Hey Friends,

As you may already know, my husband and I recently celebrated our very first anniversary! I can’t believe our first year went so fast. It truly is hard to believe!

Since we’ve hit this recent milestone in our relationship, I have been thinking a lot about my first year as a wife and homemaker. Being a wife and the sole “keeper of the home” has taught me a lot – and I continue to learn on a daily basis. Thankfully, I have had some really great resources that have made my transition smooth and relatively easy.

From books and resources, to tools and appliances, there have been a lot of things that have helped me in my new role as a wife and homemaker. Today, I want to share my favorites with all of you. I have a lot of sweet friends getting married in the next few months, so this post is for them and all the other lovely brides-to-be that are reading this post.

If you’re already married, I know you will find some great tools and resources in this post as well (this isn’t just for newlyweds!). If you’re still single and waiting for a husband, I hope you will bookmark this page and save it for “future reference”. Please remember: it’s never too early to learn how to be a great wife and homemaker!

I am super excited to share these tools and resources from our first year, so let’s get started!

Tools and Resources for the First Year of Marriage

My Favorite Marriage Books

The Bible – I have to include this first. Without God’s Word how would we any of us ever learn how to be a good wife? God continues to show me new things from His Word everyday and without it I would never be the wife that Adam needs. I definitely mess up and fail, but God’s Word and the truths found inside it continue to point me in the right direction.

I’m incredibly thankful that I made the choice to buy a KJV Creative Bible. I spend so much more time in the Word of God now that I’m using this Bible. There’s nothing magical about having a creative Bible, however, this one just gets me excited to dig into the Word of God.

The Right Romance in Marriage – This is an oldie but a goodie. Reading this book will pour biblical, good-old-fashioned marriage advice into your heart and mind. My husband and I both agree that this is our favorite marriage book.

The Five Love Languages – I read this book before marriage so I was already aware of my love language as well as Adam’s. However, our Sunday school class for young married couples went through this book a few months back and the refresh was so helpful. As a class we all took the “test” to help us determine our love languages. My primary love language is actually different than what I originally thought!

Knowing our individual love languages and learning about each of the five love languages in depth was extremely helpful. It’s amazing how much better you can love someone when you tailor your words and actions towards their particular desires. This book and the study in our Sunday school class helped us learn more about each other and in turn, love each other better.

15 Verses to Pray for Your Husband – I just finished this book a few weeks ago and it was so helpful. I really struggle with prayer so that means I also struggle to pray for my husband. This book shares 15 verses and ways to pray for your husband throughout the day and week. This is an incredibly helpful resource that will guide you in praying for your man.

My Favorite Kitchen Items

As a homemaker, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen! However, as time goes on, life gets busier as more responsibilities are added. There are a few kitchen items that I use over and over again. Here are my favorite gadgets and tools from my kitchen.

My Programmable Slow Cooker – Ever since we got married, I’ve been cooking most of our meals in the crock pot. Now that I work outside the home, I rely on my slow cooker more than ever! I actually have two crock pots but when I’m at work this is the one I use because I can program it for an exact amount of time. When the time is up, this crock pot automatically switches to “warm” and keeps our food hot until we are back home and ready to eat. This slow cooker has been such a life-saver. My crock pots are the most used (and loved!) appliances in my kitchen!

Pampered Chef Pan Scraper – When I was given this little brown pan scraper as a bridal shower gift, I never dreamed I would use it so much! My husband and I eat a lot of eggs for breakfast and this little brown tool is used almost daily to clean my pans. Some days I don’t even bother to put this little guy away because I know I will be using it again in just a matter of hours. If you hate cleaning dirty pots and pans, invest in a set of these! Amazon has a set of three for just $8!

Ninja Blender/Food Processor – As I mentioned above, my husband and I eat a lot of eggs for breakfast! On the weekends we love to change things up and enjoy a healthy, chocolaty, banana smoothie instead. Our ninja blender gets used at least 1-3 times a week for smoothies or other food-processing needs! Our ninja set comes with smoothie cups and two pitcher sizes.

Click here for our favorite smoothie recipe! (We typically omit the ice for a smoother texture and sometimes we add frozen greens.)

Lots of Cooking Spices! – I absolutely love cooking with spices! Since getting married I have purchased and repurchased quite a few. A friend of our’s bought me this spice rack and I’ve already used up quite of few of spices – thankfully the company provides free spices for five years (just pay shipping). However, I typically buy spices right from the grocery store. If you are new to cooking, make sure you have plenty of spices on hand – have fun and don’t be afraid to experiment!

My Favorite Cookbooks

I have a shelf full of cook books and I use them all so often! Out of the many cookbooks I own, here are two that have helped me the most this year!

