Pin Cushion Catch Up: First Year of Marriage

The first year of marriage went by faster than I would have thought possible. Before I knew it, our 'newlywed' status was a thing of the past.

We packed as many trips and milestones into that first year as we could. Which is a good thing, since now that we're an old married couple (that's what you become after your 1st anniversary, right?), we plan to sit on our tushes and be lazy.

In the spirit of being lazy, may I share a recap with you of our last year while I sit on my couch in my pajameralls? If you answered yes, then proceed. If you answered no, then proceed to the next blogger who might be writing while not looking like a schlub.

In November 2010, we traveled to southern Japan. We ate new things (octopus tentacle balls), saw new things (a giant turtle walking around a temple wearing a diaper) and had a deer eat Mr. Pin Cushion's paperwork.

(Seriously)

Oh, and we got our zen on.

In the spring of 2011, we were lucky enough to visit a friend in the Peace Corps stationed in Morocco.

The Pin Cushions rocked the Casbah in our Fezes (top right photo), as well as ate delicious, authentic food. And then promptly got food poisoning (vomiting together can really strengthen a relationship).

This summer, we (very nearly) conquered Mount Shasta with my dad. Which included sleeping in the snow, waking up at 1 am to start hiking in the dark, and looking like cone heads while wearing our climbing helmets.

And Mr. Pin Cushion conquered graduate school and we somehow both lived to tell the tale. He's officially Dr. Pin Cushion, Ph.D.

We'd been together a decade before we got married, but our first year of marriage still had a lot to teach us. During our adventures globe trotting as well as our time being domestic at home, we learned 1) that talking is important, 2) that in order for the kitchen to be clean, someone needs to clean it, 3) that we don't like all the same TVs shows, 4) that we get stressed out by very different things.

But in addition to these things, we also learned that 1) when we talk, the other person will listen, 2) cleaning the kitchen isn't SO bad [alternately: we also found that we don't mind a dirty kitchen], 3) we have friends to watch TV shows with, 4) we can be there for each other when the other Pin Cushion is stressed out.

It's been a great first year! Bring on the lazy - matching sweaters - growing old together years!

What do you expect from your first year of marriage? Do you think you'll still be learning about each other as newlyweds?