Ah yes. The first year of marriage. The year when your eyes are all lit up with joy and the anticipation of the bliss that is to come. It's the time when you're supposed to make love nightly and fall into each other's arms at every opportunity.

It is also the year when you find out that your spouse snores and leaves the toothpaste tube uncovered.

The honeymoon is over.

The truth is, the first year of a marriage can be a very difficult one. Unless you lived with your spouse prior to this, you really have no idea what he or she is going to be like to live with on a daily basis. We certainly have no idea of whether or not our spouse snores. And boy, can THAT be a real wake up call. What do you do? You just got married. The last thing you want to do is start off your marriage with a jab to the ribs of your spouse and a bellowing command to turn over. So you try to deal with it for a few nights. But eventually seven nights of no sleep catches up to you and you snap.

And that toothpaste thing. Don't laugh. People have their funny little quirks. And leaving the tube off the toothpaste is just one of them. Not putting down the toilet seat is another one guys. That's right, you better start thinking of other people in the house besides yourself. Those jokes you see about this on Comedy Central are there because they're true.

And you women. Here's where you can be the worst cook in the world and get away with it, at least for a while anyway. Most likely the first meal you cook for your husband isn't going to be greeted with a comment of "that's horrible" even if it is something that you wouldn't feed to your worst enemy. But eventually a time is going to come when your husband is going to bring home a cookbook for you to read and demand that you do so immediately.

Of course not everything about the first year of marriage is hard. Some of it is very nice. Let's face it, the first year of marital relations can be very exciting. You're just getting to know each other in that area and everything is new. You actually look forward to being with each other late at night before bed. In this respect, the first year of marriage is like no other.

But more importantly, the first year of marriage is a time when you're supposed to get to know each other as people. While you were dating, you tried to always show yourself off in the best light. Now, your partner is going to see you on your good days and bad days. When you got sick and used to just stay home and not see each other it was okay to get sick. Now, your spouse is going to see you hacking and wheezing and pretty much on death's door when that flu hits. The glamour is gone. Now the real love and commitment starts. It can be scary to have to care for someone who looks like he or she is ready to cash in his chips. Well, don't worry about it.

The second year it gets easier.