6 Monthiversary

Today is February 6th which means Mitchell and I have been married for 6 months! It has been quite an eventful 6 months! I think most people know what all we have been up to in our first 6 months of marriage like the trip to Disney World, deciding to move to California and the entire process of moving. So instead of recapping what all we've done in our first 6 months, I thought I would share 6 of my favorite things about being married, thus far...

#1: Constant Companion
I love always having my best friend with me. When you're married you always have someone to do things with. On weekends, I don't have to think, "Well who can I hang out with tonight?". When I go try a new place, I don't have to go by myself. I'm never bored at home because Mitchell is there and we can hang out. You have someone to experience life with.

#2: Cuddle Buddy
Sorry, this is the only one that will make some readers cringe (i.e. my family). I think girls have this desire to be held and boys like to do the holding. Sometimes I would come home from a hard day at work and just need to be held. In our house in Cali, we have been turning the heater way down at night so in the mornings, Mitchell will scoot over and warm me up before we have to get out of bed. Watching movies on the couch with your spouse is a lot more comfortable than sitting on opposite ends with a friend.

#3: Traveling together
We can go on trips together and not have to worry about sleeping in separate rooms. We never spent the night together before we were married and so we were limited on what trips we could take together. Or when we went to visit people, they had to prepare two separate places to sleep. Now, we sleep in the same place so we can stay in the same hotel room or sleep in the same tent. Quite convenient compared to dating/being engaged. All those boundaries, gone!

#4: Food
As a single person, it's really hard to cook. If you prepare a meal for yourself you are eating the leftovers for the rest of the week. Now that we're married, I plan out meals for each day of the week and we both work on the leftovers for lunch the next day or on the weekend so you only eat the same thing once or twice. Gone are the days of frozen dinners or a week of the same food.

#5: Revelation & Refinement
Our faith in Christ is a very big part of our lives. We pray together, we go to church together and we study the Bible together. The metaphor of Christ and His church being like a groom and his bride is a lot more clear now. You can't separate the two. Their love for each other is too strong. They pursue each other. You can't love one without the other, no matter how messy the church can be. With marriage comes refinement of your character. Your life is no longer just about you. Denying ourselves, no matter how little, is against our nature and it's not always fun. Having to keep your mouth shut when you want to yell is denying yourself. Cleaning up after someone else is denying yourself. Doing what the other person wants to do instead of what you want to do is denying yourself. Loving the other person when they are driving you crazy is denying yourself. It sucks sometimes, but if it was all about me, our marriage would fall apart. You don't have to be married 25 years to figure that out. Our pastor said yesterday, wedding vows are a promise of predictable love in unpredictable circumstances. You don't know everything about someone when you marry them and you don't know what life will bring you, but you have promised to love that person unconditionally as long as you both shall live.

#6: One accounting word: D.I.N.C. :) We have made great progress on our debt (car + student loan) and will very soon be debt free at a very young age. Our goal is to keep it that way and be able to bless others financially.

Now, to be fair, we have only been married 6 months and many think we are still in that honeymoon bliss phase. So here are some things that maybe I wasn't expecting before we were married.

#1: Gas. Any married woman knows, XY chromosomes produce more of it... somehow.
#2: Showers. I have a biological clock that tells me I have to take a shower every 24 hours and the alarm goes off when it's been longer than that. Mitchell's standard of dirty is different than mine and he doesn't have that alarm clock inside so his showers are less frequent. It bothers me sometimes when he climbs into bed and I think, "When was the last time he showered?" (side note: He is not bad at taking showers. He just has a different standard.)
#3: Sharing a bed with someone else takes getting used to after a lifetime of sleeping alone. At first, every movement wakes you up. Eventually, you don't even notice.
#4: I'm pretty tough nowadays when I'm sick. Mitchell is kinda a baby when he's sick. I really want to say, "Suck it up!" but instead I say, "Aw, I'm so sorry you feel bad."
#5: I have to make sure I don't have a double standard. I'll get frustrated if Mitchell leaves something out, like his shoes or a cup, but if I look around the same room, I see my stuff out too. Pot calling the kettle black?
#6: Mitchell falls asleep on the couch every night while I take a shower. If I want him to sleep in bed, I have to wake him up and get him to move. This is nothing new. Any past roommate of Mitchell can attest to the fact that he can fall asleep anywhere.

These lists were fun to compile and reflect on our first 6 months. I love Mitchell very much and I know he loves me too. I hope for many more months and years with him!