Newlyweds: A Year Later

It has been about a year since I started the blog. One of my first posts was about life as a newlywed. Going back to work after a summer break is always a difficult transition, and I remember last year at this time I was barely balancing my life at work and my life as a new wife.

Before we got married, I lived with my parents. My responsibilities around the house were virtually nonexistent. My general routine was wake-up, go to work, come home, and repeat the next day. I took care of my laundry and other personal chores, but taking care of things around the house didn't really fall into my to-do list ... well, as far as I was concerned. My mom may tell you differently, but that's another story.

My expectation of marriage didn't seem like it would be too different than dating and being engaged. Kyle and I were very close. We had a good idea of each other's charming and not-so-charming qualities, and I knew the transition into marriage would be fairly seamless... and, it was.

However, I never would have expected that the following things would overwhelm me.

Taking out the dog
Making the coffee
Cooking dinner
Making my lunch
Doing the laundry
Putting away the dishes

It's not that I didn't know that I would have to take on those things, but oh, how overwhelming it all was at once. I expected our life to be so similar to dating, but there are many obvious changes that happen when you get married. With our work schedules, I was only seeing Kyle on the weekends before we got married. Our weekend plans tended to be routine: out-to-eat, watch recorded t.v., go to church. It wasn't until we were married about 6 months that we naturally evolved into a more "grown up" routine.

Last night I was talking to Kyle about all of this.

"Kyle, remember last year how upset I would be about having to make the coffee?"

"Kyle, remember when I wouldn't put the laundry up for weeks and it would sit on the floor of the laundry room?"

"Kyle, remember when we used to fight about who would take out Bailey... oh wait, we still do that." :)

I am prone to stressing out a bit, but I am also prone to fixing what stresses me out. A year later, I laugh at the things that I couldn't keep up with. We now have a much more organized way to get things done around the apartment and still feel like there is time to spend with each other after work.

Our favorite/typical weekday/evening routine:

make coffee and lunch
workout
1 chore (laundry, vacuum, etc.)
dinner
conversation on the patio
walk Bailey
t.v.
sleep

Oh, it works out so nice and organized. :)