The Adventures of JI & Kels: six months of marriage

Justin and I have been married for six months today! I cannot believe it has been six months of marriage. Thinking of our wedding day still brings, and always will bring, a smile to my face. It was the best day ever, and I love talking about it. I love reminiscing about how much fun we had and our favorite parts of the day and evening.

Justin is the love of my life and I am grateful for everyday we get to spend together. I think my favorite part of being married is the promise that we will be partners for the rest of our lives. No matter what happens in life, I know that he will be by my side and I will be by his.

Highlights after six months of marriage

• We are sticking to our budget, and talking about money often – which I think is a good thing.
• Planning our future is another conversation we have regularly, and I love how excited we are every time it comes up.
• Although, we still make sure to live in the moment, enjoying the here and now.
• We are happy and laugh pretty much everyday, either with or at each other. We also like to joke about who is funnier. It’s totally me, by the way. 😉
• We still call each other “husband” and “wife” often. I still smile every time.

I know our relationship was already pretty strong and being married just solidified it even more. These past six months of marriage have me even more in love with my husband, and grateful that we had a strong foundation to build upon.

Six things that still ring true after six months of marriage

1. Little things can brighten each others’ days. Grabbing a drink on the way home from work? Surprise husband with one as well. Tons of towels in the laundry hampers? Fold them before the other one comes home. It’s nothing expensive or ground breaking. It’s just taking care of each other any way we can.
2. Communication has been, and always will be, so important to us. We can never assume the other person should just “know” what is the matter. So we tell each other. We talk about it. No one is a mind reader, and when left to their own devices, will most likely come to the wrong conclusion.
3. Be grateful. Say thank you. Everyone wants to be appreciated and I feel like this is especially important for the partner in my life. I thank him for helping with me with photography things, for feeding the dogs, for unloading the dishwasher. Not because I never expected him to and I’m surprised, but because I am grateful that I didn’t have to do them or do them alone.
4. It’s okay to not spend all of our time together. A girls night for me, hanging out with the guys for him, or heck, even alone time, keeps us sane. We both need to be able to go out and do things by ourselves. It’s our independent natures and we both respect and appreciate that.
5. We need to make time for each other. Date nights, baseball games, concerts — something special that we get to do together, just us, is important. He’s my favorite person to hang out with, so why not celebrate that with something other than dinner at home and watching TV on the couch?
6. Being happily married does not mean you have to be happy all the time. A good marriage (or relationship for that matter) does not mean we are in agreement 100 percent of the time, or even that we are happy with each other all the time. Ninety to 95 percent of the time, we are in sync and happier than clams. But, we’re human, and we live together. People are rarely (never say never) going to be in a good mood ALL THE TIME. And that’s okay. We don’t have to be happy with each other all the time. “For better or worse” means loving each other in spite of the crankiness, disagreements and anything else that comes along.

So why am I telling you this?

I knew all of this prior to being married. My goal is to always remember these things. I don’t want to go through the motions of my life or marriage. I want to live it with everything I have, loving fiercely and laughing freely. Cultivating our relationship is a vital part of that. Justin makes everything better, and I always want that to be true.

So my point to this post, other than telling you how much I love my husband, is to show you the real part of our relationship – the truths to how we love and go through life instead of only pretty pictures on social media. Six months of marriage may not seem like a big deal, but for us it is, and it’s something to be celebrated. If there’s anything you take out of all of this, I guess I just want people to know in my opinion, marriage and relationships are not always easy. Romantic comedies and romance novels are not real life. Marriage takes work and time. We will mess up. We’re all human. That doesn’t mean it should always be hard, either. It’s about finding balance. We have ours, and it’s incredible.

So, happy six months babe, and here’s to 600 more! I love you with everything I have, and I am so happy to be your wife. 🙂

Want to get in touch?

If you’d like to book your session or wedding, you can contact me at kelsey(at)kelseyalumbaugh(dot)com. Check out my Instagram @kelseyalumbaugh ! And like me on Facebook to see the latest blog posts and wedding updates. 🙂 If you’re curious about the investment, you can check that info out here, but please feel free to reach out so we can better address your photography needs.

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