The Newlyweds: One Month Later

Today Kyle and I have been married for exactly one month. People constantly ask us if things feel any different for us and we always have to tell them that they don't. We keep waiting for this magical "change" that people tell us is going to happen. The common consensus is that we'll suddenly love each other more, feel more connected or that our feelings on our commitment will change. Yet, we believed that these things had been happening all along.

We have always felt that we love each other more every day. We've always felt more and more connected as time goes on. Our commitment level has always been very high and very serious. We never felt that a piece of paper and a ceremony was going to be the switch to flip these things on. In fact, we wouldn't have gotten married in the first place if we weren't already experiencing these things. I mean, why expect these kinds of circumstances after the wedding if they weren't there before?

There is one piece of advice that I once received that I believe holds true in this situation: "Marriage doesn't change a person. They will be the same person after the marriage as they were before. Your problems then will be your problems now. Don't be fooled by the hype and the fairy tales." We truly believe that for us there is no magic switch. Our love, our commitment and our connected-ness comes from the hard work and the time we put in. Vows and yards of tulle don't make those things. We do.

So, on our one month anniversary we say again, no, our lives haven't changed. Not in some hugely measurable way. Our days and our evenings consist of the same things they always have. We watch Dancing with the Stars together. We play video games. We have weekly Hamburger Helper nights. We take care of one another. We laugh together. But mostly, we love together and are so grateful for every moment we have with each other. And in our minds, this is enough.

As for our future, we're just kind of winging it for now. We have no imminent plans to buy a house, nor do we have any plans for children. Our biggest plans now consist of whether to buy a washer and dryer or save up for another Disney vacation! We measure our lives in the small stuff. We're excited for The Avengers movie which comes out in May. We desperately want to read the other two books in the Hunger Games trilogy. We're counting down the days until Borderlands 2 and Bioshock: Infinite are released. We're taking (ok, I'm taking) a small joy in spring cleaning. This is our life. Small and unremarkable, but absolutely perfect for the two of us. In the end, I think that is all that matters.

XO