It’s something that most guys look forward to, and yet fear at the same time.  Marriage.  I was married in December, 2006.  I had no idea what it was going to be like.  The wife has to get used to how hairy and gross the husband is.  The husband has to get used to how much he annoys his wife sometimes, and how she can sometimes be emotional and he needs to be sensitive to that.  Mostly it was the same for me as dating was, since we were together most every minute of the day anyway. It really is great to be able to wake up next to your best friend and being able to talk to her about anything and everything. I would never take back getting married.

If I were to give a little advice to someone who was getting married, this is what I would give (and I will try not to repeat the same things that everyone tells you: leave your anger outside, show her you love her, buy her flowers, blablabla) (I want to notate that I am not discrediting this information, I just think everyone says it and it gets old.  It is still important and should be heeded). 

The first thing I would say is make a budget.  Now, this is something that after two years of marriage I am finally doing with my wife, so I am not the expert.  Fortunately, we are pretty good with money, so we actually have no debt except for our car loan.  However, if we had had a budget the past two years, our savings account would have been much larger.  So, even if you are good with money, do a budget.  A good friend of mine is getting married in a few months, and she is already doing a budget with her husband-to-be.  Now this may seem a little over-the-top, but they are already saving money and will have that mythical down-payment that everyone talks about a lot quicker than my wife and I will. Save now!

The next thing is something that is a little more towards all those things that people tell you when you first get married, but it is sooooo important.  It is to talk to your spouse about everything, especially anything that you want to improve in your life.  If you don’t, and I speak from experience, a lot of time is wasted.  If you want to break bad habits, or start good ones, or both, tell your spouse.  They can bug you to the point that you actually stop or start those habits.  It’s great.  Also, share your feelings about everything.  You will know each other so well by doing this that you know how your spouse will react in any situation, which is great because you can support them.

The last thing I would recommend is to talk.  Talk about everything!  And especially talk about anything that needs to be improved in the relationship.  This is usually something us guys need most, but a lot of girls do too!  I would say that many divorces could have been avoided by simply talking it out (and by talk I do NOT mean yell).  I think that people can work through most anything if they try.

Well, good luck, and remember, all of us have to go through the first few years sometime.