A Little Bit of Our Story It took 2.5 years of trying to conceive (TTC) to get to this amazing point of being pregnant with identical twin boys! We feel absolutely blessed that we get two babies as a result of our hard work with the Utah Fertility Center. We did 3 timed intercourse cycles that required more and more pills and shots each time, but lead us to our first try at Intrauterine Insemination (IUI).

**This post contains affiliate links. This means, if you make a purchase through any of these links, we’ll receive a small portion of your purchase at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Freshly Married! The idea of sharing your hopes and dreams as individuals and as a couple is so meaningful to a relationship! There are so many positives it brings to your life because it’s a very hopeful concept.

When I originally wrote this draft blog post about 4 years ago, I mentioned that our way of doing things with our finances has been very successful for us, and that we didn’t have issues between us due to finances… WELL, then we bought a house, and cars, and started investing in retirement, got fun medical bills, doing our own side businesses, etc. So our finances got a little more complex, and therefore the responsibilities of managing them got a little bit more intense.

Most people don’t know the underlying reason for Freshly Married being here. It’s because relationship education is important! And yet so many people have either never heard of it before, are intimidated by it, scared of it, or assume it means you have relationship problems you need help with. WELL NEWSFLASH, WE ALL HAVE PROBLEMS! haha. But really. Because I believe passionately that relationship education is a helpful tool for all relationships, not just marriage, I want to explain what relationship education is while addressing some misunderstandings so that you can feel more comfortable with seeking help.

Back to School InterviewThis is inspired by an email newsletter I received titled, “Interviews aren’t just for adults,” where I saw a cute picture of a kid holding up one of those back to school/all about me interview papers that people tend to do with their kids every year. And I instantly had a contradicting thought: “Back to school interviews aren’t just for kids!” haha. Which then inspired a great thought…

First of all, Happy New Year!!! We are on a Caribbean cruise ringing in the new year, so it’s a little belated from me! That’s also the reason why we just barely did our annual dinner date night where we share and discuss our goals for the year together. We typically do it on New Year’s Eve but we felt like saving it until we got home from our trip. Especially because this fun stuff was going on!

If you want ^^this^^ you gotta be willing to work for it [sc name=“soundcloud” id=“282494134” ] When people say that marriage is “hard work” (which it is!), it’s important to explain what kind of work that means so newlyweds don’t think exhaustion and stress is all they are getting into! I think it’s hard work because it’s a commitment that you’ve never encountered before. Our friends mean so much to all of us.

Have you ever tried to complete a puzzle without looking at the picture on the box? A few years ago I completed a beautiful 1000 piece Thomas Kinkade Lighthouse puzzle. I probably looked at the picture on the box more than a thousand times as I tried to figure out where each piece should fit. Being able to look at the box was a great guide and comfort though the process.

“…There would be far less of divorce, much less of infidelity, much less of anger and rancor and quarreling. There would be more of forgiveness, more of love, more of peace, more of happiness.” Looking for the good in your spouse daily — YES that’s DEFINITELY a smart technique to use in marriage! Look for the good, look for the positive, and look for the reasons why you fell in love with them in the first place.

A reader asked what I would suggest as ways to prioritize your spouse, and I decided to put all that information in a post because my reply is too big for a comment box! haha. So here’s my reply to my previous post: “Prioritizing My Spouse.” The idea of growing apart happens gradually over time. When you think about it, there will always be sudden situations that come up where you do need to be there for your kids over your spouse, but I think the problem starts when this is happening frequently.

Sometimes I get the feeling that people take marriage for granted or discount its importance. I’m not just saying that because I’m a marriage guru, or because I don’t understand what it’s like to have children of my own yet! From conversations I have had with people lately, they have made comments that appear to me as devaluing a family that only consists of husband and wife. It’s as if they think a married couple simply on their own isn’t good enough, or isn’t a “family” compared to a married couple with children.

A HAPPY AND HEALTHY FAMILY BEGINS WITH MARRIAGE In the previous post connected to this, I discussed how it’s becoming more normal to put less importance on marriage and more importance on kids. I think that this normalized mindset has given people this idea that a family only consisting of a husband and wife isn’t good enough compared to a family that has a husband, wife, and kids. NEWSFLASH: Marriage is the foundation of a family, and the most important foundation we will ever build!

