In June of this year, I got married. When Josh and I started dating we were 17. We turned 26 this past May.

You can't help who you fall in love with and you'll somehow know The One when you are ready to know that he is The One. I can't explain it, but you will know. Until then, HAVE FUN being young! I know it's not always easy but please realize that this point in your life is a special time and one that you will long for the older you get. Trust me.

Josh and I were together almost 10 years before we got married. I thought, going into it, that we were lucky in that most people don't know each other as long or as well as we have grown to over the years so getting married and living with him would be easy. HA!!! There isn't a saying that "The honeymoon is over!" for nothing! As soon as we got back from our honeymoon and moved in together, we were at each other's throat. Not even three weeks into our marriage, we got into such a horrible fight that I told him that getting married to him was the worst mistake I'd ever made. Of course, it wasn't and I still love him - I just wanted to make him hurt as much as he was hurting me.

ANYWAY, what I'm trying to say is that things don't automatically turn into rainbows and butterflies after you say "I do." You'll still have bad days. You may be thinking, "Yeah but at least I'll have someone to come home to who loves and understands me" but you know what? He may not always be in the mood to listen to you or want to cheer you up. Your bad mood may put him into a bad mood every once in awhile. So while he will love you, he may not always be so understanding.

I wished my single life away. Don't you do the same. It's scary and uncertain and fun and crazy, all rolled into one, and if you spend your life waiting until you're married to feel validated, you will eventually resent yourself and all the fun times you could've had.