Fix It and Forget It New Cookbook – I found this cookbook at the library and borrowed it so many times I finally bought my own copy! This book is full of crock pot meals and pictures (a win-win). In this cookbook I have found great recipes for everyday meals, fancier recipes for special occasions, and my husband’s new favorite dessert… chocolate lava cake! All of the recipes are simple and easy to understand. Best of all, every recipe is specifically for the crock pot which I use all the time anyway! >>> This cookbook is currently less than $6 on Amazon!

Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook – We don’t follow the trim healthy mama plan, however, I really like a lot of the healthy recipes in this cookbook! Of course, I use the crock pot recipes the most. 😉

Pinterest – If I need cooking inspiration beyond my cookbooks, I head to Pinterest! I love being able to search for specific meals like “healthy crock pot meals” and then seeing a host of ideas pop up in my feed. When I do my weekly meal planning, the Pinterest app is usually open in my phone!

My Favorite Cleaning Resources

I am not a huge fan of cleaning – but I LOVE having a clean house. Nailing down a good cleaning routine was (and still is) a little tricky for me. I read a lot of cleaning and organizing books in the past year. These are my favorite cleaning resources  so far!

Simply Clean – I absolutely love Becky’s approach to cleaning. It’s nothing too extreme, just a simple “one-chore-a-day” routine with a few deep cleaning chores thrown in throughout the week/month. I do not follow this system exactly, however, I do love this book and it definitely motivated me to get cleaning!

The Complete Book of Clean – I love this book for it’s beautiful pictures and simple recipes for all-natural cleaners! I made the “non-abrasive vinegar cleaner” two times now and I use it on weekly basis. I rarely use any chemical cleaners thanks to this book!

Sink Reflections – This book is excellent if you’re overwhelmed about cleaning, organizing, and managing a home, plus all the stuff that comes with it! This book was the most enjoyable cleaning book I ever read and was super helpful in terms of routines and learning how to keep the house in order on a daily/weekly basis!

Microfiber Cleaning Cloths – I clean and dust my whole house with inexpensive microfiber cloths (aka rags!). I avoid toxic dusting spray by dusting my house with a slightly damp microfiber cloth. It works wonders and takes the dust with it!

Essential Oils Starter Kit – I was given the Young Living Essential Oils Starter Kit as a wedding gift and I love using the oils when I clean! I use citrus oils in my homemade all-natural cleaners and I love diffusing oils on cleaning days to make the house smell clean and wonderful! You can sign up for your own starter kit right here!

My Favorite Educational Resources

These next few resources are things that have helped me grow in knowledge about marriage and homemaking – from a spiritual and practical standpoint.

The Homemaking Foundations Podcast – This is pretty much the only podcast I ever listen to. On this podcast Jami Balmet talks about a wide range of marriage and homemaking topics like healthy cooking, motherhood, books/reading, homeschooling, thriving at home, etc. I like to scroll through all the episodes and listen to ones that catch my attention. I love listening to this podcast while I’m washing dishes, doing laundry, or driving to work. Homemaking Foundations has been a huge encouragement and practical help to me in my role as a wife and homemaker!

The Marriage Collection by S.M. Davis – This is a collection of sermons by S.M. Davis on marriage. All of these DVDs and the sermons (which you can watch) are all so good. S.M. Davis teaches the biblical roles of husbands and wives in marriage and also has really helpful messages that especially apply to a married couple. These DVDs are definitely an investment but one that’s definitely worth it!

Our Favorite “Fun Things”

The next few items are fun things my husband and I have enjoyed in our first year of marriage!

Ticket to Ride – Hands down our favorite board game. We played it over a dozen times in just a couple weeks. We still don’t have our own but we borrow it from the library when it’s available. 🙂

Perpetual Commotion – This is a super fun card game that’s made for just two people! It’s fast-paced and addicting. It didn’ take too long for this game to become a favorite!

Adventures in Odyssey Novacom Saga – I grew up listening to Adventures in Odyssey but my husband did not. Since getting married we’ve listened to a lot of episodes together but we especially enjoyed the suspenseful Novacom Saga!

Sue Thomas F.B.I. – After a long day of work my husband and I love to snuggle up and watch a movie. We’re cutting back on movie watching now but Sue Thomas F.B.I. was the best show we’ve watched together. Suspenseful, clean, entertaining, and uplifting… we enjoyed watching this series last winter. It sounds ridiculous to say it, but I was so sad when we finished watching them – I wish there were more seasons! You can find season one right here.

Final Thoughts

Well Friend, those are my favorite resources for marriage and homemaking from our first year of marriage! I hope this list is a help to you as you prepare for your future and/or adjust to the role of being a wife and homemaker!

I Want to Know

If you’re married, what are your favorite resources for marriage and homemaking? Please share them with us in the comments below!