Sharing time These pictures depict our lives before we “re-met” and started dating. Trevor was serving a Latter-Day Saint mission across the country while I was living at home, working at a craft store, and riding my scooter around trying to find myself again. Though it was tough at times, these experiences were great for each of us to gain a new perspective and discover what we really wanted and what we were ready for… each other.

This week I asked how couples get their exercise - do they work out together or individually, and why. The reason I asked is because this is something my husband and I have been trying to figure out for a while now! I’ve seen many couples do workouts together, or go on the same diets. I think it’s cool to have it be something you can do together because you get healthy while spending time together, you can encourage each other, and it can be convenient to eat the same meals.

I’m grateful that I was able to experience college being both single, and then married. In the beginning I was doing the college thing for the experience and learning, but finishing college as a married woman for the last few semesters was for more than that. I wasn’t just doing it for me anymore. The Single College Life People tend to think that it’s best to go through college being single, or at least not yet married.

Three years ago I wrote this message to Trevor on the back of a picture quote as encouragement that we could do the long distance thing. (I’m sad we can’t find the original right now but glad I took a picture of the smeared message I wrote him!) The story behind this little message set a precedent for our relationship and it’s one I think every couple needs reminding of :)

To the older couple staring at us kissing in line, stop rolling your eyes about it. To the people sick of listening to proposal stories, stop rolling your eyes about it. To the people who joke about my husband and I being prom dates because we sometimes match his tie and my dress for church, stop rolling your eyes about it. Why am I saying this? Because people tend to get annoyed of young love and it bugs me.

I was married in a Latter-Day Saint temple, where we believe allows your marriage to be eternal. However, simply having my marriage ceremony within my religion doesn’t mean I’m guaranteed to have a happy and healthy marriage! Believing you’ll have a forever marriage is different from actually creating one. Principles to follow I firmly know that the principles taught in my Latter-Day Saint faith and many other faiths directly coincide with principles you should follow for a strong and happy marriage.

As you have noticed, we got some new family photos done :) And I’m loving them! I had been watching my friend Nicky post so many amazing pictures she has taken of families and couples, and knew that she could give us the memorable photos we were looking for. Throughout the process I was so impressed with her professionalism, expertise, artistic eye, and even encouragement that we looked cute, haha. I just had a really great experience with her and wanted to mention that as I share a few photos from this shoot.

“…That is good news because no matter how flat your relationship may be at present, if you keep adding pebbles of kindness, compassion, listening, sacrifice, understanding, and selflessness, eventually a mighty pyramid will begin to grow.” This weekend I watched Latter-Day Saint General Conference and heard some great spiritual messages! I also heard great messages about marriage, too! I especially found one particular talk I wanted to share that was so “nailed on the head” and relatable to all marriages, not just religious ones.

The past few months I have found out more and more people that I knew or am still friends with have gotten divorced. The shocked part of me thinks: “I swear they all just got married yesterday!” And then the realistic part of me remembers that high school was 7 years ago and a lot can happen whether people got married right out of high school or more recently. Because I’m in this same grouping, it gives me mixed feelings, realizing that divorce truly is a possibility, but that I’m glad I have the strong marriage I have.

In our short three years (almost) being married, Trevor and I have done really well about trying to be financially independent from our families. It’s something that had to be done in stages because tackling health insurance, car insurance, and a phone bill all at once is not wise! Health insurance is a headache on its own, am I right?! But slowly we made goals of what responsibilities we needed to take on and when to do it.

Last week I re-shared some posts I wrote a year ago about some struggles I had with social media. I felt envious at times. I felt too involved in people’s lives that I hardly talk to anymore. And because I was getting used to a new living situation now knowing anyone, I spent a lot of time seeking comfort from those virtual connections. Unfortunately but understandably, all of this made me depressed so I had to change these thoughts for myself, but also for my marriage because it began to affect that as well.

