That seems to be the myth that floats around. I guess it's based on the fact that you're moving in with another person and have to get used to things like them not putting the toothpaste cap back on. (Hint: get a toothpaste with a flip-top lid instead of screw-off. At least that way you don't lose the cap.)
Well, my response to the adage that the first year is the hardest is this:
No way.
Okay, so things haven't necessarily been easy this year. We had to have a long-distance marriage for four months while I worked on school stuff in Houston. We had months of debate about religion, where I questioned almost everything my husband the scientist believed in. And then when my eyes were opened to the truth of the Catholic Church, I immediately hauled him in the opposite direction. This has included NFP, and even though I go on and on about how I love it, it's really hard for over a week each month! And then of course the hardest thing ever, when his mother passed away, after a nightmare week in the hospital. Ugh. And now we've moved in with his father, and while we're at it we're helping move his 92 year old grandmother closer.
The thing is, even with all of those terrible things, I wouldn't say that we had a bad year. Those events were all super hard, but our marriage itself wasn't hard. Being married to my husband the scientist is the easiest, most natural thing in the world for us.
I can imagine that there will be many more hard events and even hard times in our marriage. Even before we were engaged, I made sure to warn him that it wasn't always going to be easy! But that's the beauty of marriage - it's for better and for worse. And forever.
So I vote that the first year is not the hardest. We're still blissfully in love, and my mom might even say we're still in our honeymoon phase. That's good for us - we consciously hope to stay in that stage forever. But what about you all? Do you think the first year is the hardest? Do things get harder or easier? Any words of wisdom to share?