Now that the secret is out that I’m pregnant with twins I can finally share my words of the year because it has everything to do with them. :) I say WORDS because I think it’s important to have a goal in mind for you as an individual, and then a goal in mind for your marriage. However you like to do your goals, whether by choosing a specific word to inspire you, a vision board, or simply writing down the goal in a sentence, make sure you are considering how you can strengthen your marriage.

***This article contains affiliate links so if you purchase, I make a small percentage of that. How many times do we eat dinner together at home in front of the television, without saying much to each other? We are pretty good at having conversations, but I can’t count how many times we’ve still done this. :) It’s easy to do when we just have the two of us, and we just want to escape from the tasks and stress of the day.

Every birthday, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and wedding anniversary, I find myself googling thoughtful gift ideas that I can buy or make for my spouse. The same thing happens when I want to get a “just because” gift for him, or create a special date night for us. Add these up and we’ve got AT LEAST 5 times throughout the year searching for gift ideas. Over the past few years, I have been keeping track of some awesome finds that interest me or my spouse, and I think most spouses would love too.

I was watching an awesome TED talk from Belgian Psychotherapist, Esther Perel about desire in committed relationships. Specifically talking about having more desire and passion for intimacy. But she mentioned some REALLY great points that completely resonated with me, and I think they will with you too. She talks about how as humans we have two fundamental human needs that conflict with each other when we are in a committed relationship.

I’ve written a lot about date nights: giving ideas, stressing how important it is, but that it doesn’t have to be epic. Well since “date night” isn’t as simple as you think, I’ve got more to say about it, of course! I’ve been watching cooking shows lately, and have heard the term “elevate” be used a lot. It’s described as like adding an extra element or level to your dish that gives it a kick to stand out from the typical version of that dish.

My husband and I tried out different date boxes to give you an idea of what each one offers! This blog post is sharing our experiences with the “Crated With Love” date box company, giving you better insight into what their boxes are like. If you are unfamiliar with date boxes in general, read this previous blog post explaining everything about them - what they are, as well as the pros and cons.

My husband and I tried out different date boxes to give you an idea of what each one offers! This blog post is sharing our experiences with the “Date Night In” date box company, giving you better insight into what their boxes are like. If you are unfamiliar with date boxes in general, read this previous blog post explaining everything about them - what they are, as well as the pros and cons.

My husband and I tried out different date boxes to give you an idea of what each one offers! This blog post is sharing our experiences with the “Datelivery” date box company, giving you better insight into what their boxes are like. If you are unfamiliar with date boxes in general, read this previous blog post explaining everything about them - what they are, as well as the pros and cons.

My husband and I tried out different date boxes to give you an idea of what each one offers! This blog post is sharing our experiences with the “Unbox Love” date box company, giving you better insight into what their boxes are like. If you are unfamiliar with date boxes in general, read this previous blog post explaining everything about them - what they are, as well as the pros and cons.

Date boxes are planned and created date nights that are focused on creating an entertaining and connecting date for you and your spouse! If you’re unfamiliar with date boxes, I’ll give you the rundown on the basics of what they are, the pros and cons, as well as the varieties out there you can choose from! Date boxes are mostly focused on indoor dates, which are great for winter, or for spending time together after the kids are in bed so you don’t have to pay for a babysitter.

*This post contains affiliate links. I think two big questions that married couples, especially newlyweds, have on their minds when it comes to sex are: How often or frequent should we be having sex? Does more sex make for a happier marriage? I’m going to give some insight that can help answer these two questions if you have been asking them yourself! THE FACTS + FINDINGS There are several studies that have been done out there to determine what the “magic number” is for answering this question.

THE SPECIAL OCCASION PRESSURES The night before Valentine’s Day, we were talking about our holiday plans and my husband voiced to me that he has spent hours over the past few weeks trying to figure out a special activity for us to do for Valentine’s Day that wasn’t something we had already done or that feels “same ole, same ole” like going to the movies. We even have a STRONG bucket list of so many more date night activities to try, but sometimes those ideas don’t work well with the season or other facts.