I’ve hit the quarter-life mark turning 25 last week and I feel the need to write about it. I have to say that I was not looking forward to this birthday just because the things I was wanting to do /to eat (but for reals!) I couldn’t have, or were out of reach. I thought that those things would make me happy. I have to admit that I totally cheated on my birthday and had two slices of cheese pizza that tasted so much like paradise that I didn’t even regret the inflammation and discomfort I had from it the next two days!

Choose to have learning experiences rather than fights, rather than ruts, rather than mistakes. Each of these IS an experience that teaches us something we didn’t know before. Choose to let that new information improve your relationship. For More see the blog post, “The Inevitable Storms in Marriage.”

Letters of Forgiveness Imagine that every morning after you got dressed you put a stuffed envelope in your back pocket. You consciously open the drawer to your nightstand and grab a worn letter inside an envelope, fold it in half, and put it inside the back pocket of your jeans. That might seem like a small little difference to your normal routine, because I don’t know anyone who does this, haha.

I know it can be very hard to let little things go, or to let big things go. Overcoming your variety of feelings, is not easy. Forgiveness is not easy! Forgetting is not easy. I know that it’s easier to sing it than to do it (sorry not sorry if the song got stuck in your head lol) but once you do let it go, you also have let go of resentment and can move forward with a clearer heart and mind.

In my previous post, I talked about not holding onto mistakes you have made, or mistakes your spouse has made – Basically letting go of grudges you have with yourself or your spouse. Since avoiding grudges is a topic that seems to have many webs stemming from it, I wanted to elaborate on one idea right now that can be very helpful in moving forward from mistakes made in marriage: Looking for the good in the bad.

We used to have a cute little tradition that we started when we were dating called, “Stoplight Kisses.” When we would drive together and approach a long stoplight, we would lean over and kiss each other :) Sometimes they were hurried kisses, and sometimes one of us kept our eyes open in case the light turned green, haha. But we enjoyed these little moments. Any excuse to kiss right?! Over the past three years, I’m sorry to say we haven’t kept up with that tradition!

Hi. We are married and we both wear pants. That sounded funny huh? Well I’m just making fun of the stupid saying “Who wears the pants in your relationship?” because I hate it. Last time I checked we both wear pants, except on Sundays when I’m usually in skirt or dress ;) But seriously, though! I know it’s said in a funny and teasing way, almost sarcastically. However, remember, the thing about sarcasm is that there seems to be a little truth beyond its intentions.

This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. Which means Freshly Married can make a small commission on items you buy through these links. This is one of my favorite quotes, by one of my favorite people who ever lived. He says this quote above in his book, “Standing For Something: 10 neglected virtues that will heal our hearts and homes.” and I absolutely LOVE this book. I first read it about six years ago, and I still remember amazing points he brought up about society and families, and I find myself referring back to reading pieces often.

This is a humbling reminder on marriage that I truly appreciate. When we look at our spouses, we should view them with a sense of compassion, recognizing that they have weaknesses just like you do. And then I hope that compassion turns into excitement thinking about how great your marriage can be; how it can improve and strengthen. Your spouse has potential, your marriage has potential.

This Valentine’s Day is going to be a little more low-key for us and we like it that way right now. :) However, low-key doesn’t mean we aren’t doing anything new or special! Because we want to continue keeping our marriage fresh, right?! We plan to do that by going back to our 90’s childhood and play on our Nintendo 64!! Trevor has been playing Super Smash Brothers on the 64 with some of his friends and he realized how much he truly missed playing it!

In a presentation about having a more connected marriage, one of my UVU professors shared this cute story about something he does in his marriage and I thought it was inspiring to share! The Dot above the Door Handle One night when he came home from work, his wife mentioned to him that she felt like she wasn’t being noticed, like the things she did in her day weren’t being appreciated as much.

That title sounds funny but you’ll get it when you’re through with this post. This past week I have been so grateful for Trevor’s support. I’ve been feeling down, stressed, and very emotional from some new medical developments in my life recently, and he has been there in ways I needed and also didn’t realize I needed. He reminded me how important support is between a marriage because it’s hard to receive that much support elsewhere.

