15th Anniversary Layout & Reflection

Today my hubby and I are celebrating our 15th Anniversary!

 In 15 years we have been through a lot together - we have had 5 different homes, I supported him while he went to Seminary, we've been blessed with 4 amazing children, we've lost an unborn baby and family members; we've seen some highs and lows! I thought it would be fun to create a layout about 15 things we've learned in 15 years of marriage - sort of a list of things that make us work!  We worked through it together and today I am going to share it with you - in layout form of course! It was fun to reflect on what makes us work and I'd encourage you to do the same with your spouse!  As this posts we are on a trip together to celebrate our anniversary - we've been going all over New England and exploring together! 

Spoiler Alert: New England layouts coming soon :).

It's kind of a funky and fun layout - a little out of my ordinary comfort zone.  But if you know me, I don't usually have this much journaling either!  So here's the list we came up with:

1. Make the choice to love your spouse every day - you won't always feel like it. 
2. Pray for each other.
3. Support each others interests (Ben has always been supportive of my scrapbooking because he knows it makes me happy. I support him in his gardening and grilling....seeing each other happy is so important)
4. Compliment each other on a regular basis
5. Go out on regular dates together (we try to do this at least once a month, often more!).
6. Fight fair - don't say things just to be mean (this can be a hard one - I have definitely learned over the years to think before I speak).
7. Be completely honest about money (no secrets here - we talk about it all!).
8. God, spouse, kid...don't mix the order up (if this order gets messed up then we always see consequences).
9. Spoil each other every once in awhile (I love to make him his favorite meals, he brings me flowers, etc...it doesn't have to be expensive or elaborate :))
10. Show affection and laugh together regularly.
11. Have some common interests and some separate interests (I scrapbook, he bakes bread - we both have things we love to do that have nothing to do with each other - but we still cheer each other on in doing them).
12. Attend church together (this is a funny one because he is up front preaching and I am in the back - but the point is we are both there every week. That unifies and strengthens us for the rest of the week.
13. Think about how your actions/choices affect your spouse (for example, I know a low key Saturday evening is better for Ben before he preaches on Sundays, so I avoid scheduling stuff for myself on Saturday evenings).
14. Travel together.
15. Help each other - don't expect one spouse to do all the work. (Ben almost always does the dishes - I take care of all laundry.  We have things split up so neither of us is completely overwhelmed all the time)

So that's our list! What would you add?  Every marriage is different but I think some of these will apply across the board for all marriages!  Thanks for joining me on this reflection!