2+ months down

My husband and I recently passed our 2 month anniversary and I'm happy to say, so far everything has been smooth.

I don't think I had any anticipations of every day life changing that much, but I'm glad it hasn't.  Basically we just say, "let me ask my husband/wife" rather than "my fiancé/fiancée" and before that "my boyfriend/girlfriend."  We have had some BIG things come up within the first month of being married, including a health scare for me, health issues with my parents, and Brandon buying a new car (yay!).

I may be a newlywed, but I can honestly say the best foundation for a solid relationship is friendship.  Beyond our romantic love for one another, Brandon and I really like one another.  We find each other amusing, we laugh a lot, we support each other's interests and listen to each other.

Listening is so important!  I've been in enough relationships (friendships and romantic ones) where listening isn't practiced, and it hurts the relationship. People easily begin to feel undervalued.

Brandon listens to me, to listen, not to respond and I do the same for him.  Understanding how someone is feeling, getting their perspective, it helps resolve disagreements with less hurt feelings and (hopefully) more quickly. Sometimes you won't see eye to eye, and that's okay, but by listening, you can at least understand where the other person is coming from.

Hubby & Wifey - Meet Brandon & Denise

Hi!  My name is Denise and I'm a newlywed.  My husband, Brandon, and I got married on February 24th, 2018.

A little bit about us

Brandon and I met at work in 2014.  I had been working for our company in a different division and moved to Brandon's department.  My friend suggested I befriend Brandon, seeing something in us that would make for a good connection.  She was absolutely right.  Brandon and I hit it off immediately.  We had a lot of similar likes and interests, and became office best friends within just a few months.

Brandon was single, but I had a boyfriend.  Brandon would listen to my boy troubles and suggest things for me to do to improve my relationship. Regardless of Brandon's support or my efforts, my relationship was on the rocks and damaging my self-esteem.  My whole being was telling me the right thing to do was to end my bad relationship and see where my amazing friendship with Brandon might lead.  (Not to say this wasn't scary, of course.)

The transition from friends to being a couple was pretty easy, with a few bumps.  We decided to keep our relationship under wraps for 6 months to avoid any office awkwardness, but that wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.  It's hard to do.  But our relationship has always been healthy, and we can both say that after being in some incredibly unhealthy ones.  We respect and admire each other.  We value opinions and points of view.  We support hobbies and friendships.  Most of all, we love each other.

On our two year anniversary, Brandon proposed in the Hollywood Hills, overlooking Hollywood.  I was completely surprised.  He had coordinated the ring with my mom and it is perfect.  We decided on a wedding date of February 24th for the next year.  Neither Brandon nor I are summer people, so we liked the idea of a winter wedding.

Where we are today

So here we are!  We've been married for a little over a month.  Our friends and coworkers keep asking, "so how's married life?" and all I can say is, it's about the same.  We lived together for a year and a half before we got married, were friends for a year before we started dating, and then were together nearly 3 years before getting married.  If I'm being honest, I think I would be annoyed if there was a big change.  

Truly, the biggest hurdle for me is dealing with my name change, which I will write about on another day.  I've struggled with idea and the format but finally decided to make my maiden name my middle name and take Brandon's name as my last.  Brandon is incredibly supportive throughout this entire personal struggle, not pushing me one way or another.  He's the best.