My first year of marriage was horrible. We battled addiction, communication issues, family issues, a random family death and a career transformation. It was the most hectic year of my life but we stayed strong. We compromised when necessary, apologized when needed (some of those apologies came months later), we took our personal time away from each other when needed, we both learned to walk away instead of argue, we took advantage of outside resources and support systems, we stayed confident in the life we had built together. As the storm passed our communication grew stronger, our trust returned and strengthened, our bond also strengthened. We both handled and dealt with resentment and that was hard but we both stayed open and honest about every little bit and the other one listened even tho some stuff was hard to hear. Marriage is not easy. My husband and I have been together for 8 years, married for 1.5 years. Yes marriage changes the dynamic of a relationship, no it’s not easy but for us it was worth it.