Living Together- It's not all rainbows and unicorns

So you’re moving in with your significant other. Gay, straight, or other, this is an eye-opening experience. Now, I lived with Hubs for a couple months in France, but we also had 4 housemates, which took the pressure off. There were people around who would clean the dishes when we made dinner, replaced the toilet paper in the bathroom, and paid the bills. Anything we did wrong was immediately blamed on someone else. “No, I didn't leave the orange juice out all day. That was Jordan. You know how forgetful he is.” However, there was no one to blame when I did 3 loads of laundry using fabric softener instead of detergent, but the label was in French, it said “laver” and I figured I was okay. Life goes on.

Then after we got married we spent 3 months living in his parents’ house. Much the same as in France, there were siblings and parents to blame and rely on.

However, once we moved On Our Own, in Florida, I learned a valuable lesson. There will be a day where you realize everything your significant other does is wrong. They will load the dishwasher wrong, put your red pants in a dark denim load of laundry, put pasta in water that isn't totally boiling, neglect to set a timer for baked goods, and use the sponge you use for dishes to clean their car.

Regardless as to the results of these mistakes (it doesn't matter that the dark blue marks came out of the red pants, you still put them in with DARK FREAKING BLUE JEANS), they will bug the hell out of you. You’ll ask yourself what the hell he was thinking putting the ladle in the dishwasher that way, since now it’s completely full of gross water and needs to be washed AGAIN. He’s just LUCKY the pasta turned out cooked, because you know for a FACT it was barely boiling, not a rolling boil as the box told you it should be. The fact that your cookies aren't burnt is due to nothing more than dumb luck also. It doesn't matter that you can sanitize a sponge in the dishwasher, you’re not convinced it gets out the petrified dog crap and road grime, and you’re never using that sponge to do anything but clean toilets with again.

If you’re like me, you will completely overreact, have a total hissy fit, and wonder if the man you married wasn't dropped on the head as a baby one too many times. Doors will be slammed, arguments shouted, and pillows will be screamed into. Growing pains are completely normal.

There will also be blissful moments, hours, and days where you look at them in awe. You’ll come home from a long, crappy day, and they’ll greet you with a glass of wine, and then tell you to go take a bath and change into sweats while they cook dinner. Afterwards when you’re full and sleepy, they’ll tuck you in on the couch in front of your guilty pleasure show, and go off and clean the kitchen. While you’re drifting off to sleep that night, you’ll wonder how you ever even functioned without that person. All memories of their screw-ups will be temporarily erased, and they are completely perfect.

Face it, your significant other is not perfect. Neither are you. You've burnt things, made a massive mess, and made a complete ass of yourself. They’re aware of your flaws and have probably shouted about it, too. But they also lie down at night, cuddle up to you, and wonder how on earth someone as amazing as you ended up with a fool like them.

The moral of the story is this; you’re not perfect, your significant other isn’t perfect, and life isn’t perfect. However, there are lots of perfect moments, and that’s what makes it all worth it.