Marriage is…
Now that we’ve been married a whopping two-and-a-half weeks and I’m a pro (ahem) at this whole marriage thing, here’s a quick update on what I’ve learned so far:
Marriage is, of course, love and passion, but there’s so much more to it. It’s about finding the person you can share love and passion with, but also share all of life’s adventures and experiences with – no matter how exciting, new and unusual or mundane and monotonous they may be. Marriage is spending a week raking a yard full of leaves until you can’t move your throbbing arms anymore. Marriage is installing weather-stripping on the doors in the dark after work and taking weeks to decide which washer & dryer to purchase because you want to read every review ever published and make the right decision (those things aren’t cheap – we’re on a budget people). Marriage isn’t complete togetherness – sometimes it’s a little lonely when your husband has to work days and some evenings and weekends – you try to put together a bookshelf alone (and fail miserably) and you eat pasta and watch America’s Funniest Home Videos alone and wish he were there instead of at work. But none of that matters because you are overjoyed the second he is home.
Marriage is learning where your husband likes his milk positioned in the fridge for easiest access and living in Lowe’s and Home Depot (we make a minimum of 4 trips a week to each store. They should just starting giving us crap for free. For real.) Marriage is spending our money on things like kitchen island carts, closet organizers, bathroom hardware, and saving for a new sofa and recliner set instead of going to Cedar Point and dining at Hell’s Kitchen in between jaunts to Vegas and Italy. It’s insurance plans and banking accounts and retirement plans and medical decisions. It’s leaving a job and friends you love to move to a new city and start all over again with your best friend in the whole world. It’s giving up your handsome cat (I’m not biased, he really truly is that handsome) and postponing a honeymoon so someone can start a great new job. We figure that honeymoon will be appreciated even more in a year when we’re worn out and need a vacay.
But marriage is also heading to Buffalo Wild Wings on Sundays to down a Woodchuck and some wings while cheering on the Packers together, trying a new restaurant every week, and playing games together on the awesome Wii you received as a wedding present. It’s getting lost, and sharing the couch and ripping open wedding cards and wedding presents like kids on Christmas morning. It’s making macaroni & cheese together, breaking open a bottle of wine (courtesy of Door County!) and settling in for an evening of Hell’s Kitchen or Big Bang Theory. It’s snuggling into bed and falling asleep to the beat of his heart and the sound of his breathing. Marriage is exploring a new city, riding bikes and rollerblading and bowling, making this house our home, inside jokes and lame puns, a “fun things” to-do list, and learning to love, respect, appreciate and enjoy each other more every day.
