We Survived To The Six Month Milestone Of Our Young Marriage.

We planned our wedding in 7 days. When we moved in together my husband brought home 15 pounds of pork. It really looked like he sneaked to the farm and slaughtered a whole pig. We are on a tight budget which means we mainly eat pork. I do not like pork. I did not have experience cooking with pork as my childhood diet mainly consisted of chicken and beef. The first time I made a meal for us, I cooked pork medium rare, just like I would do with steak. It came out looking delicious, but then he cut into it. Every single piece was bloody. I was embarrassed. Luckily, my husband found a quick solution by microwaving the pork for a few minutes. My husband’s love for pork is difficult to break. He turned out to be an expert in meat, spices and cooking. He showed me about 101 ways to cook eggs. He once made lots of meatballs from ground pork and some beef. There were so many that it made me think that he cooked for an army of hungry soldiers. I gave half of it away to my family.

The drinking age in Ontario, Canada is 19. This year, all the people who I grew up with posted pictures of them-self receiving their “first” bottle of wine or champagne from their parents on their 19th birthday. As a married woman, on my 19th birthday, my parents got me a pot and saucepan. I didn’t post it on Instagram, but believe me when I say that I was extremely happy to have my own pot and pan. I could finally make the chicken soup my husband was begging me to make. Having my own brand new pot and pan made me feel like a satisfied housewife.

We love tea. To save money, instead of buying a kettle, we used my brand new pot. Once, my husband left the water to boil. We went to our bedroom to watch a movie. He didn't tell me he put the water to boil, he completely forgot about it (so much for a “big” tea drinker.) After the movie, we went to bed. I almost fell asleep, he suddenly sat up and ran to the kitchen. The water was boiling in that pot for three hours. He came back to me horrified. He kept apologizing. I was too tired to have a look in the kitchen, I told him that as long as the house isn’t on fire, all is well. The next morning when I woke up, I forgot all about the pot. I went to the kitchen to start cooking breakfast. Then I saw my pot. My poor, short lived, beautiful and shiny, stainless steel pot. It was all black. I screamed. The next night after the “pot” incident my husband reported having nightmares. He saw in his dreams that I hit him on the head with that pot. For two months, bit by bit we (he) tried washing off the thick layer of soot. We scrubbed with a metal sponge, we used baking soda, vinegar and even bleach. We could not get it back to a “usable” state. A month later was Chinese New Year. It was the year of the rat, my husband’s year. My mother surprised us with a gift, a kettle. A fancy one made with glass and features that make it light up with different colours (a disco in my kitchen.) RIP my beautiful pot from England.

We are owl people. This means that it is extremely difficult for us to go to bed before 12 am and wake up before 11 am. On weekdays, my husband works and studies from early morning to past midnight. His wake up time is 6:30 am. Since he sleeps through alarm clocks, it is up to me to make sure he is up on time. Waking up a man is never an easy job. They growl like beasts and use their pillows and blankets as caves. I have developed a few techniques which I find useful when it comes to waking up my husband. I place my cold hands under his t-shirt, talk very loudly with my cat in a squeaky voice and jump on the bed. Finally, he gets up.

Married life is not always easy. Regardless of what challenges our young, married life brings us, we manage to turn our down's into up's. They make great stories. I have found a great person to create memories with. To you, the reader. I wish the same.

If you would like to learn how and why we planned our wedding in 7 days, click here.