The day I was proposed to, the day I gave Trevor his wedding ring, and the day I got married to him were all days that showed me the meaning of a wedding ring. However, there was something else that happened this week where I realized the importance of a wedding ring again. And guess how it happened? While watching an episode of “Duck Dynasty” with my dad! hahaha. I’ll explain.

I wanted to help you understand why I always sign my posts with ‘Keepin’ marriage fresh," and stress how cool this idea is to marriages. A while ago I was looking at the definitions of “fresh” and “freshening,” and “freshen.” I really loved some of the definitions Webster’s dictionary provided. These are the definitions that I found for FRESH, and FRESHEN, and I’m going to tell you how I interrupt and apply this to marriages.

If you are like me, you are at the point in your marriage where the idea of having children weighs more heavily on your mind. Whatever the reason for it, getting to this point has been an interesting journey, at least it has been for me! When we first got married the idea of starting a family was a simple goal for us: “Not for five years.” However as months and months have passed since then, I can tell you now that it’s actually not that simple, haha.

Story time When we were living in an apartment still, there was a new family that moved in below us; a wife, husband, and a few kids. Since they moved in, almost every day we heard them yelling. The parents would yell at each other, the parents yelled at the kids, and the kids yelled at the parents. I absolutely hated it; I cringed every time. Yes, I cringed because it is annoying, but mainly because it shows that they are were not loving each other and instead were hurting each other.

Three years ago yesterday, Trevor asked me to be his wife! That was obviously a big moment for us, just as it is for any relationship. However, there were other things leading up to that moment that were also big in our relationship. Story Time Two weeks before he proposed I had finally decided I was ready and wanted to move to be closer to him in Provo. This was a big deal for me because exactly a year prior to that I did the same thing– move to Provo to be closer to a boy I was ready to marry.

HUG MORE. KISS MORE. HUG MORE. KISS MORE. ETC. ETC.

[sc name=“soundcloud” id=“281723250” ] So many people right now are thinking about how they can better themselves for the new year. I am doing that right now, too! But one area people tend to forget to make a resolution for is in their relationships. Do I need to mention how awesome and important that is to do in your MARRIAGE?! I have to admit that I didn’t do that before beginning a serious relationship with Trevor.

As we all know, there are different kinds of marital experiences! A few that I have received better insight into this year are marriages that have a spouse serving in the armed forces, police work, firefighters, or EMT’s. Because of their job description and the sacrifice they make to help protect us, they face different challenges in their marriages than other couples might face. Since I do not have first-hand experience in this area, I asked someone who has absolute experience in this to help us understand better.

When I watch TV shows that portray a husband and wife relationship, I get annoyed sometimes with how they act towards each other. Examples of this: Wives nagging their husbands and saying they don’t do anything for them ever. Husbands complaining and saying comments like, “this is torture” when helping their wife plan a party or something only she is really interested in doing. They say sarcastic things under their breath at each other.

In case I haven’t said this a lot lately, I’m super excited to be graduating with my bachelor’s degree in WEEKS. Well, to celebrate, we’ve been talking/planning/deciding/not deciding on taking a graduation vacation :) And what I mean by that is we have had ideas of where we would love to vacation and then haven’t been sure about them, so we put it on hold until the next idea comes along.

It was exactly one year ago today that we broke our bodies moving into our house! haha jk but seriously, we didn’t move from the couch and unpack anything for two straight days because we were so sore. The time and effort was all worth it though because we have a beautiful, put together home to show for it :) And to think, it only took: 3 months to get a shower curtain in the guest bathroom 4 months to get actual blinds instead of the brown banner paper we had in every window… tacky I know, it’s fine.

Soooo I used to be apart of “Bachelor nation” like 6 years ago. It was entertaining to watch and then I got annoyed at how unrealistic it all was to actual healthy relationships so I stopped watching it…. Until this season. It was all my classmates would talk about before class and then I read this awesome article on it and decided to give it a try again. Who doesn’t like judging other people’s relationships?

I have been thinking about the little milestones in marriage a lot lately. The anniversaries and growing families are great – super awesome milestones! But I think it’s nice to honor those little things we do in marriage… The “little victories” if you will! The little victory I had when I wrote this was making a meal I have never made before, and slam dunkin’ the “HONEY THIS TASTES SO GOOD!

