Turning points and transitions: Reflections on the first year of marriage

Our lives are marked by turning points. First words, first steps, graduations, jobs, relationships–these points of change we can easily identify and remember. Before high school graduation and after. Before a first love and after. Before kids and after. Without question, my biggest personal turning point thus far has been marriage. With 364 days under my belt, I’ve been thinking about all of the “firsts” and the transitions and how different (and fabulous) life seems now.

A lot of my reminiscing lately has taken the form of “a year ago, we were doing this…” The year prior to our wedding was marked by specific memorable events–getting engaged, telling family and friends, choosing a venue, tasting cake, picking colors, sending invites, etc. I remember the hundreds of choices, each decision its own little wedding turning point. The years of life before and after*? Soooo different.

Whereas in a normal year, holidays are holidays, and birthdays are birthdays, and trips are trips, in the post-wedding year, they’ve been “firsts” e.g. The First Married Thanksgiving, the First Married Christmas, the First Married Fight. As a complete dork, I noted so many more goofy firsts–The First Married Southwest Trip, the First Married Grocery Run, The First Married [insert any mundane task you can think of]. (For the record, Mr. T knew was he was getting into.)

So what was this year like? Glorious and difficult and fun and stressful and beautiful. A friend asked me yesterday to describe my thoughts on our first year of marriage. Despite the commuting and the occupying different states and the usual squabbles, we are having so much freaking fun, it’s obnoxious. Let me show you some…

Reno Air Races! (Also Mr. T’s birthday weekend.)

 

Shawna Crocker.

 

Goofing.

 

Grumping (with a lovely necklace by Mischief by Loki).

 

Fixing things.

 

And self-portraits.

 

And funny faces.

 

And funnier (fry) faces.

 

Friends in 3-D.

 

And steak.

 

Delicious meals.
“First” Thanksgiving.

 

“First” Christmas.

 

“First” Christmas.

 

Crab Feed (and nipple tweaks?)

 

Crab Feed.
Time travel.

 

Mad Men.

 

Memorable flights.

 

Formations!
Hair cuts.

 

BBQs.

 

Happy to report, love is still in the air.

Looking forward to many more years just like this!

xoxo,
shawna

* For the record, I do not mourn the passing of the “big day” and the flurry of events related to it. I lived that experience and look forward to the rest of what life has in store. Indeed, I miss the honeymoon infinitely more than the wedding.

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