Lessons of Marriage: 1-5

Since we're now three months into this journey called marriage, I thought I would share a few of the things that marriage has taught me thus far. It's a list that is always growing and I'm sure will involve many posts in the future. So here goes: 

1. Leftovers are a free for all. In a previous life, the leftovers from a dinner out were without a doubt yours. You would eat half a meal and bring it home, and unless you lived in a sorority house (which involved the additional step of adding your name to the container, lest you wanted your sweet neighbors to chow down on your food (and let's be honest, they sometimes did regardless of whether there was a name on it or not)), you would place said meal in the refrigerator and come back to it whenever you pleased. Post-vows, leftovers from a dinner are up for grabs, and things can get prettttty competitive around here (especially vying for the chicken pot pie from Founding Farmers). This might mean that I eat a teensy bit more at the restaurant than I have in times past, and that I might need to start cutting out the bread course (whaaattt??) if I actually want to taste what I ordered. Compromises, compromises... 

Corollary to this rule found here.

2. You sometimes have to be sneaky. In addition to the first point, if you reaaalllly want a claim on something (like dessert), you occasionally have to be crafty to get it. For instance, husband has the occasional forgetful mind, and let's just say I might have used that to my advantage. In the first few weeks of being married, we made the BEST homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe that husband (a serious CC cookie connoisseur) and I have ever come across. The only problem was that the recipe made about 100 cookies and unless we both wanted to gain 10 pounds and not eat for a week, we had a good amount of leftover cookie dough even after we made 2 dozen for his office. So we wisely froze the cookie dough for later. Out of sight, out of mind as the saying goes. At least that has served true for husband, but not for this girl who would eat a spoonful or two a couple of times a week, until last week when husband finally perused the freezer and discovered my secret... The sad thing is I'm not ashamed. 

3. If you're willing, you can change. People really can change if they want to. Case in point: as Siera, my sweet roommate of three years in the Chi O house, can tell you, I was a messy individual. Organized in life, messy in living. Clothes everywhere, bed unmade, proof of an overly involved college student. Since moving to Virginia, I have realized that in a 740 sq. ft. apartment that sort of lifestyle is just overwhelming, and I am proud to say that the bed has been made pretty much everyday and the floors are clean and the laundry is done. And I have even gotten past the gagging while doing the dishes. What has happened to me??

4. Husband will graciously eat your hard cooked meal, whether its great or terrible. One of the many sweet things that I love about him! Let's just say that my first attempt at my dad's spaghetti recipe was AWFUL (wayyyyy too tomatoey), and the after effects included me crying tears of frustration, husband eating his plate AND mine, and us having leftovers for what seemed like a family of 15... Needless to say, we haven't attempted spaghetti again, but once I nail down the problem ingredient, I shall redeem myself (fingers crossed). 

5. It is apparently the weirdest thing for a man to learn to wear a wedding band. I fully expected it for the first couple of weeks, but sweet husband is still strugglin'. I mean, okay, going 23 years without wearing anything on your finger, and then BAM one day you have a ring for the rest of your life- yes, it takes some adjusting. But I love catching him twisting that band around his finger absentmindedly: "Husband, what are you doing?" "Oh, um, nothing..." Ha! And my favorite, when that twist turns into a corkscrew motion and spins right on off his finger... and most recently, spun right into our couch. The look on his face was PRICELESS, like a kid getting reprimanded for stealing a cookie. So we proceeded to flip the couch upside down and cut a hole in the bottom to retrieve his symbol of our marriage... To his credit, I learned this past weekend that he is not alone. And in this couple, the wife jokingly asked if her husband was regretting their marriage since he seemed to be taking off his ring and playing with it so often. Ha! Men...