Six months of being Mrs. Meyer

Six months ago today was the greatest day of my life (so far). I married the most wonderful man I've ever met. It still astonishes me that he chose me as his wife. In honor of six months of marriage, here is my list of my six favorite things about being married to Chip.

Presenting Mr. & Mrs. Meyer

1. Although the wait was long, the payoff was huge. I spent a long time waiting for God to unfold His plan for me. During that long, long, long, long waiting time, I did not just sit at home - I went out and lived life, with the full confidence and faith that eventually God would connect me to my husband. Because of that faith, I refused to compromise my standards. I went a couple of long stretches of time not only being single, but I went a long time without even one date. I once had a friend ask me, "Don't you want to go out on a date, just for the sake of going out with a guy, no matter who it is?" I told her it was quite the opposite. The longer I had to wait on God, the more my standards were raised. If I had to wait to date someone, when it finally happened, it was going to be a quality person. Not just any shmoe would do. As difficult and lonely as those single years were, Chip was definitely worth the wait. Those years gave me time to work on the woman I've become today, to work on domestic skills, to pray for my future husband...to see all that come to fruition causes me to absolutely love being a wife.

Chip's 36th b-day

2. A new name! And a new family to come along with that name! I am so proud to be a Meyer. And I have wonderful in-laws.

Attending a wedding 2 weeks after ours

3. I remember one Sunday very specifically about nine years ago. I went to church, by myself, and the pastor was doing a series on marriage. I hated those sermon series when they would do that, because it sooooo didn't apply to me. Marriages are very important and a lot of people need help navigating them, I totally get that. So, I find it very appropriate, of course, for the church to address a lot of topics about marriage. But what the church does not do is address singleness much. Singleness is rarely celebrated in the church body. Because singles are usually the minority. Anyway, at this particular point in time, I was a bit low over being single (still). So, there I sat. Listening to a sermon on marriage. Sitting by myself, with an empty chair on each side. Sitting in the row ahead of me was a family. A mom, a dad. A preteen daughter. An elementary aged son. And a preschool boy, who sat on his sister's lap. A beautiful family. And at one point, the dad put his arm around the mom. He was wearing a watch and a short sleeve shirt. And seeing that watch, such a "manly" object, move to show affection to the wife, just struck me. I sat there, tears rolling down my face. I wanted an arm with a watch around the wrist, to wrap around me. It was a moment I'll never forget. And now that I'm married, I appreciate so much the small tokens around the house that show that I live with a man. Chip's wedding ring on his night stand, his electric razor plugged into the power strip on my side of the bed as he charges it before he packs and leaves on a work trip, his plastic Wisconsin Badger cup that sits on the bookshelf next to his spot on the couch - always filled with water for him to sip as he watches TV, a pair of men's boots by the door from the house to the garage. My husband is a very tidy person. So he doesn't leave much of a trail behind him wherever he goes. But having these few items around the house often make me smile because it makes me appreciate the fact that I now have an arm with a watch around the wrist to be wrapped around me. And it reminds me that God is faithful.



First Christmas as Mr. & Mrs.


4. The kind of texts you only get when you live with the one you love. Things like, "Can you pick up some milk at the store today?" "Turn the crockpot on at 9 am." "Don't feed the cat when you get home...I already fed him." "I'll be home around 6:00." "I sent out Valentine's cards to all the nieces and nephews." After years of living alone, it's so awesome to have someone to "do" life with. Even the mundane things. Whenever I send or receive one of these texts, it reminds me that I am serving my husband and I am married to someone who equally serves me. And, we make a good team! We can get a lot done between the two of us!

Flowers on our 1 month anniversary

5. Laughs, laughs, and more laughs. No one keeps me laughing like my husband. He is one funny guy, most of his humor comes off the cuff. One of my favorite laughs came a few weeks ago. My winter coat was really grungy with dirty cuffs and collar. I had told Chip I was going to get it dry cleaned once the weather warmed up. We were in the grocery store on an unusually warm day in January and I knew if I went out without my coat, I wouldn't be a popsicle by the time I got to the car. As we were walking by the service desk at the grocery store, it hit me that it would be the perfect time to drop off my coat. I stopped and said, "I'm going to leave my coat to be dry cleaned right now," and proceeded to take it off quickly, fill out the slip, and drop it in the bag. Chip looked at me and said, "I'm glad you didn't decide your pants needed dry cleaning!" I laughed all the way to the car.

Our verson of "American Gothic" on our wedding day

6. The different ways he lets me know he loves me. Whether it's in words or actions, I appreciate the fact that this man chose me and loves me. He is a wonderful husband and I adore being his wife. Not that there hasn't been a learning curve in living together...we are two quirky people...we see things in different ways...we don't always understand one another...but even with a little bit of natural conflict, I still have loved every day of being his wife.