*This post contains affiliate links. I think one of the biggest hangups a couple can have when it comes to their sex life is not understanding their own sexuality first. It makes me sad that so many married people don’t even understand this huge part of their life and who they are. Which is like, the basis of a satisfying sex life for both husband and wife! Why it’s important SOOOO I want to talk just a little bit about this.

#freshfridays quote asking “Have you had your six-second kiss today?” I don’t think we should look at the word ‘potential’ with an eye-roll, because it doesn’t mean a long kiss has to lead to sex. An extra long kiss is just more special than the quick kiss goodbye or quick kiss when getting home from work. So I think the ‘potential’ he’s referring to is focused more on how that kind of intentional and more meaningful kiss can lead to a more meaningful relationship; more meaningful days together; more meaningful emotional intimacy.

*This post contains affiliate links. I truly believe in selflessness. I’ve spoken about this before on different videos and blog post topics because pride or selflessness influences every single aspect of marriage! I believe that when both spouses are being selfless, it can begin this beautiful cycle of deeper connection and more physical satisfaction. What was that last feeling? Physical satisfaction? YEP. Let’s talk about it! To apply this “cycle” to sexual intimacy, if you are putting your spouse first, wanting them to have a satisfying experience, they will want to give you a satisfying experience right back.

The joy I found in my marriage this week: thoughtful surprises! In the past few weeks, a few situations have come up that make me look back on everything it took to get where we are now. We both had to go through a lot of learning and heartbreak before meeting each other, and being ready for each other. Even though you have a few tough minutes of remembering those hard times, it all makes you appreciate your relationship for what it is today, ya know?

*This post contains affiliate links. I don’t know a marriage that doesn’t give cards or love notes to each other for special occasions or even just for no reason at all! They can seem boring sometimes unless you get a funny one, or one that just has that unique factor… WELL. I’m going to show you how to make the EASIEST unique card you’ve ever seen! It folds and opens in a fun way, you can make at home with supplies you most likely have laying around, and you can embellish it however you want!

I love playing with sparklers in the summer! They are a fun burst of energy and warmth, and have totally “sparked” a comparison for me to marriage! Some couples at various points in their marriage, lose those fun, romantic sparks. Sadly, some of these couples wait around for the sparks to come back again on their own, which rarely happens. I think they wait around because it seems like a daunting task, right?

Since this is our 3rd attempt at Christmas cards, I kinda feel like I got it right. Maybe! I didn’t feel like I could put together a newsletter super quickly even though I already had our template from last year. Something inside me suggested making it somewhat more simple this year. But I like to give more than just the picture of us with a small Christmas phrase with our names on it.

I LOVE PLAYING GAMES!!! They are just my jam. I get so excited when we get together with friends or family who want to play games because we don’t get to play those 3+ player games at home! Over the past four years together, we have managed to find some two-player games to play at home, but we get bored of them real quick. Since every couple needs to have some games to turn to, especially in the winter time, I figured I would make one big list for us all!

Today is a special day :) Four years ago on October 25th, Trevor and I made our relationship official. See, it was declared on facebook so it was official … haha This morning I went through my old journal from that time we were first dating and it was so special to go back and read all of that. I obviously knew our timeline and the words we said but there was something so tender about reading about it all, and especially my feelings during the rise of our relationship.

[sc name=“soundcloud” id=“282060156” ] So I got nominated to do that ‘Love Your Spouse’ Challenge, but I’m not going to do it. It might be surprising since I’m a huge advocate of marriage, and that I totally admire this challenge going around! It’s important to publically share your feelings about your spouse, acknowledge their talents and how they have influenced your marriage, etc. But I think there can be TOO much of that sometimes.

Everyone knows that I’m a big promoter of date night. Especially with my giveaways. I just believe that it’s important to have time together alone with your spouse. :) But I don’t want to give anyone the idea that your time together has to be epic enough to be given the “date night” title. Date night shouldn’t feel pressured. All quality time is important! And in some life circumstances, we have to take what we can get, right?

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.

***Giveaway closed.*** Winner listed at the bottom of the post *This post contains affiliate links. This week my focus is on the importance of recording the memories in marriage! I talk about how important it is to journal the little details here, with 10 ideas for how you can do that! I also wrote here about how important it is to update your family photos often AND make sure to hang them up in your house!

