I have been a wife for six months. It's very easy to wake up next to this man:
No, marriage isn't a walk in the park — except on days when we literally walk in the park. But saying "I do" is by far the best thing I've ever done.
Marriage feels like home.
It brings out the best and worst in me. Marriage is a mirror, making me aware of every flaw, insecurity and weakness.
Cue Kendall Payne's "Burning Embers": "You're close enough to see the cracks I hide."
That's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm in a safe space to be real, to admit failure, to cry over what I consider to be inadequacies.
Vulnerability brings about good things.
This week, I was on the receiving end of the world's kindest lecture:
"I love you. For who you are. I wish you wouldn't be so hard on yourself, comparing yourself to who you wish you were. I want the Nadine you are right now."
*sniffle*
Marriage also fills life with laughter and a sense of fearlessness and adventure. And it cured my insomnia. (True story.)
My husband wrote me a love song this week. Just because.
He also bought me flowers. Just because.
And made a lamb dinner. Just because.
He even cleaned the kitchen. Just because.
There's something really beautiful about "just because."
Thank you, Matthew, for the best six months of my life. I owe you one...hundred years.