What One Month Of Marriage Has Taught Me

After being married for exactly one month, I consider myself a bit of a seasoned vet. While I don’t see married life much different than dating or engaged life, there are a few valuable things I’ve taken from the past 30 days.

1. Invest in Container Store stock. Seriously. I had no idea how difficult it would be to squeeze two apartment’s worth of stuff into one smaller apartment. You learn to get creative, that’s for sure.

2. Buy a good laundry hamper. It will get used. It’s amazing to me how much laundry two people can go through. Between PJ’s, workout clothes, work clothes and after work clothes, the laundry cycle is never ending.

3. Plan your meals. After you no longer have the excuse of being busy and planning a wedding to eat out every night, you have to spend some quality time in the kitchen. Besides, there’s a reason you registered for all of those kitchen utensils.

4. Don’t fall asleep while hanging out. This may seem like a no brainer, but I am notorious for falling asleep while watching a movie, TV show and/or having a conversation past 9 p.m. The key to spending time with your spouse really does revolve around being awake.

5. Learn to share a bathroom. Growing up, my sister and I shared a bathroom, so sharing a bathroom with Mark was a walk in the park. However, there is a strategy to getting ready for work in the mornings that we have managed to master fairly quickly.

6. Suck it up and watch an action movie every now and then. I’m not going to deny the fact that I am not an action movie fan. I think they are unrealistic and just not my thing. However, sometimes in order to spend time with Mark, I will have to sit through the occasional action flick. Luckily, Mark loves Keeping Up With The Kardashians (who doesn’t), so there is really nothing he has to endure like me.

7. Make regular date nights. Mark and I consider pretty much any dinner out a date, but it is such a good feeling to still be taken on dates by your husband.

8. Talk about your day. Even though Mark and I still work together, it’s always nice at the end of the day to be able to talk about my day, frustrations, excitements, etc.

9. Be a team. Knocking out major tasks (like wedding thank you notes) together is not only more fun, but gets done a lot faster.

10. Appreciate everything, and I mean everything. Appreciating the little things your spouse does is so key to a happy marriage… it’s worked for me at least 30 days. ;)