So I’m finally sharing our beautiful trip to Hawaii we took in May! Two phrases I remember saying multiple times out loud and in mind are: “Bucket list item - CHECK!” and “That’s another new thing I can say I tried!” I liked being able to make those little steps of progression in life, but doing them felt a million times more special and held more purpose getting to do them with my husband :)

Every anniversary we do a little something to celebrate our love! Like everyone else! haha. Some people choose to follow the theme of their year from that list of anniversary gifts here. I guess I don’t want to be told what to get my spouse because my spouse is unique! Our gift to each other was celebrating in Hawaii this year, but I wanted us to do something special there to mark the occasion.

As a society, especially women, we tend to get caught up in other’s love stories. The obvious ways we do this are through movies and novels, right? Writers make up these passionate love stories that (most of the time) are unlikely to happen, with the most convenient circumstances. When these stories are played out in movies, of course, we finally get to see it all played out visually so everything is played up.

I’m excited to share this idea with you guys because I think it’s a fun, EASY way to switch things up when it comes to your sex life! For whatever reason, we all experience a hiatus of sexual intimacy at times. Sometimes it’s because there are natural life transitions happening like having a baby, and other times you’re just needing a nudge to get back there. This game can be that nudge for your marriage!

FRESHLY MARRIED IS NOW ON YOUTUBE!!! Click on This button below to subscribe! I was feeling like I needed to be doing videos as another form of helping couples strengthen their marriage because we all learn in different ways.I think this is also a great opportunity for my personality to come out a little more, which can help our relationship feel more personable :) I’m all about relating to others because it allows you to better understand them and trust them.

To the couples who haven’t gone on a date in awhile: GO ON A DATE! I know I say this a lot, and I don’t want to come off as annoying, judge-y or insensitive when I write this post. Life can be tough and in those tough times, we tend to put this incredibly important relationship of ours on the back-burner. It also happens when life is busy. For whatever the reason, these situations start to take precedence over something that is so essential to a relationship.

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.

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.

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!

My husband and I have both mentioned in posts how much we enjoy giving and receiving love notes from each other. I really think there’s an awesome power that comes with love notes. Having a physical copy of how your spouse feels about you is something you can refer to in years to come, which makes it more special. Trevor and I used to write more to each other while we were dating, and I think it’s because we lived an hour away from each other.

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 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!

And by good things, I don’t just mean that it opens the opportunity for sex! haha. I think that by ending your night with a kiss sets you up for good feelings before you go to sleep. Good feelings or bad feelings can be the difference between staying up all night or having a beautiful sleep! Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying that if you don’t kiss your spouse goodnight that you are a terrible spouse, or that you’ll have bad feelings before you fall asleep!

*You will get the most out of this post if you read Love Languages Part 1: Understanding* We’re talking about this best-selling book, “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman! (affiliate link) So hopefully you have taken the assessments to know what your spouse’s love languages are, as well as your own. And hopefully you have discussed it with your spouse as well. (If you haven’t taken it yet, no worries, still important to know all this!

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.

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.

In the previous post, “Lock Your Love,” I shared this awesome gate found in St. George where you can symbolically protect your love by attaching a padlock to a gate or a bridge. Go read that post because it’s a neat idea! I thought more about how this idea reflects marriage and found some great symbolism I wanted to share. Locked strongly into place My thoughts lingered on the lock itself, in that it’s nearly effortless to lock into place.

*This post contains affiliate links. I used to go to Dixie State University (it was Dixie State College when I went), so I lived down in good ole St. George, Utah! I loved it there so much. I could go on forever about why I love St. George but that would take all day! So I’m just going to share this one majorly awesome thing that came from living down there.

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.

Have you ever had a hard time buying a gift for your spouse while keeping it a surprise? I personally have a problem with it just solely on the fact that I just can’t wait for them to enjoy what I got them! Well for this post I’m talking about keeping it a secret financially. If you are like us and have openly shared finances, you probably struggle with getting gifts without your spouse knowing.

