Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Marriage: Month One


Let's talk marriage: like the fact that I'm officially a month into my own! 

It really is unbelievable to think it has been a whole month since the craziness that was my wedding. It also is weird to think that I haven't had a wedding to plan for over a month! So much time for activities - like all of the ones I couldn't get done while planning a wedding. I still have a pile of thank you cards to write (Thanks for all of the wonderful gifts! I promise, you will get an actual, personalized thank you - soon...ish.). I still have tablecloths and table runners to sell (I'll make you a heck of a deal if you take them all!). I also need to finish "unbachelorizing" our humble little home that my husband had been bacheloring in off and on for 10 years (This project may never reach completion.). The knot.com also tells me I need to review all of my wonderful vendors, which I totally mean to do, but I'm so darned sick of that To Do list! 

Besides a few remaining post-wedding action items, I thought I'd provide a quick look back at the first month of marriage to my Texan husband.
  • Taking two days before leaving for the honeymoon was the best decision we made during planning. Like I probably would've killed him on our honeymoon if I hadn't had two good days of rest post-wedding.
  • Ireland. You should go there. Just pack snacks because quite honestly, I wasn't impressed with the local cuisine. Which leads me to my next point...
  • Ladies, marry a man with useful, life-saving skills, such as the Heimlich Maneuver. My husband had to perform the Heimlich (Thank goodness he was an Eagle Scout!) after I attempted to take an Imodium and obviously was failing - and flailing - miserably to cure my upset stomach. Let's just say I struggled through my upset stomach after that near-death experience. I also was reassured of my choice in spouse.
  • Royce and I make a great team while driving on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car. Despite a couple of close encounters with other vehicles on the road and that one curb check, Royce did an excellent job driving. I did a great job of navigating twisty, turning Irish roads. I also did a great job of hyperventilating at every rock wall that got too close, every car that got too close, every tree that got too close, etc. 
  • Maybe I should've asked Royce's input on this post... What has he learned about me the last month? Well, I'm a nervous wreck when he's driving in Ireland and have problems taking a simple pill. Winner, Winner! He definitely married a winner.
  • Post-wedding and post-honeymoon depression is a real thing. We got home, and neither of us did much of anything (besides go to work) for the first week and a half. Our dogs thought we had turned into zombies.
  • Marriage doesn't magically change everything. In fact, I'm still coming to terms with being "married." I still forget some days that I am someone's wife and that I have a husband. But overall, marriage is good.
  • Changing your name is quite the process. I finally turned in my form to the Social Security Administration yesterday. 
  • Introducing yourself with your new last name is also quite the process. "Hi, I'm Kaitlyn Nelson... er, I mean, O'Neal. Sorry, its new." 
Royce driving in Ireland...
Notice the extremely blurry outside? That's how I felt!

Overall, I'd say month one has been quite successful for the new Mr. and Mrs. O'Neal. I mean, my husband literally saved my life once already! How does it get any better than that? 

My question to y'all is: Any advice to make month two through year 50 go successfully?