6 Things I’ve Learned in my 6 Months of Being Married
It’s hard to believe Vinnie and I have been husband and wife for a whole 6 months! It seems like only yesterday we were visiting venues, choosing our Mass readings, and saying our vows. In my 6 months of being a married woman, I have learned 6 things. Yes, only 6 things.
Just kidding. I’ve learned 32,423 things, but I’ve outlined my top 6 below:
1) My husband is an astronomically better person than I am.
Although I definitely knew this going into our marriage, this simple fact has since grown even more obvious. Vinnie really likes listening to others and leading them closer to God. Watching him grow in his faith and his relationship with God these past few months has been inspiring. The other morning we were getting ready for Mass, and I spotted him journaling to prepare himself to receive Jesus. In that moment I realized, “My husband is going to be a saint.” It’s a good thing he journals because some day the Church is going to use his writings to prove his saintliness and canonize him.
2) Learning to live together (if you haven’t cohabited before marriage) is not as challenging as society tries to warn you it will be.
Vinnie and I chose to live separately before marriage, and it’s definitely been a fruitful decision. We recently had dinner with an acquaintance who didn’t know our background story. He asked about how marriage was going and about our living situation before and after the wedding. “WHAT? You didn’t live together before you got married?” Vinnie and I just looked at each other and smiled. We told him that it’s been smooth sailing and that living together after we said our vows has been such an easy transition. This is just further proof that God truly blesses those who honor His ways.
3) Dying to myself is really hard.
Vinnie and I each had a tiny black diamond welded into the inside of our wedding bands. The black diamond symbolizes the fact that, in marriage, we die to ourselves in order to love and serve our spouse. Putting this into practice has been really challenging. You see, my husband is really good at serving me. He’s basically Superman in the serving his bride department. I, on the other hand, need to step up my game. I mean, I think I do an okay job, but there’s always room for improvement!
4) My husband is the funniest person on earth.
This makes me happy, because when I laugh at Vinnie I think “God designed this man’s sense of humor to match mine perfectly.” Not a day goes by where I don’t crack up at something my husband says or does. It’s the best feeling.
5) You can love like a mother and a father before you have children.
After you say your vows, the door to motherhood and fatherhood gets swung wide open. It’s like now you’re able to access this new level of life that you’ve always contemplated, but now have access to. Though that transition can be a little bit scary (I’ve never been good with change), children are a huge blessing! I’ve noticed over the months that Vinnie and I have been making decisions that will help our future family. I thought, “How cool is it that we’re not even parents yet, but we have the love of a mother and father engrained in us – aimed toward our future family!”
6) Everything is a new learning experience – with your best friend!
I’m tempted to say that, so far, being married has been puppies and unicorns at least 75% of the time. The other 25% has been learning to manage finances, counting to 10 in frustrating situations, and trying to tolerate onions because my husband loves to use them when he cooks.
Obviously, harder times will come. And they will be extremely difficult. But, with my best friend by my side, and God’s intercession, daunting circumstances and situations will be more manageable.
Teammates fo’ lyfe.