I’m so glad we happened to get a blooper photo of me actually picking my husband up because it worked perfectly for this ;) Mondays can be hard, huh? It’s beginning another week of the daily grind, wishing you could go back to Friday :) What helps us get by on these days where we are lagging? Sometimes it’s a funny video on youtube. Other times it’s a diet coke or brownie.

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?

We celebrated our second anniversary this weekend, and it was just lovely. We stayed one night at the Anniversary Inn, enjoying the same room we spent our wedding night in. It was magical to have memories flood me from two years ago, and was just so relaxing to get away from the world for a little bit. On the way there we ate at Happy Sumo and it was just really chill, I loved it.

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.

A few weeks ago Trevor went to a conference in San Francisco for work. For many couples this wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Some spouses are away on business trips often. Well, for Trevor and I, this was a big deal because it was the first time we have ever spent a night apart… YEP. The last time we slept in separate beds on our own was the night before we got married.

*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.

During a typical week day, there’s a time where my life becomes like an apron-wearing, oven-ready “50’s housewife cliché”. I love this time of the day. Around 3:30 or 4 pm, my thoughts start to focus on the refrigerator, and pantry, where I figure out what nice meal I can make for us for dinner. Sometimes it feels kind of stressful because I want to make something yummy, fulfilling, and healthy for us, and I’m not always prepared as I could be.

I didn’t realize how big of a deal it was to have family pictures up until now. I always thought people made too big of a deal over getting family portraits taken every year, and switching the pictures out in their home every time. While I love the idea of that, it’s not about having formal family photos to show off. To be honest, Trevor and I prefer the silly candid iPhone pictures we take, even in selfie form!

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.

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.

I like doing surprise/spur-of-the-moment dates. Especially when they are much needed. I have had some medical concerns (or you could call them annoyances!) for several months now. (I’m not pregnant, don’t worry, haha.) I’ll have slumps of days when almost any food sounds good to eat, but then I’ll have annoying streaks when I don’t want to eat anything; sometimes it gets to the point of just thinking of my favorite foods makes me want to gag.

Music is one of my favorite things that this life offers us. It has the power to inspire, to soften hearts, to change a mood, to make our bodies move, and ultimately, it can make us happy. My favorite thing about music, however, is its ability to preserve a memory, whether happy or sad, silly or annoying. I absolutely love that because of the many, MANY songs on my personal favorites list, every single one of them involves a memory… Singing Backstreet Boys songs with my friend every drive I took from St.

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.

We’ve mentioned our ideals on dating in marriage before, but we’ll mention it again: One of our expectations going into our marriage, was committing to have a date night each week. In looking back at our first year, I don’t think we missed a week. I know it’s so much easier for newlyweds to continue to date, and make time for dates, but that’s not an excuse to lack! No matter what stage of marriage you are in, I hope you ask each other out on fun dates still.

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.

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.

I found this quote a long time ago, and it has been my favorite ever since. Unfortunately, I don’t like the song that these words come from, haha. I will credit the band and the song though anyways. The lyrics come from the song, “I Know How The River Feels,” by Diamond Rio. As a young adult, there were so many directions to go, and many crucial life decisions coming at me.

Our one year anniversary is coming up, and I am finding myself getting more excited about it each day! I’ve been thinking about how things were a year ago, and how far we have come since then. I have started looking back at our first year with such gratitude for the blessings that have come, and also for the trials that we have seen. And then I stumble upon all the cute things that made me fall in love with Trevor in the first place :) And that puts me in an instant twitterpated state of mind, haha.

For more than 11 years I have kept a quote book, where I have written down any intuitive thoughts, quotes, lyrics, speeches, movie lines, or any other words that I have found meaningful. I’m very passionate about finding them, as they inspire, and encourage, me. I love relating some of these to my own life, and so I wanted to share this one I love relating some of these to my own life, and so I wanted to share this one that is very significant to Trevor and I.

On Saturday, Trevor and I were doing dishes together, and we had a funny conversation about something. I don’t remember all of the words that were said, but I think it was about how I almost pulled a “your face” joke on him. I know, I act like a twelve-year-old sometimes because I say “your face is a _____ “(fill in the blank), whenever the opportunity arises, haha. Well this opportunity, he knew it was coming after he created the perfect set up, so he said it before I could say it.

