I'm In Love With You

Getting away from blogging about the house, I'd like to write about marriage. I've been thinking quite a bit about marriage lately and for several reasons, first reason being the most obvious, because I am married. I've also been thinking about marriage because about 95% of all our friends are married. But the biggest reason I've been thinking about it is several people have asked me recently, "how's married life?" and "how do you feel about marriage?" And my answer has been, "it's easier than I thought it was going to be." I think there's several reasons why I feel that way. 1) Nick and I were best friends before we dated, we became even more best friends during the 2.5 years before we got married so there's a lot of comfort there. I know that Nick accepts me 100% for who I am and there's no doubt in my mind that he loves me. I feel completely comfortable around him and him with me. (right, babe?) Also, many people don't know this but, I knew a week into dating Nick (September 24th)that I wanted to marry him. Nick knew less than 2 weeks after I knew (October 1st), so less than a month of being together was all we needed to know that we were going to get married. With that being said, during our dating period we always thought in terms of our future. 2) When you're really comfortable with one another, enough to be yourself then you pretty much have all the possible, big arguments you're going to have before you get married and not after. I've heard of some people not discussing certain things before they get married and that was not an option for us. We told each other everything and we still do so there hasn't been any surprises. 3) I always plan for the worse case scenario, therefore I had this idea that marriage was going to be extremely difficult. While I was engaged my married friends would give me advice (without asking for it) and the advice always involved how difficult it was going to be to live with each other, not to go to bed angry, to always love each other, etc. So I just went into marriage thinking, "man this is going to be hard!" And I had a lot of "what if" questions like, what if he changes? and what if we can't make it? It's no secret that 50% of all marriages end in divorce and coming from parents that haven't always been happily married, I must admit, I had imagined marriage to be extremely difficult. So to tie everything together, married is easier than I thought it was going to be because I imagined the worst and it's easy when you love the person you're married to and can't and don't want to imagine your life without them. I hope I always feel the way I feel about Nick. He is my best friend, my confidant, my #1 fan, and my greatest love. We don't always agree and I know there will be times when we may feel like marriage is difficult, but we love each other and we know that marriage is about compromises. When we were planning our wedding and trying to pick our first dance song, we narrowed it down to several songs and I'd like to end by sharing one of those songs with you. It's not the song we ultimately picked, but the lyrics explained exactly what I believe marriage and love are really about. The lyrics are great and it's a beautiful song, it's worth listening to, if you get the chance to listen to it.

"I'm In Love With You" by Joy Williams
I've been waiting all my life for this morning
Just to wake up next to you holding me
And your head is resting gently on my shoulder
Like you're whispering to me

I'm in love with you
I'm in love with you
So glad I found you
I'm in love with you

When we're leaving dreams and rolling back the covers
All at once we're getting ready for the day
It's when you look at me in the mirror while you're shaving
Before I go on my way, you say

I'm in love with you
I'm in love with you
You're the one I choose
‘Cause I'm in love

Love is joy and love is pain
It's kissing in the rain
It's doing dishes when it's late
Isn't it, baby
It's the art of compromise
It's hellos and long goodbyes
It's the picture of our lives
Isn't it crazy

So I'll call you when I get to where I'm going
And I'll tell everyone we know you said hello
And without fail they'll ask me if I miss you
Of course I do, you know I do

‘Cause I'm in love with you
I'm in love with you
You're the one I choose

I'm in love
I'm in love with you
I'm in love with you
I love you just the same as I did the day
I fell in love with you

Another great song that explains marriage and how I feel is "When I Say I Do" by Matthew West.