Transitions In Marriage

(June 3-7)
So, I just have to start off by saying that Derek and I got a few laughs out of this week's discussion. We've been married nearly two months, so we're pretty much experts at marriage by now (ha ha...joke). Just kidding. Obviously we're not experts in marriage--but we ARE experts at being newlyweds. The reason we found this week's discussion particularly funny is that we feel we haven't had to make any kind of difficult adjustments in our marriage! We understand, of course, that we're not very far in to this yet, but as far as early marriage adjustments, we were both pretty well prepared. There were a couple of reasons for this. Here's what I think contributed to our easy, blissful early marriage transitions:
1.) We were best friends before we were anything else.
Derek and I have known each other for about a year and a half, and were absolutely, platonically, best friends for four months before we started dating. We got to know each other without the blinders of infatuation on. Because of that, we already knew each other's faults and quirks, and how we would feel about them for...forever. He decided then that I was worth putting up with, I guess ;)
2. We knew we wanted to get married...and not have any surprises.
Because we knew right from the beginning of our dating  relationship that we both hoped to one day get married, we stripped ourselves of false pretenses. We laughed and joked about bad habits that most people would never see, we talked about insecurities, everything. I wanted to make sure that he knew what he was getting. No false advertising here.
3. We both come from big families.
This one, I understand, is not something you really have control over. Relate it then, to having roommates. Sharing space is nothing new to me. I have 7 siblings, and we all shared one bathroom. The four girls slept in one (small, small) room, and the four boys in the other. So we got used to living with people. I think this is vital. When you're married, space is going to be shared--and you HAVE to be ok with that. Growing up in big families gave a us a huge advantage here.
4.) We decided to love each other no matter what.
We love each other. Right now, it is overwhelmingly easy to love each other. But even if it weren't...we would love each other. The biggest thing is your level of commitment. If you're committed to loving and serving your spouse from day one to day infinity, I'm convinced that you'll be happy. That doesn't mean you'll be without trials, or hardships, etcetera. It just means you can come together at the end of the day and say, "Wow. Ok. Let's try again tomorrow." President Gordon B. Hinckley once said "Any man who will make his wife's comfort his first concern will stay in love with her throughout their lives and through all eternity yet to come." And that goes for wives too ;)
So, we had a good laugh at the idea that early marriage is hard--because it hasn't been for us. We have been blessed with a simply glorious newlywed stage!

But one of the things I found most valuable in this week's lesson was the information about "Avoiding the Baby Blues." Derek and I were able to talk a lot about how we'll be able to prevent our marriage from taking that dip in satisfaction when we have children. We want the birth of each child to truly be "a blessed event". I'm so grateful that we get to be taking this class together right now, and learning how to improve our marriage and family at this great institution.