52 Weeks of Love: Katie & Derek

52 weeks of Love because there are that many weeks in the first year of marriage.  

And 365 days of living, loving and laughing.  

Plus the first year of marriage is perhaps the best and toughest one.  

I remember reading one of my favorite bloggers, Alida about her anniversary, 

"Thirty years ago, we thought we loved each other. 

 Now, we know we do."

I know every single day, week, month and year of marriage is about experiencing life together and loving each other.  In thirty years i hope to feel the same way Alida feels after thirty years of marriage.  

But until then, i want to take 2012 to celebrate my first year of marriage.  

And to celebrate, i wanted to ask other couples  (who just completed their first wedding anniversary) 

to share with me what they have learned in their first year of marriage. 

 I am humbled these ladies agreed to share 52 weeks of love experiences wtih Team Pancakes!

Hope you will return every Thursday and share their stories with us.

To help us celebrate 52 Weeks of Love, we have the lovely Katie and her husband, Derek. 

Katie and Derek have been married for over a year BUT i loved their first year together so i thought they still met the criteria.  Plus they are going on their official honeymoon this year so they are still technically newlyweds:-) Take it away Katie!

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Hello everybody!  It's Katie from Married...with a pup.  

I first would like to thank Mrs. Pancakes for asking me to participate in her 52 Weeks of Love.  

I have to tell you that I LOVED writing this post and reflecting upon our marriage. 

 I'm so excited to kickoff this series and cannot wait to read all of your posts!  

Ok, so without further adieu:

Derek and I got married August 8th, 2009. 

That means we've been marreid 875 days (as off 12/31/11)!!  

It was from that point forward that we were able to live in the SAME CITY!  Yes, you read that right.  

For the previous four years, we lived about 100 miles apart.  

Definitely close enough to do the whole long-distance thing, 

but it was a true challenge through those long four years!!! 

So, our first year of marriage was certainly special that we were not only living together 

but we were able to live in the same zip code =)

The weekend after we got married, we moved to Cincinnati.  

I know.....no honeymoon!  

Don't fret ladies, we have an amzing trip planned for later next year

and I will be announcing our trip details soon!  But, moving sucks, plain and simple.

However, this was our first "team-building exercise" as a married couple. 

We worked so well together....besides the time we got into a physical
 fight trying to carry in the sofa to our new apartment.
 Haha, oh the memories.

Derek was finishing up pharmacy school and I was just starting graduate school during that first year.  

One of the challenges of us living together, besides the obvious transition of rooming with a guy, 

was we were both used to our independence during the week because we lived in different cities.

  We actually had to learn how to hang out...without sufficating each other. 

 Our biggested challenge was finding that balance of seeing each other while still giving each other space. 

 I think this balance is crucial, especially during your first year of marriage!

  I feel like we did this sucessfully by planning events throughout the week such as cooking dinner together, agreeing on certain tv shows to watch together through the week, or attending a happy hour.

Our year of marriage signified a big addition to our family:  a new puppy, Brutus.

  Brutus has provided us with the notion of responsibility!  

While puppies or even pets are not as demanding as children, 

they give you a very good taste of parenthood.  

We absolutely love having Brutus and he has become a part of our little family. 

The first year of marriage has relaxed me soooo incredibly much!  

I used to be so uptight about pretty much everything and would obsess over the smallest things.  

Because Derek is so laid back, he has helped me just relax!  

We give each other a hard time...all the time.  

We love laughing and make sure we are making each other smile as much as possible. 

 Don't give him all the credit though, I've also rubbed off on him. 

 Derek has started to procrastinate less and started to pick up more on small details. 

 I guess you could say we have helped each other out =) 

The first year of marriage also made me appreciate the important things in life.  

We try to, most nights, list a couple things we are thankful for.  

 May sound cheesy, but it helps put things in perspective at the end of each day! 

 My #1 thing though that I would have to say that I've learned from the first year of marriage,

 is when to bite my tongue and when to bring things up.

  This was a challenge for me. 

 I unfortunately let small things get to me, 

however, with Derek's patience and help,

 I've learned to let the small things slide by....it's helped me be a much happier person!

Marriage has truely been so exciting.  

Derek is my best friend 

and I cannot wait to see what else our lives have planned for us! 

-Katie marriedwithapup.blogspot.com

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Thank you Katie for sharing your 52 weeks and 365 days of love with Team Pancakes!

I cannot wait to see what life has in store for you, Derek and Brutus.