So How Is Married Life?

Somewhat inevitably after 3 months of marriage I have lost count of the number of times I've been asked "How Is Married Life?" There are plenty of jokes and anecdotes floating around about how everything gets worse after your wedding day, particularly from my ever-positive colleagues! However I am yet to fully comprehend that point of view because quite honestly I think things have got much much better since April.

Family time at Copacabana

Now before you cry out that it's only been 3 months I am fully aware of that! But it has been 3 months without the stresses of planning every tiny detail for a massive day, planning for visits, entertaining people or worrying about cricket selections and matches. There is now less arguing, less stress and we have both relaxed into our lives as Mr and Mrs Carter. We both thoroughly enjoyed having my family and friends over from England and we wish they were here permanently though we realise the reasons why this is not the case, and day-to-day life has since settled down. It truly was the best day of our lives but I think we are both glad that it is finally done.

The majority of the credit for planning the wedding has to go to Jess, she knew what she wanted and for the most part, she got it. It wasn't simply a case of me sitting back and letting her do everything and there were a few disagreements along the way. Through it all we never lost sight of what exactly the day meant to us and why we were doing this, and no-one can tell me that our day wasn't a complete success. Perhaps we are still riding the wave of euphoria off the back of the wedding? Perhaps all the difficulties in planning made the day seem so perfect in the end? I did write a blog a week after the wedding but forgot to post it. You can read it here or just scroll down!

For all the bad stories and the jokes there must be an underlying reason why so many people do this, why marriage is still so "popular". It's not a competition, it is a very individual thing. Not everyone is meant to get married, not everyone should. This may sound sanctimonious of me but I think I was right to propose to Jess a year after meeting her.  I think I was right to marry her. I was convinced from almost the very start that she was the one and I was more than confident that she shared the same life values I did. Quite clearly, if either one of us didn't think that was the case we wouldn't be married.

I guess it is also inevitable that the other line of questions has followed closely, namely "So when are you planning to have kids?" Answer: We want to get our own house first. Once again I have lost count of that question, but I'm sure we'll hear it more and more until we do have a child. And then it'll be "(When) will you have another?" This is human nature, and thus normal. It's what we have to look forward to. To answer the original question, How Is Married Life? It's perfectly normal, and that is why it is so great.

Family: It means the world