This week my Associate in Science degree finally came in the mail! I practically earned it last summer, and then had to wait to apply for it in the fall, and then it got sent to the wrong address, haha. So I have had these proud feelings for 9 months, but finally got the paperwork to show for it ;) Believe it or not, my college career began in Fall 2009… Over the past six years, I made important life decisions that took me all over Utah, and to three different universities… haha.

Found this quote the other day and I really liked it. Yeah it’s cheesy and cutesy, as well as simple and thought-provoking. Bittersweet decisions Throughout the past years I’ve come to know what’s most important in life. (Maybe it’s the selflessness I had to learn going into marriage, or maybe it’s just maturity? haha) It’s a bittersweet answer for me when I ask myself questions about the things I’m currently doing in my life.

*This post contains affiliate links. On our first date, Trevor and I started talking about some things we like to do, and we found most of them we had in common (of course!) Since he had recently come home from serving an Latter-Day Saint mission, I started suggesting some of the movies he should watch and music to listen to that came out while he was gone. It started as that, and then somehow it turned into things that we were possibly going to do together… :) So being the list people that we are, Trevor pulled out his phone and created a google doc, listing these things to do.

I used to be one of those people that thought you should do anything and everything for your kids - that they should be the priority. It’s portrayed in movies of parents willing to do anything for their kids. Overtime this philosophy has changed for me, especially since finding Trevor. You can pause before continuing, and read this awesome article by a mom: “Why my husband will always come before my kids.

Wanna know something funny? We’ve established a grocery budget for every month since we’ve been married and I don’t think I’ve ever truly been able to stay under it, EVER! haha. I even feel like I’m fairly frugal in my money-saving strategies. I look through the coupons we get in the mail to see if there’s a deal on something we actually use or eat, I’ll take advantage of good sales going on and stock up in bulk (one of the big suggestions to saving money on groceries), and I’ll avoid getting items sometimes that I think are too expensive that week.

I attended a women’s conference with my mom a few weeks ago and I was inspired by one of the speakers who talked about “loving at arms-length.” It was actually Dawn Armstrong, the mother of the missionary from the movie, “Meet the Mormons.” She talked about how she has a lot of love for so many people; sometimes people who randomly come along. Her love for people grew ten fold when she stopped loving at arms-length, and instead pulled them in tight and gave them a hug.

Our first married NYE’s in 2013, we went out to dinner to Red Lobster and had a four-course meal discussing our New Year’s resolutions. We had a great time enjoying good food, good company, and talking about the goals and desires of our heart. We decided this year we would continue that as a tradition every NYE! So this year we went out to Buffalo Wild Wings (one of our favs) and listed out to each other our plans for the new year, and it was great!

When you think about a typical honeymoon (or look back on your own honeymoon), it’s a pretty great experience :) This picture is of us on our honeymoon to Park City; a.k.a Our best vacation ever! Honeymoons are full of fun, low-stress, and are fairly worry-free because the happiness of being together outweighs everything. That happiness continues on after the vacation is over. Hence, the “honeymoon phase” phrase, haha. It was such a simple time.

I’ve totally been absent for a long time, I know. Sorry. I definitely have my reasons though. I love blogging and writing about aspects of married life that can be useful for people, but I think it’s important to take a step back from writing, and just enjoy those aspects of married life, instead. I’ve been so busy the past few months. Though I enjoy being busy for the most part, I start to hate it when it is consistent and doesn’t come with a nice break.

Feel free to LISTEN to this blog post below! [sc name=“soundcloud” id=“273882598” ] There have been some interesting findings that have come from a blog post I wrote a few months ago, and I would like to share those with you. A few months back, I wrote my long-held opinion on bikinis, in the post: “Save it For Your Husband.” I suggest reading it if you haven’t yet, as it can shed some more light on this current post.

Our little apartment is being emptied. All the pictures and artwork have been taken down from the walls, leaving them as blank as a piece of paper. Our couch has been sold, so movies are being watched in our bed now. The shelves have been cleared, and the drawers are empty. Clothes are in bags, appliances are wrapped up, and the random things are boxed up.. Well, pretty much everything is boxed up… our life… it’s all boxed up and ready to be put elsewhere.

