Things I wish someone would have told me.

A friend of mine graciously offered to help me on the new place and while we were working away we were also talking a lot. Throughout our conversation I began to realize that there were a ton of things that I did not know before I got married. Marriage is seriously on the job training. It sucks! I wish I had someone wiser to warn me and help along that journey! It would have helped a lot. So here is a list of things that I wish I had known before I got married.

1. Finish college and get a degree in something. Once you have kids, it's soooooo much harder.

2.Learn to say no. Just because your husband tells you that he needs something done that minute, does not mean that you have jump.

3.Your time is just as valuable as everyone else's. You were not put on this earth to be every one's maid, cook, chauffeur, etc.

4.Find something that you love and are passionate about. It doesn't matter what it is or how corny you may think it is, just find something that is yours and no one else's.

5.Don't whine. It really doesn't do any good and people get very tired of hearing it. Have a good attitude about everything and just get it done.

6.Take care of yourself. Take a bath, buy some pretty lotion, or get your hair done. But maintain your personal worth in your head and don't forget it.

7.Take time and enjoy your children. In the day to day rush it's really easy to get frustrated and mean with your children. Sit down and enjoy them. They will only be little once.

8. Everyday remind yourself why you married your spouse. Remind yourself of what you love about that person and look for the good in them daily.

9.Make friends. Not the kind that blow away at the first sign of wind, but the kind that are there during the tornado. They are priceless.

10. Don't judge others. Everyone has life experiences that shape their perspectives, attitudes, mannerisms, and the way they treat others. We may not fully understand why someone behaves the way they do, but it's not our job to judge them on whether it was right or not. It's our job to have compassion and love towards them. Everyone needs a friend.

11. Don't worry about what others think of you. At the end of the day they are not there with you when you are alone. You are. Like yourself and what you are all about.

12.Give service. The best way to forget your own troubles is to ease someone else's. When you are serving others, the focus is not on you. It's on someone else.

13.When you are having an especially hard time remember, The scriptures say, it came to pass. Not to stay. Hard times don't always last forever.

14.Gain a real and tangible testimony of the gospel. It will strengthen you and lift you up through every trial you face.

15. Forgive and forget. If I held a grudge against everyone that has crossed me or hurt me, I would eventually be mad at the whole world. Let it go. Genuinely give that person forgiveness and then forget that it ever happened.

16.BE a good listener. Everyone has a story and everyone needs to talk sometimes. Be the person they can talk to.

17. Be trustworthy. When someone tells you something in confidence, keep it to yourself. When someone tells you something it's a conversation, when you tell it to someone else, it's gossipping.

18.Pay everything off as soon as you can. The less bills you have the better off you will be when hard times come.

19. Appreciate what you have right now. It can all disappear as fast as you bought it. So be happy.

20.Live cleanly. Clean thoughts, clean homes, clean hearts, clean intentions, clean actions, and clean words.