7 Things I learned in my First Year of Marriage

   We got married at age 21 in January 2009 (so 5.5yrs ago at the time that I wrote this). We are officially smack dab in the middle of the first divorce hump (3-7 years), and still going strong. 

We were such babies!

Here are a few helpful pointers I learned in our first year of marital bliss.


1. You will gain weight. 
 All that cuddling and cooking and cuddling and cooking is not countered by the amount of sex you're having. You can't really count it as exercise.

Sweetheart Dress Tutorial

Little Girl Toddler Heart Cutout A-Line Bow Shoulder Dress

TUTORIAL/pictorial 

follow the jump to read all about it!

New House - New Projects!

We have set out on a new endeavor: living with roommates in a big house.

Our roomies are another married couple around our age, with two little girls same ages as ours. We'll be splitting rent and household duties. The whole "it takes a village" idea. I think it'll be great.

Also great: my to-do list of little (and big!) projects will keep me occupied for a looonnng time.

Here's our progress so far during the 15 days we've been here. Total cost so far $250 for paint and supplies (not including new furniture, in that case $3,550)

Dining room before after. Amazing what some paint and a new light can do! Capiz shell chandelier and turquoise paint. White trim also, creates a beachy vibe. We still need a proper table and to paint the floor trim. But I like where it's at so far.

Again, amazing what paint can do. We're pretty much under the belief that natural wood trim should be painted white. I also spray painted the ugly brass on the fireplace to make it a nice matte black with Rustoleum for hot surfaces.

Our bedroom. White walls and ugly brown windowsill. A little paint, a nice new bed and a pretty antique map make for a very nice relaxing green and earth toned bedroom.

Playroom! We think it was meant to be the formal dining room, but we're using it as the communal playroom. The paint we chose is a really nice bright (but not lime) green which we've lovingly named Guacamole. Makes me hungry.

Upstairs living room before after. Light & dark grey paints, and a whole new living room setup from Ikea. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the window side of the living room before I excitedly started painting.

Moral of the story: paint is amazing.

Cheap remodel paint project before after