Lessons Learned in Love

Six months ago, Justin and I were married and sealed for all time and eternity in the Indianapolis, IN temple.

They say that your wedding day is the best day of your lives, and while I do believe that it is ONE of the best days of your lives, nothing quite compares to the joy of growing with your person every day after that.

I'm not a professional, nor am I a perfect wife, by any means, haha, but I have learned a lot the past 6 months–about relationships and myself!

6 Lessons I've learned after 6 months of marriage:

One: Creating a Home > Living in a house.

It doesn't matter whether you're living in an apartment, townhouse, condo, or an actual house–make it a home. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we are often reminded and encouraged to mirror cleanliness and the feelings of peace of the temples in our own homes. This is something that both of our parents did their very best to accomplish while growing up. As we dated, we often shared similar feelings of peace and happiness when we would talk about our childhood houses/apartments.

After we got engaged, Justin and I sat down together and wrote out all of the daily & weekly chores and responsibilities that would need to be done in order to maintain a clean home. One by one, we took turns picking which chores the other wanted to take on until they were evenly divided up. Boy, has this saved us so much time and potential headache! After moving in together, we fell into a pretty natural rhythm with our chores. It's a pretty dope system!

The other part of this equation, is decorating. Holy cow! It makes SUCH a big difference and it's also super fun to create a project together. Even with shorter leases, Justin and I have made it a priority to decorate out place(s) with pictures, plants, candles, and cozy bedding, and adjusting the lights. Even now, while we don't have an apartment, we've set up the room we're staying in to feel like a home. It's the absolute best. It feels like hygge (which I could make a whole other post on, hehe)!

Two: Develop Healthy Habits Together.

Justin and I are both very goal oriented people! We've always loved discussing our goals and setting up plans to meet them while supporting each other–especially our health/fitness goals! Some of our favorite habits together are:

-Creating a solid nighttime + sleep routine. Justin & I aim to get 8+ hours every night! This one is HUGE. Sleep is quite literally the foundation of overall health.

-Going to the gym 3-4x per week. Being swolemates is the absolute best 😍

-Going on walks together! This is also a great time to un-plug and decompress after a long day.

-Eating healthy, homecooked meals! Not only is this going to save you so much money, but it's also going to benefit your body to eat less processed foods. Not to mention it's also super fun trying out new recipes together 😋

Pssst! Have mentioned that you can follow our health/fitness journey?? https://www.instagram.com/packerfitness?igsh=MTlwaWhpczdzejhrNg==

Three: Put the phones away!

Quality time cannot happen without being present with each other. Period.

Four: Learn Together

Take time to genuinely invest in and learn about the things that your partner loves. Some of my very favorite moments I've spent with Justin have been the hours we've spent over his texts books, listening to medical podcasts, and watching Boards & Beyond videos together. It's also been the hours Justin's helped me memorize my lines, nail complicated rhythms in music, and geek out about character work. As we've invested in each other's interests, we've been able to learn and grow together. I never thought I'd know so much about the human body, but it's become a passion of my own now, and Justin's become an acting nerd with me. I love getting to learn together!

Five: Romance is in the Details.

I'm not just talking about big dates or celebrating anniversaries, though I believe those are important, too. It's the little things. It's the dance parties we have in the kitchen while cooking dinner; kissing the back of my hand while he's driving to the store; pulling each other in for a dance while a love song plays; it's taking time to cuddle after a long day.

Six: Develop a joyful daily routine together.

No matter how crappy or difficult a work or school day is, I know that Justin & I are going to turn it around when we get home. How? Because we have a DOPE post-work evening routine. Just about every night includes the following:

-Listening to a dope podcast, book, or album while making dinner and catching up

-Making the room feel super cozy with pillows and blankets by the TV to watch something awesome while we eat.

-Homemade protein ice cream that we prep literally every night to enjoy the following evening lol

Life is going to have so many ups and downs–sometimes they happen simultaneously. We've definitely had our share of lemons the past 6 months, but not only have we grown and learned from these times, we been able to make some pretty darn good lemonade.

I love marriage so much. I love my husband so much. We haven't even made a dent in our eternity together, but I can't wait to see where we'll be 6 months from now!