One year.

Yes, Nathan and I have survived one year of marriage.  We passed our one year mark this past week, and we celebrated like the (new-ish) Bixlers that we are by spreading our anniversary celebration out among a weekend and then some.  We went to a bed and breakfast, a renaissance festival, and had lovely, delicious meals made for us by other people.  I was delighted.  It was great.

At the beginning of the weekend, Nathan asked me to think about things I enjoyed and things I didn't like about/during our one year of marriage, and then about things I'd like to see us do/change for the future.  And the things I thought about didn't have to be directly related to Nathan.  It was to help us put together a better rule of life for us as a couple for the future.

Instead of listing out all of those specific things here, I thought I'd share some things that I've learned either about myself, about Nathan, or about marriage/married life as Mrs. Bixler:

1. Nathan and I both don't really care about whether you squeeze the toothpaste tube from the bottom or the top.
2. For me personally, I associate discipline so closely with routine that if I don't have routine, I tend to become way less disciplined.
3. Waking up to Nathan is quite possibly my favorite part of the day.
4. Trying to fall asleep while Nathan snores profusely is quite possibly my least favorite part of the day.
5. I like Rochester a LOT better than Binghamton as a town/city.
6. Being married causes me to see how prevalent and visceral my sinfulness really is.
7. Nathan gains his energy with me very differently than how he gains his energy with other people.
8. I really enjoy the company of having couple friends.
9. There are many other couples who interact with each other very similarly to the way Nathan and I do.
10. I have figured out some ways I can take Sabbath while traveling or being away from home.
11. "It's not bad, it's just different" = my mantra for the year.
12. It's great for a couple to learn before getting married the importance and art of trying not to use absolutes (i.e., always, never) when referring to the other spouse's habits and behavior.  It has served us well.  
13. Reading books to each other that we can discuss while we drive is fun and really works for us.
14. We need to bring more than one book to read to each other when we drive just in case we don't like the first book.
15. I really like being married.
16. I still enjoy not owning a television.
17. I love having a budget where Nathan and I can take classes for things we enjoy or are interested in.
18. Nathan is great at managing our finances.  Me?  Not so much.  Surprised?  Yeah, me, too.  And not really at the same time.
19. Our top three kinds of arguments/conflicts:
1. Trying to figure out what the other person is actually saying. 
2. One spouse wanting to give what the other spouse wants (to serve him/her), but the other spouse not wanting to let the first spouse give it.
3. Each other's driving habits/style.
20. Visiting new coffee shops is the most genius way of us taking Sabbath together.