Even I Say, WOW!

Today marks 15 years of marriage for my husband and I. So I am summarily ignoring my rule of keeping him out of the blog, for this one day. Being married is a big part of who I am and he was crazy enough to want to spend his life with me. Sorry Nick, for better or worse, today you are in This Particular Brand of Crazy.

Being married is not easy, but it is worth the effort. 15 years is a pretty good chunk of time, even I say "WOW, that is pretty good". Up until this point I have thought, "Any fool can be married for (fill in # ) years". This year I have decided I am impressed. So you ask (or maybe you don't)...What is the secret? What great relationship advice can you dole out? Well, here it is.

1. Nobody is always right, and nobody is always wrong.
2. Saying sorry doesn't mean that you are admitting being wrong, it means your admitting to being a jerk, and that is okay. Jerks should be sorry and admit it, so they can go back to being decent people.
3. Being a couple is the priority. Raising kids is important, but the kids will leave when they are 18. Make sure your spouse does not want to leave with them.
4. Love and Like are not always co-existent. I know that there have been days we do not like each other, but we always love each other.
5. Laugh. Pretty much everything in a relationship is fair game after a certain point. We are at that point, and it is awesome.
6. You do not have to do everything together. Separate interests keep life interesting.
7. You do need to do some things together. Otherwise you are roommates and co-parents (if you have kids)
8. You can go to bed mad, just don't make a habit of it.
9. Compromise means nobody is happy with the outcome. Give and Take means only one person is miserable at a time. I prefer Give & Take. It works in my favor half the time.
10. "Love keeps no record" (that is Biblical). Get over the past arguments, score keeping, and other destructive behaviors. A couple is a team, do not sabotage your teammate.

So, that is what I have learned from 15 years of wedded bliss. Not all easy lessons, but worthwhile. I can honestly say that today I am more in love with Nick than I was 15 years ago. Yes, that sounds sappy, but it is 100% true.