Greetings and peace be with you OMA123;
Marriage is an imperfect man; marrying an imperfect woman; having imperfect children and living in an imperfect world. It is incredibly hard living with all this imperfection.
The first twenty five years of marriage are the hardest, then it gets harder. Nothing really prepares you for the problems that life throws at you. Fight all battles with kindness, be resilient to life's problems, keep persevering, keep forgiving; don't hold grudges or bring up past battles; always look for the good in your spouse. Put your spouse first above your children, if you get it right with your spouse then you will get it right with your children.
In the UK, about half of all fifteen year old children are not living with both their biological parents. This alone should tell you how challenging marriage can be.
All this works better with prayer because we all need a lot of help.
Having said all that, I wouldn't change a thing after thirty five years of marriage.
May Allah bless you on your journey,
Eric