On Half A Year

Six months ago I was sealed to the woman of my dreams for all eternity.

The past half-year seems to have flown by, and I feel like I still barely know my darling wife. Life took over almost immediately after the honeymoon, and try as I might, it has been a real challenge to spend time together longer than those few hours between 10pm and whenever homework relents and lets us go to bed.

And yet, in the snippets of time we've managed to steal together, I've learned a few things about being a husband - and more importantly - her husband. And so, after six months, I present six nuggets of wisdom from my personal husbandry-how-to:

1. Thank You, Carly Rae Jepsen. There is no greater joy than pushing her to the edge of annoyance and stopping just short of angry. Little things are all it takes. There are some quirks I have that truly bother her, but others she shoulders with true courage and loves on in spite of me. But blasting "Call Me Maybe" whenever it should grace our car radio and dancing like a fool to embarrass her is now the highest art form to me.

2. Don't touch her stuff. This one took a while for me to get a hang of, but I worked out a system so that I, since I am home more often than she is and want to do my part to make our house a home, can tidy our apartment and even occasionally give it a deep, thorough cleaning without disturbing the methodical madness of her messiness. But should anything go missing, it's my fault first and foremost.

3. It's okay to get angry. I had spent most of our dating life and our engagement in utter denial. I swore I would never get angry at her. But a few months into our marriage, I realized its okay to let her know I'm not happy. With my belt. JUST KIDDING! I can tell her I'm angry rather than denying it through pursed lips. I can't put her up on a pedestal, and that realistic shock did wonders for our relationship.

4. Portion control. I learned quickly that I was to bear the brunt of the leftover burden. My darling wife is somewhat of a picky eater, or rather a moody eater. When she wants pasta she'll eat it. When she wants waffles we make them. When she wants steak... she's conscious. And there is a very short list of what she'll reheat or eat again. Everything else falls to me. We had both been used to cooking for larger families so we I had a lot of leftovers for a while, but we're down to a decent schedule of American malnutrition.

5. We're flakes. But it's okay, not to each other. I actually saw this one coming when my friends would get married and then vanish off the map. We've made some attempts at a social life beyond us, but they are few and far between. I'd like to blame school and work and busy schedules, but honestly, when we do get some free time, we'd rather spend it alone together than with other people. We've tried a bit of double dating and it's just as awkward as single dating. The longer we're married the more inside humor we enjoy together, further ostracizing our single friends. Nothing personal guys, but she takes the cake. There is nothing funnier than an inside joke with my wife.

6. We must be meant to be. As school progresses and our studies (and interests) diverge, it becomes more apparent to me that we are so starkly different, this must be love. She comes home ranting about basidiomycetes and various fungi and behaviors of octopuses while I finish my notecards on Byzantine architecture and start filling up another sketchbook. She tutors me through my last biology class, I help her format her research paper. Arts. Sciences. Our kids are going to be so well-rounded.

Half a year later, she still sticks around. That's a good start. With no end in sight.

Happy half-aversary, hon.