Pretty Great Start...

For this post, I don't have any pictures or fun adventures to share.  Instead, I will share some thoughts that came to mind as I was sitting in our apartment reflecting on the weekend.  As I was trying to think of a title for this post, what came to mind was "Pretty Great Start."  And what I am referring to is, being married - Eric and I have had a pretty great start.   When I say "great," I don't mean easy.  Rather, I mean solid, meaningful, growing...fun, exciting, and challenging.  There are a few factors that have contributed to this "great start."

First is being in a position to only rely on each other.  Though being away from our friends and family is super challenging in some ways, I think it has helped us to build a really solid foundation during our first year of marriage.  I mean, what other married couple gets to spend all weekend, every weekend with each other?  Most couples have friends, family, commitments, a house to take care of, etc., vying for time.  I won't pretend I am not envious of those things at times, but not having them close by has allowed the unique opportunity for undivided attention and time to spend with one another.  In addition, we have learned to communicate and help each other through the challenging aspects of being away.  I can't leave out the fact that, as we grow together, we are also trying to becoming better people, looking more like God. 

Next is the fun factor.  With a steady stream of visitors, a city of endless entertainment opportunities, and thinking each other is hilarious, fun comes easily:).  I really believe that laughter is an important part in a healthy relationship/marriage.  Whether we are laughing at each other or with each other, I think the fun that we have together has helped us have a great start.

And last, having solid people in our lives supporting us has had a huge impact on the beginning of our marriage.  I think this was most evident to us at our wedding, when we were surrounded by such amazing examples of fabulous people and couples.  The impact of that moment has only increased as we have people still reaching out to us and pouring into our lives from states away.  Great friends and family encouraging us, visiting us, calling us, checking in on us....makes us realize how lucky we are to not only have each other, but to have a great community of people around us. 

So, this is definitely one of my sappier posts.  But, I felt the need to share that I am an extremely lucky woman because of an extremely amazing husband.  Though we have much more to learn about being married, I know that having a sense of "oneness" with each other and God, having endless fun together, and having an amazing community supporting us will increase our chances of having a pretty great journey throughout our entire marriage.