joseph and Mary and Christ, but it can represent our holy family as well."
*(we started playing the "guess what?" game on our honeymoon. We would ask each other "guess what?" and then answer with something like "we're on our way to Rome!" or "the Pope is right in front of us" or "we're almost to the beautiful Sistine Chapel!").
