Well, the day is finally here – our first anniversary! Year one is officially in the books!

Photo Credit: Love The Renauds

I’ve thought about this day many times thanks to the classic “We Had the Best Year Ever” Anniversary Facebook Posts –an expected post of course if you follow the unspoken Facebook protocol. Which is exactly why I made sure to post something special myself.

But I can’t help but think that many of the thoughts I have about this first year are a lot different than what I thought I would be thinking (that’s a lot of thoughts/thinking in one sentence…my head hurts).

Here are 7 Things about the First Year of Marriage that I didn’t Expect:

Growing up I was that uncoordinated, scrawny, yet somehow slightly sporty kid that every parent was afraid might break in half on the court or field. In one minute I would be shockingly athletic and the next I would trip over the half court line (I swear it had to be raised).

Not to brag too much, but I had pretty fast legs. The issue was my head was always a couple feet faster, leading to some disastrous base running and accidental head dives.

Everyone was always waiting for me to “grow into my body”. I got used to comments like, “eat a burger” and “put some meat on those bones.”

Even through college, I was encouraged to eat whatever, whenever. And I never minded the challenge.

Is the winter weather being a witch? Were you cheated out of your Powerball victory? Here are 7 winter date ideas for broke (and slightly insane) newlyweds:

1. Fast Food Dinner (by Candlelight)

Wanna go somewhere fancy for dinner but broke as a joke? Buy some of your favorite fast food treats, put them on fancy plates (with garnish) and make your kitchen a romantic candlelight oasis. Don’t forget the little black dress/suit and tie requirements.

No woman dreams of marrying a man that struggles with lust, but the sad truth is a lot of us do. It’s a truth that many “church-grown” women neglect to understand or acknowledge until a serious relationship arises. Sometimes it even takes years into a marriage before it comes to the surface.

But for the large majority of us, we eventually have to confront the reality of our husband’s very real temptation to lust after another woman.

In early engagement, when I first began thinking about the idea of “two becoming one” I sort of pictured it like the process of combining chocolate chips with cookie dough. In other words, the following equation:

Something Incredible + Something Incredible =
Something Super-Duper Incredible.

That’s bull.