We Married Young V.2

For the second installment of “We Married Young”, I’m very pleased to have had the chance to interview Megan of Somewhatvoluable.com! I am fairly new to reading Megan’s blog but she’s quickly become one of my daily reads! She and her Husband are definitely perfect for this little feature; enjoy!

1. First of all, tell us how long have you been married and how old were the two of you when you tied the knot?
My husband (Josh) and I got married on June 17, 2008, which means we’re less than a month away from celebrating our three-year anniversary. I was nineteen and he was twenty-one.

2. Tell us a little backstory! How did you and your Husband meet and how long did you date before getting married?
It’s sort of a long story, actually. I’ll try to tell the shortest version.

Basically, we both went to the same school when I was a freshman in high school, and he was a junior … But we didn’t know it. The summer before my sophomore year, my family moved to Florida (where we’re originally from) because my Granny was diagnosed with lung cancer. (This was in 2004, by the way.) I started an online journal on Xanga.com to keep my friends back home (in Tennessee) updated. My Granny passed away in August 2004, but my family continued to live in Florida. By 2005, we decided to go back to TN, though. Right before we went back, Josh commented on my journal saying he was glad I was coming home because he wanted me to be happy. (Remember, I had NO IDEA who he was, and I didn’t know he went to my high school).

So, in February 2005, my family moved back to TN. I started going back to my original high school, and there was a boy with curly hair and a scar on his nose in my sixth period class. At first, I had no idea who he was (even though he knew I was the girl from Xanga–and he was a senior in high school by this point). At some point, someone said his name, and I just knew it was him. So, that’s how we met. It all started with an online blog!

He graduated soon, and we didn’t start dating (officially) until January 13, 2007. I graduated high school in May of 2007; we moved in together in August 2007; we got engaged in November 2007; and we got married June 2008. You must know that we knew we’d get married, though, even before we started dating. We had actually discussed it, and we just wanted to make sure timing was perfect–or as close to perfect as it could be.

3. Some people might say you got married a little too young (it’s been said to Nate & I!)- did you receive any negative feedback on your choice to get married at a younger age or were you surrounded by support?
Most people assumed we were getting married because they thought I was pregnant, which I wasn’t. Many people told us to wait until we were older. We just received the usual feedback when it came to our marriage. Luckily, our parents were supportive for the most part. I mean, of course they wanted to make sure we were certain, but they still supported our decision, which was definitely helpful when it came to ignoring any negative feedback.

4. This is the time in our lives when most of us twenty-somethings are truly finding ourselves and our purpose, through education or by other means. Have you found it harder or easier to work toward your goals as a married woman?
I’ve found it easier to work toward my goals. If I were single, I would probably do more things on a whim and regret it later. However, marriage allows me to step back and consider my goals because I have to think about how it will effect my husband as well. It’s also very nice to to have someone’s hand to hold, so-to-speak, when going through all of our major life changes. It helps to have someone to talk to that truly understands me and knows where I am at in my life.

5. Life is fast paced when you’re trying to accomplish so many things and maintain a vibrant and fulfilling marriage at the same time! Do you have any tips on staying connected to your significant other with so much going on?
Josh and I try to take vacations whenever we can. Just recently, we took a 1-night trip to Asheville, NC (which is where we went on our honeymoon). It really helps us to get away from the daily grind. We’re both full-time students, and I also work full-time, so our schedules don’t always match up. Lately, we’ve tried to put away the cell phones/computers/television and just talk about what is going on in our lives. We also go on a date once a week, and we eat dinner together every night–when we eat at home, we always share the task of cooking. (When we don’t eat dinner together, which happens maybe once every 3-6 months–yes, it’s that rare!–we realize just how important it is to us.)

6. What are your favorite things to do as a married couple? Have those things changed a lot or stayed the same since the dating days?
I really love cooking together. When we were dating, he actually cooked more often for me (because I often came to his house), but now, we always share the task. It allows us to talk while we cook, and we make the decision of what to eat together. We also watch a lot of TV on DVD. We’ve been watching a lot of comedies lately, and it gives us time to unwind (together) after a long day.

Josh is a big fan of the outdoors, so we occasionally go hiking. Since I’m a fan of photography and reading, we sometimes combine our hobbies; such as, we’ll go hiking while I take pictures. Just recently, we went to the local park so he could enjoy the outdoors while I read (instead of sitting cooped up indoors).

7. Did getting married change anything (relationships, lifestyle, etc.) in your life that surprised you at all?
It changed life in some areas, but nothing that was entirely too surprising. Of course, we now share bills and we spend more time together than with friends. One thing that I thought I’d have trouble with was holidays. Somehow, we make it work, though, and we’re able to spend time with both of our families during the holidays.

8. Are the first few years really the hardest?
Well, since we’ve only been married for a few years, it’s difficult to answer that question. I really think every year has its obstacles, though. During our first year of marriage, we lived with my in-laws, which had the potential to be horrible. Luckily, I have amazing in-laws, but I do admit it was hard at times because I felt like we were sharing our first year of marriage, something that I thought should have been so special. During our second year of marriage, we moved into our own house, and even though we lived together for a year before marriage, it was an interesting year since it was almost like a first year together alone in our marriage.

So far, though, I think we’ve been pretty lucky. Our marriage has been great these first few years, and I doubt they’ll be our “hardest years.” If they were our hardest years, then we’re going to have an easy marriage!

9. And I think it’s safe to say that everyone wants to know.. when will there be babies?! 😉 Are you choosing to wait until a certain goal is accomplished, a particular age, or just for the “right time”?
Right now, we want to at least wait until we have our degrees, which will probably be two or three years from now. That’s when we’ll start discussing and planning. After that point, we’ll wait for when it’s the right time, though I think I’d like to have a baby before I’m thirty, which means I have about eight years to get it all together!

10. Lastly, if you could give one piece of advice to a young couple who were thinking of getting hitched, what would it be?
Make big decisions together before getting married. You really do need to practice making decisions together. Compromise is a big help, too. You have to be willing to compromise (in ways you BOTH agree on) before making a big decision. You have to remember that, even though you’re in one union together, you are two different people with two different opinions, and that’s absolutely okay! Having separate opinions isn’t a fault and it’s not always a bad thing–you just have to learn how to compromise and do so rationally and in a way that supports each person.