A few misconceptions of MY married life:
1.
Married people have no life outside themselves
2. Married people only hang out with other married people
3. Having girl/guy time is considered taboo.
Lately I have run into a TON of people who, in my opinion, has a skewed view of a married couples social life. A family friend saw Thomas on Friday and asked where I was and when Thomas replied that I was out with one of my girlfriends she was shocked. She said "oh well that is nice you let her out to see an old friend." Another friend had stated that since I was married she figured I was living on married Island and that I would only hang out with my husband or other married islanders.
I should have known that this would be an issue right after I got engaged. There was a major shift in attitudes with my friends once Thomas and I became an engaged couple. My phone stopped ringing and invites to hang out were fewer. At first I thought some of my friends were jealous, then it when things panned out it just seemed that they figured once I was engaged I was gone. They thought my whole life revolved around being glued to Thomas' side. I am totally baffled by this concept. Any one hold this view and wish to clarify the thought behind it?
The entire time Thomas and I dated we made it a point to be very involved with our friends. I have seen how so many times when a friend gets caught up in a relationship their girlfriends or guy friends get pushed to the side. Now I fully understand that things change when you enter a relationship, and time has to be investing in knowing your partner, and growing with them. That said, some people cannot balance a relationship and friendships. Because of this natural pull to seclude oneself, I battled hard to maintain my friendships with my girlfriends. As for my friendships with my guy friends, most of those changed as they should. Thomas and I dedicated time apart to spend solid fellowship with our friends. I still did girl nights; movie,
ice cream, facials, shopping, makeovers,
etc... Thomas still played football, beat his chest, conquered video games, had pipe smoking sessions, and whatever it is that men do together.
As Thomas and I are getting settles here in Phoenix we have looked for another foundation of girl/guy friends. The transition to marriage took a major blow on my friendship toll, and for that I am filled with sorrow but I not for one second filled with regret.
When we moved back here I had lost most of my support and
friendships from my college and had been gone so long that I hardly had any roots left here in AZ. Thankfully those friends I do still have are phenomenal and I am
undeserved to be their friend. This girls are Melissa, Laura, Katie (both of them), Amanda, Britney, Jessica, and Kat. I praise the Lord every day for these girls. But of this group of friends only 2 of them live in AZ and both of them are close to moving away soon. For this my heart breaks. Thomas has been able to lay some roots here and has bonded with a few guys, and has even started a very small men's fellowship time
with t
hese men once a week. This was an answered prayer for sure.
Thomas and I love each other dearly, but know also know that it is healthy to have other relationships that help keep us accountable, and sane. Thomas does not like to paste
crafted cards together and send them to his guy friends just like I refuse to play touch football. I honestly believe that there is nothing wrong, and that it is healthy even to have time dedicated to spend apart from Thomas. I would like to hear some other ladies, or men I suppose, thoughts on this subject. Anyone else made this transition and noticed a difference in how your friends treat you? Maybe it was just Thomas and I... it would be our luck,
haha.
Okay I promised to end each blog with a wedding memory... which to choose from? By the way, it has been brought to my attention (courtesy of my mother, how fitting) that I should not call these disasters, but memories.
Wedding memory #1: My wedding flowers were stored in a donut shop for 3 days.
After ordering all my wedding flowers bulk from Costco I was PUMPED! We ordered about 1750-200 long stemmed
Cala Lillie's. After they arrived I freaked out, and was in over my head; see I forgot to take into consideration that we would have to store all of these flowers and I had arranged for them to arrive 2-3 days before the wedding (as suggested). They arrived 3 days before. I went out and bought 4 or 5 large trash cans filled them with water and
unpacked them. Due to my mom's frequent visits to a local coffee/donut shop they offered to store them. This was perfect, but it also set itself up for another eventful memory... to be heard later!