Our First Anniversary

Hey guys!  I have excitedly been awaiting today—it’s our first anniversary!  And an even more extra special treat is that Ryan agreed to write a blog post with me!  I found 10 great questions to reflect on with each anniversary and I thought we could each answer them for you!  Enjoy! And thank you for reading along with us during our first year as husband and wife!

What has brought you closer together this year?

M: Honestly, the crazy work hours that Ryan has have made our time together even more special. So even though it means we spend less time together, the time we get is so much more quality and we spend a lot of that time checking in and laughing about anything we had been missing out on with each other.

R: Our improved communication, in general.

 What is your favorite memory of this first year together?

M: It's hard to think of just one.  But, they are usually little moments together that are unexpected.  Any small moments of quality time are my favorite.  Things as little as a holiday bazaar with his aunt and uncle or sitting at home laughing and snuggling with him and Murr.

R: Us coming back from picking up Murray

 Did you have a wedding or honeymoon disaster that you are already laughing about?  What?

M: We were at a happy hour where we had way too many cocktails and I was so convinced that everyone around us would want to play Jenga with us.  I literally asked every table around us and they almost all claimed to NOT EVEN KNOW HOW TO PLAY JENGA.  It was mortifying.  I was just trying to be nice hahahaha. We are still laughing about this.  And I am still embarrassed about it.  Story of my life.

R: Your aunts got me drunk before the reception—I don’t know if you’re laughing about that yet.

 What has surprised you most about being married?

M: I didn’t realize how different it would still feel once we were officially married since we had been living together in DC for 9 months when we got married.  But it really did.  I was so incredibly happy when we got married and I have been even happier since.  I have no shame in my cheesiness.  Today I am embracing ALL THE CHEESE. So, I knew I would be incredibly happy about marriage and my life with Ryan, but I was surprised by just how much happier I have been than I was before.

R: I want to say the lack of surprises. I don’t feel like anything has drastically changed—I mean, you’re still awesome. I mean, you fart more. You fart louder.

M: For the record, that is not true.

 Anything shocking you’ve learned about your spouse?

M: Alright, I'm not going to lie. The most shocking thing I learned about Ryan--he didn't know that The Nutcracker was a ballet.  This sounds like something ridiculous BUT I died.  He agreed to go, which was the best case scenario since the ballet revelation wasn't made until he saw the cover of the program (I'm still laughing about this).

R: Uhh another food like tater tots that I couldn’t believe you had never had before.

 What is a bonus quality you recieved in your spouse that you didn’t know about until married?

M: Ryan is REALLY good at having a puppy.  I am not very good at having a puppy.  Ryan is patient and caring with Murray and he is always willing to give him baths (that make the bathroom look like a hurricane hit).  He also brushes him every night and was so incredibly patient with me when I finally stepped it up so that Murray would stop jumping and chewing on me.  ---So…hmm…if Ryan is so good being with Murray….someone might be a pretty good dad, too J

Ryan literally had 0 answer for this. So, I guess I just had showed him how amazing I was from the get go!

 If you could do anything different what would you do?

M: Those many moments when Ryan asked me to sit with him on the couch with Murray on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and I was too preoccupied with laundry and cleaning, I would go back in time and sit on that couch and leave those chores for another day!  That is something I really want to work on during year 2!   

R: I don't think I would.  I mean we had some times during the year that weren't the most fun but I don't think I would change any of it.

What have you learned from your spouse this year?

R: You are equally as nuts as I thought.

M: That Ryan is rude.  And also nuts himself!

How have your feelings changed in just one year together?

M: This past year, Ryan has helped me R E L A X.  I still hardly am able to do it, but I am able to do it a lot more than I could before!  One other big emotional change that happened in this past year for us is that Alexandria has started to really feel like home.  Ever since we left Milwaukee, I don’t think we started feeling like we were really home until earlier this year.

R: Same feelings but with a different appreciation.

What is something you’ve done that has worked, and really made a difference in your marriage, that you would give as advice to be successful to others on their wedding day?

M:  Not so much something I’ve done, but something I was told on my wedding day that has helped us so much throughout the year, is that even though Ryan is working those long hours, he would much rather be at home.  And that I am not the only one that is sad/miserable about those long work hours.  Both my brother and sister-in-law shared that with me and it has really been a godsend this year.

R: Try to pay attention to the little things--even off hand comments.  And always try to better yourself for your partner.  Especially if they say something repeatedly, that you ignore (i.e. Ryan is referring to me asking to take selfies)!

As you can see, Ryan is a man of many words!  But, we had fun answering this together!  I hope you enjoy it, too :)