Buying a house can be expensive… Haha, that’s an obvious thing. The price gets higher and higher with every new appliance or furniture purchase, too. After buying the necessary refrigerator, washer and dryer, and a couch, you could say our savings is getting depleted! Even though we have the money for it, and are being responsible, it’s put us on a tight budget this month and next month, as we make sure we have enough money for all the living essentials and closing costs coming up.

Pregnancy. It either happens when you want it, don’t want it, were not expecting it, or couldn’t wait soon enough for. It’s usually pretty great news to hear, right? Whether the news is for yourself or for someone else, it is really exciting to see one of God’s greatest miracles happening to someone you know, and someone you care about. One of my friends and past roommates recently found out she is pregnant :) I’m so happy for her to be a mom because I know without a doubt, that is her mission in life.

If you read Part 1, you’ll know that we went into our appointment feeling worried about the huge price increase on the home plan we were interested in the most. We let them know we were very serious about this home, but that the price jump was going to be a deal-breaker for us. We asked the rep if there was anything they can do for us on that, since it happened literally overnight.

When we first started thinking about the idea of moving and buying a house, it was difficult to be fully invested in the idea because there were multiple factors that were up in the air that could alter that idea. It really felt like everything was about timing. We weren’t sure if the timing was right with me going back to school. We also weren’t sure if we should save up a little more, though we did already have a down payment.

Ready for these two exciting announcements? We are moving! We bought a house! Yep. This just got real. It’s awesome yet crazy, and just a huge step in our lives but we are so excited to take that step! Though the idea of moving has been in the works for us for about five months, the opportunity with this specific house came up quick. And when I mean quick, I mean that we had three days to decide on it, haha.

We are now on month 13 and I’m feeling grateful for where we are at. It is funny because this month I’ve suddenly felt like we gained a little bit more maturity with completing one year. Every year brings it’s certain experiences that allow us to learn and grow, so each year we’ll become just a little tinsy-tiny bit more wiser than the year before, and I’m looking forward to it :) With that being said, I think it is important to look back at things we have learned.

Feel free to LISTEN to this blog post below! [sc name=“soundcloud” id=“273881414” ] I don’t like bikinis, I don’t wear them. I think they are immodest and inappropriate and impractical to be wearing swimming. I have read a few articles the past month, that have lead me to feel strongly about sharing why I feel this way about bikinis. One of those articles was, “I’m not celebrating bikini season this year” by Kit Steinkellner.

Remember when you first got married, and there’s that one (or more for some of us) person who makes the comment, “So when are you going to start having babies?” I’m sure we can all think of someone who said that to us, right? Some of them are just funny little grandmas just waiting to have more cheeks to pinch! But others can ask in an interrogative way about it, as if they may be upset if you give an answer that doesn’t include the thought of immediately having a child.

Well, Trevor and I have now been married for one year! It’s an interesting feeling of happiness, pride, excitement, and weirdness at the same time… if that makes any sense, haha. It is weird because of how quickly, yet slowly the year went by, and how different we are from a year ago! We were individuals that learned how to be one. We made plans, and some of those plans changed in unexpected ways.

On Thursday, I was shamefully watching the daytime talk show, “The View” (I know, I stooped that low, don’t judge me), and I was saddened by some of the comments that were being said about marriage to their guest co-host, Candace Cameron Bure (she played DJ from “Full House”). She came out with a recent book, so they discussed some of her ideals on marriage that were written in that book.

School. There’s so much importance that is stressed on getting an education, and going to school. It’s something that seems to be on every young-adult’s mind, because getting a degree is the next step after high school. It’s what everyone is doing, right? Well, not everyone. It can be harder to accomplish this personal goal when married. The typical cycle around here, is that some couples find it best to have one spouse put school on hold to help support the other spouse’s education, with the hope that when they finish, the other spouse can go back and finish.

I currently work at a desk job, answering emails and phone calls from customers. Sometimes I work with awesome, fun, and happy customers, and other times I get to work with … other customers. Let’s face it, most people do not take the time to contact a company unless they are unsatisfied with a product. So I’m the front man that gets to handle all of that. For the most part I love it, but some days I feel the weight of the negativity that comes from being surrounded by complaints on a daily basis.

