The joys of being married

Justin often likes to play guitar loudly at night. I'm sure our neighbors enjoy it. As do I. Sometimes. He doesn't like to plan things (the total opposite of me). And he takes forever to poop. But really there's not much to complain about. I think we are alarmingly well suited. Since our engagement and most of our dating months were spent continents apart, I really prepared myself for the transition of marriage. And while it was weird to have a new name and share a house with a man, it was a relatively smooth conversion. Granted we didn't follow the conventional path of settling down and buying a house. The in-laws were an ocean away. We just had each other and a few suitcases. Overall though, I think Turkey was a great experience and a chance for us to have the alone time we needed in a stress free environment full of adventure and culture. I wouldn't change a thing about our first year of marriage.

Now our second anniversary is approaching. We're back home. Have somewhat normal jobs and an apartment. We get to spend more time with our families. And we're trying to decide what it means to be us in America. We're both idealists. Justin much more so than I am. We want to live examined lives. To actively support the things we believe in. Which is really difficult. It is quite easy not to contemplate the choices we make or the things we spend our money on. But we are trying to. And I am extremely happy to have someone who shares my core ideals. Justin challenges me. I motivate him. We get involved in groups that demonstrate our passions. It's great and I think we both feel much more productive as a couple than individuals. Our marriage is about jointly enhancing our lives and I love it.

I have waited for the strained moments and consequential fights to come. But as I look back, I can't remember a single night I went to bad angry at him. Of course you never know what the future holds. I don't think it will always be this easy. I sometimes find myself anticipating trouble because it seems that things are too perfect to be real. I mean we do have our occasional disagreements. Compromise is a big part of things. But Justin and I are such good friends. And in some ways being similar makes things easier. We normally just get along. Except when I am grouchy at night. But he deals with that well. And I know not to bother him in the morning. All in all, it just works. Extremely well.