Let’s be honest here. Every now and then, date nights can get a little routine doing the same things we usually do. This happens with us newlyweds too, believe it or not! So new ideas for date nights are good to have on those nights we feel like being spontaneous, or just wanting to do something different. Well, this is an idea that you can do any day of the week, in any season.

[caption id=“attachment_2457” align=“aligncenter” width=“450”] There’s something great about laying next to your best friend every night, and waking up to them still by your side in the morning.[/caption] On Saturday morning, I woke up and rolled over in bed to face Trevor. I found him still asleep, which typically happens, but this time I couldn’t help but stare at him. I cuddled up right next to him, and he made subtle movements to hold my hand, or put his arm around me, like he usually would.

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.

Trevor laughs at all the little moments in our relationship I try to commemorate, or that I feel the need to commemorate. When he sees a bottle of sparkling cider in the cupboard, I think he traces his memories to find out what moment I’m wanting to make a toast about with it (haha). Well, today is our six month anniversary, so naturally, I pulled out a bottle to celebrate over dinner.

Amy asked me this morning, “Am I beautiful?” I was thinking, “Of course you are beautiful!” But I know many of you women reading this ask the same thing. It’s obvious that many women are self-conscious about the way they look. I learned some disgusting statistics today: In 2012, women had more than 9.1 million cosmetic procedures - breast augmentation, liposuction, tummy tuck, eyelid surgery, and breast lift, to name a few.

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.

It’s marriage quote Sunday, ya’ll!

Amy had sinus surgery this week. I sat worried in the waiting room attempting to get some homework done. After a long wait I was allowed to go to my wife’s bedside in the recovery room as she groggily emerged from the fog of anesthesia. I was able to help her eat, get dressed, and even use the bathroom…simple things we all take for granted. I held her hand tightly and stared at her beautiful face as she drifted in and out of sleep…quietly thanking God for all of my blessings.

Amy and I can be a little goofy at times… Actually, pretty much all the time :) One of the goofy things we do is call each other “mine.” I came home to a note on the table today that said “mine.” I love my wife. I am very thankful for the nice little notes that she leaves me around our apartment, on our bathroom mirror, on the fridge, through text messages, and through voicemails.

In our first three months together, I learned: Routines are comfortably nice. To take a deep breath and be patient. You can gain weight quickly as a newlywed! (Yikes!)

The sealing The best and most important part was done first thing in the morning: Get married to my best friend! After that, the mishaps don’t matter, because you are happy as can be! Photography Pictures were taken with family and friends on the temple grounds, and afterwards, Trevor and I spent about an hour taking pictures just us and the photographer. I know many people do groomals before-hand, so that the wedding day isn’t rushed.

I would like to start out, by saying how much I loved my wedding day. From the Groom to the ceremony; to the decorations to the guests; and from the food to the fun, I loved it all! Of course, the day had a few blips, but that is inevitable! What it all came down to, was that I had just married the most perfect man for me, and we were celebrating that fact with people who loved and supported us.

Life is busy. There seems to be a never-ending list of stuff to fill our time with: work, school, errands, meal preparation, eating, sleeping, cleaning, exercise, church responsibilities, hobbies, appointments, social activities… You get the point :) Life can easily suffocate our schedules with endless commitments without leaving time for the ones we love most. To avoid this, my wife and I have set a goal to have an official date night at least once a week.

We were recently married in the Latter-Day Saint temple. We wanted to share this experience with you - from our engagement to our lives now…post-marriage. We hope you enjoy the words of the bride (amy) and the groom (trevor): This post has 2 parts: The bride’s perspective, and the groom’s perspective! The Groom Hello. I’m Trevor I’m Amy’s husband and I wanted to share my side of the story too :)

Well, more like, the best friends before we met our spouses. Saturday was Trevor’s (before me) best friend’s wedding. It was a beautiful, yet hot, day full of love and happiness for them. It was a long-awaited day for them, especially since we both started dating within a week of each other, and were engaged about the same time. It was so hard for those boys! They were so in love with us and they just kept waiting until we fully came around!

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.