While we're on our honeymoon, I thought it would be fun to have a few of my friends guest post for me. First up is Leslie. She's one of my college friends {we survived the college of education together...} and blogs over at Lamberts Lately about her life {and absolutely precious little girl, Emma Ramey!} She also does custom blog designs here.
Hi guys! My name is Leslie. I write at Lamberts Lately, and have been friends with Erin since college!
I am beyond ecstatic to share my (very limited) wisdom of marriage with Erin and with y'all today.
I have been married to my husband, Noah, for over 5 years now. We dated for a couple of years before marriage. We live with our beagle puppy (aka honeymoon puppy), Hardy (5 years old) and our 14 month old daughter, Emma Ramey. We couldn't be happier...and I'm so excited that Erin is about to experience this fun journey called marriage!
That being said...marriage is weird. There, I said it. It's the greatest relationship you'll ever have, but it's also just...different. I've said it many times - I don't care how close you are before marriage - I don't care if you lived together, worked together, spent every waking minute together - marriage takes a relationship to a completely different level.
That first year is a constant process of learning about each other and figuring out those little quirks you didn't know you were getting yourself into. :) Here area few pieces of advice I have for Erin and Collin in their first year of marriage!
1. Pick up after yourself. There were times I didn't know I was getting on Noah's nerves by leaving out my dishes. There were also times that Noah didn't know he was getting on my nerves by leaving clothes on the floor. Respect those little annoyances that your spouse has, and generally just be a more organized person. :)
2. Go to sleep mad sometimes. This goes against everything you've ever heard, but it works in our marriage. Some of our biggest fights were our silliest fights during the first few months of marriage. I look back and honestly don't even know what we were arguing about! Give yourself and your spouse a little bit of grace, and just go to sleep. There's no talking through a silly fight, and I promise you will be cooler and more level-headed in the morning.
3. Don't stop dating. We are 5 years in, and we still haven't stopped courting each other. Leave mushy notes in random places in the house. Randomly come home with their favorite bottle of wine or favorite take-out. I promise, you'll never get tired of dating the person you love.
4. Talk. Just talk - it doesn't have to be long...maybe 30 minutes every night...just sit down and talk about your days. It's easy to get too wrapped up in nightly tv/chores/computer time...don't. You only get a few precious waking hours together every day!
5. Don't get lost in tomorrow. When you have the rest of your lives ahead of you, it's easy to start dreaming of what's to come - babies, bigger houses, dream vacations. Don't let yourself get so lost in dreaming of those things that you don't savor today. That carefree part of early marriage is one of my fondest memories...savor every second of it!
A big huge congratulations to Erin and Collin...you're going to be awesome at this marriage thing!
