fact: marriage is hard.

I am known for my blunt realness when it comes to talking about my marriage. During the first year, when people would come up to me and ask, "how's married life?" I would be like, WELL IT'S NOT RAINBOWS AND BUTTERFLIES BUT WE ARE SURVIVING. Because really, marriage is hard. It gets better. It's getting better right now, every day. But being a wife is not the easiest job I've ever had. And that's where a lot of problems lie. People thinking that a good relationship has no arguments. There are some seriously lovely ups and some seriously painful downs. And that's with EVERYONE. Even those friends of yours who seem to have it all together. I guarantee she nags the crap out of him and he flushes the toilet when she's in the shower. Shit happens. No one is perfect. Which leads me to my next review.

If you want to NOT set yourself up for failure in your current/future relationships, read Linda and Charlie Boom's Happily Every After And 39 Other Myths About Love. Sorry Cinderella, you are a human being, not a princess, and there is no happily ever after. But there are a lot of myths that will get in the way of your happiness if you're not careful. My personal favorites?

• Marriage is 50/50 - NO marriage is 100/100 - lesson number one people
• Little things aren't worth getting upset about - oh, okay, so then you can bottle that anger up and BLOW UP later? Great idea
• True lovers feel love for each other all the time - I love my husband every day, but NOT all day every day
• If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all - okay, if it's not going to help the situation, please, refrain from speaking it in the moment, but if you're husband is being a complete crazy person, please feel free to tell him in a proper way

The Boom's are MUCH more helpful than my little tidbits. They are a couple who actually did reach the brink of divorce. Some of the myths were surprising to me and really did make me think about my marriage in a new way (myth #2 especially), and if you are married or thinking about getting married, READ THIS BOOK.