Jennie Garth on Newlywed Life: I 'Lucked Out to Be Able to Realize That Kind of Love'

More than four months after Jennie Garth wed Dave Abrams, the actress reveals the honeymoon stage definitely isn’t over

The 90210 alum – who was honored at the 2nd Annual Save a Child’s Heart West Coast Celebration with the Compassionate Heart Award for her dedication to heart disease education – revealed on Sunday how newlywed life is treating her.

The couple tied the knot on July 11 at Garth’s six-acre ranch in Los Olivos, California, and the actress told PEOPLE that she and Abrams, 34, are “so excited” as they approach the one-year anniversary of their first meeting.

As for married life itself, “I’ve been married twice before, but it’s never like this, and we’re really happy,” continued Garth, 43. She added that her first two marriage “were great in their own ways, but this one I just lucked out to be able to be so happy and to really realize that kind of love.”

As for the duo’s first official holiday as married a couple, they are inviting Abrams’ family back to her ranch for Thanksgiving but are trying to start their own traditions for Christmas.

“This is new to us this year,” Garth said, so she and her husband will be “renting a house in Colorado and just going and staying by the fire and playing in the snow.”

No matter where they are, Garth and Abrams are all about forming new memories together: “We kind of look at each other and think, ‘What do we want to do? We get to do whatever we want to do. Let’s create something good.’ ”

While Garth is reveling in her new blended marriage, she says Abrams is rising to the challenge with her daughters Luca, 17, Lola, 12, and Fiona, 8.

“There’s a lot of adjusting, but it is going incredibly well,” she shared. “All of my girls are crazy about Dave in their own different ways. He has really strong relationships with each of them individually, which is super cool that he puts in a lot of time to get to know them.”

The family is so tight-knit that Garth admitted to being excited that her oldest daughter, who’s attending college in New York, was homesick. “I was very happy,” Garth said with a giggle. “When she said she was homesick, I said, ‘Yay – I mean, oh, I’m sorry!”

And her younger girls are hitting their own milestones: “My middle daughter is in junior high now, and she’s just really coming into her own, and that’s exciting to watch. I really love who she’s turning into,” she continued. “And my little one is still like, snuggles like a monkey so I like that.”