This new year has already been eventful for us. We’ve been blessed with a few opportunities and things to look forward to, and now our lives are going in a different direction, and we are very happy about it. Exciting news to share Trevor has chosen to start his career earlier than we planned, with a job offer from his dream job! He will be a Web Developer for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I have been noticing some changes in myself since becoming a wifey to my amazing husband, Trevor. They are GOOD changes! We’ve been married now for about 8 months, and it’s been a fun ride. While the transition from the single life to the married life was so awesome, it was a bigger transition for me with how independent of a person I am. One of the biggest changes I’ve been proud of, is how much I have cut out of my life to make more time for Trevor, and to be a better wife and friend for him… I’ve focused more on the things that matter most.

I’m sure many of you have read that article circulating, called “23 Things to Do Instead of Getting Engaged Before You’re 23.” If you haven’t read it, you might find it interesting. (Please note that the article in the link contains explicit words.) So many opinions can be formed about this girl’s views, and many opinions have already been mentioned. In having a website focused on strengthening marriage, as well as helping the world understand the beauty of marriage, we couldn’t let our opinion go unheard.

This was how our year of 2013 was well-spent. [caption id=“attachment_1860” align=“aligncenter” width=“550”] 67 dates. 348 days spent together. 1863 laughs. 32 special songs shared. 1.7 million kisses. (give or take a few) And 1 especially blissful day, when we became eternal best friends.[/caption] Happy New Year everyone! We are so excited to begin this new year together, but 2013 was a wonderful year! When I think back on all that we did, I can’t help but feel undeniably happy.

We love it when we come across marriage being talked about in the news. This article is something that was posted in the Deseret Newspaper in Salt Lake City, Utah, the other day, and I just wanted to share it. Though I’m not sure that I agree with titling these “marriage commandments,” I do think it’s a great suggestion to compare them to the ten commandments we have been taught about through the gospel.

What does it mean when you hold hands with your spouse? I remember the first time that Amy and I held hands. We had been dating for a few weeks and were really starting to like each other. I was shy and didn’t know how to make any moves. Amy could see that I was struggling so she helped me: we were watching a movie sitting on a bean bag and she put her hand on my arm.

A study by University of Utah professor Jeffrey Dew showed that if you argue about money with your spouse more than once a week your risk for divorce is 30 percent higher than if you argue about money with your spouse a few times a month. So, how can we avoid this? How can we find financial peace in our marriages? There are five easy tips that we have chosen to follow from our faith, on churchofjesuschrist.

We aren’t quite sure about how many kids we will want to have, when the time comes. The funny part is that Trevor wants two, and I think that I like three! What’s even more funny is that every now and then, we come across a scene that could give us a great reason to want as few kids as possible, haha. And when that happens, Trevor just holds up 2 fingers at me, and smiles.

You don’t hear about many newlywed couples who have food storage, but we are now one of those couples. We’ve been planning since before we got married, to have a three-month supply of food storage, and we just reached that goal this week. No, this isn’t because we worry that a zombie apocalypse will occur. It’s because we fear the unknown. I know many of you think that the topic of food storage is one that older people are involved in.

Remember to cut the price tag off of your brand new blouse before you wear it to Sacrament meeting, in giving a talk at the pulpit, in front of a large congregation. It’s fine. My husband slyly pulled it off after I sat back down. Well, the time came, sooner than I had expected, that we were asked to speak in Sacrament meeting. To many of you, this may surprise you, but we actually enjoyed it.

In the first three weeks of being married, I learned: The difference between wants and needs. Showing your love can sometimes be more important than saying it. Selfishness will never prosper in a partnership. Cuddling can fix sooooo many things!

My husband asks me out on a date every week. I KNOW RIGHT?! He really is the cutest husband. We had our partial date tonight in the park, having a picnic together. We grabbed the cute woven basket my cute mother-in-law gave us, and packed it full of buns, bananas, and BBQ chicken. It was lovely just sitting on the lush, green, grass, just eating, talking, and laughing. Trevor makes me giggle so much.