I cannot believe I’m no longer considered a newly wed. Last year was full of excitement + challenges, but best of all I can’t wait for what’s to come.

Last week was time for our one year wedding anniversary celebrations!! Every time I think of our wedding or glance down at my ring, I can’t help but giggle to myself. I still remember how foreign it sounded at first to say the word husband out loud, and now it seems weird to think I ever called Jesper anything else. 

The first year of marriage has been full of adventures as we explored new cities and checked some countries off our bucket list. We’ve laughed, danced, and enjoyed our weekly date nights. But the first year has also been challenging. Some even say it can be the hardest year of all. It makes sense, you’ve spent the last many months planning what at the time feels like the most important day of your life (the wedding) and now that all of the stress, excitement, and jitters have passed it’s time for real life to set in. 

What I’m trying to say is that its normal for life after the wedding and honeymoon to be rough. You have to re-connect, re-fall in love, and find new things to talk about since the nights where your wedding talk consumed 90% of your conversations is now over. And it’s important to remember that, that is okay. 

Just like anything in life, marriage will not always be sexy + it definitely won’t always be easy …

… but that doesn’t mean it won’t be your greatest adventure.

Let’s be real, now the world views you—a married couple— as these adults. As if waking up the morning after your wedding turns you into Mr. and Mrs. uber responsible, but in reality you probably woke up with sore feet and a hangover. In reality, being married hasn’t changed us or our relationship much. For us, we are still living in our same apartment, still both have our own last names, + our day-to-day life has pretty much remained the same.

Somehow though, soon after becoming married, we did begin to assume new roles of being married adults. We’ve had to learn about sharing finances and insurance policies, compromising with each other, and balancing two families that live over 5,000 miles apart. More than ever, we have learned about not only making our relationship a priority (hello date nights), but also how to maintain our own friendships (can you say dinner party?). Not to mention, we’ve had to navigate the Danish legal system + process of applying for visas, which we have found to not only be challenging but also stressful. (More on visas + expat life to come later). 

It is still so surreal to me to think I’m married—I really didn’t expect to be married at this age, let alone married to a man in a foreign country.  However, I’m confident that it was truly the best decision I’ve made in my adult life thus far. I can’t wait to grow together as a couple, but also as our own individuals. 

We celebrated our anniversary with a staycation in Copenhagen, exploring the city we call home from a fresh perspective. We stayed at a new hotel in the meatpacking district. Luckily the sun was shining so we were able to stroll amongst the cobble stone roads—peeping into independent store fronts and trying new restaurants. You can see the full list of places we went on this weeks Five Friday Finds: Anniversary Edition. It was the perfect mid-week getaway and gave us a chance to put our phones away and just be the two of us. 

Now, here’s to year number two.

While I’m not sure what it will bring, I do know that there will be both ups and downs, celebrations + disagreements, jokes + tears. But what I do know for sure is that #teamnemt is ready for it and all the memories to come.