Married One Year: Our Reflection

Corey and I got married one year ago today. It doesn't seem like that is possible. How could a whole year have gone by? We were surprised how many people told us how hard the first year of marriage would be... it seems like an odd bit of advice to tell two people in love who are about to commit their lives to one another. A few people told us not to listen to this advice. A few people said that the first year would be wonderful and would only be as hard as we made it. The past year has definitely had some low points. We went through some very difficult things. But those things could have happened whether we were married or not. The hard things could have happened in our first, second, fifth or twenty-first year of marriage. We came to a conclusion: the first year of marriage was definitely not hard. It was wonderful. It was filled with excitement, bliss, goo, gah and all the very best things in life. Anything about the past year that was less than wonderful had NOTHING to do with being married. Even more so, the hard things were easier because we were together, facing them side-by-side rather than being an ocean apart. Some of you are probably reading this now, thinking that we are still naive. That we have no idea about how hard this whole marriage thing is going to be. That we will see. But for now, we will live in this ignorant bliss and choose to believe that it can only get better from here on out. So do us a favor. When you know a cute young couple getting married, don't tell them how hard marriage will be. Tell them how hard LIFE can be...but also, tell them how having a partner by their side, who is on their team no matter what, will make life easier. Tell them how having this special person to wake up with each morning and close their eyes with each night will INVARIABLY make those bad days better and those good days great...

Corey and Laura: The Slideshow 3-8-08