Married Life: A Five Week Report

As of tomorrow, Mr. Lemur and I will have been married for five weeks! This still feels like yesterday:

Guest photo

In many ways, our lives are dramatically different. We went from being 800 miles apart and spending our days texting with the occasional phone call—to living together and having someone to wake up next to every morning. And it's amazing! Of course, this means a lot of other transitions in our lives.

Name Change

I changed my last name to Mr. Lemur's, for a lot of reasons. I wasn't particularly attached to my last name, and it was frequently spelled wrong. I also like the feeling of starting over as our own family. The process of changing your name isn't difficult—but I did find it frustrating to wait for my social security card, then for my driver's license, then for my new debit card...you get the picture.

Joint Finances

Mr. Lemur and I also made the decision to open a bank account together and to close our individual accounts. After our experience with separate accounts while dating and engaged, there was no way we were keeping that up. It was too difficult to split bills evenly—I pay gas, you pay food? We split the food and gas? Who pays insurance on our car or my ring, for example? Now both of our direct deposits go into our joint account and Mr. Lemur and I make big financial decisions together. Little purchases are left to our own discretion.

Emotions

I think a lot of bees around here have blogged about dealing with post-wedding depression. It only makes sense—you spend seven or more (for some, many more!) months planning a wedding, and it consumes your life. Now that day is over, and it flew by! I definitely experienced some rollercoaster emotions. I cried after the wedding on our way to the honeymoon, for various reasons, but after that until the honeymoon was over I was just ecstatic to be married.

When we arrived in Michigan and walked into our apartment, loaded with boxes and remnants of decorations and wedding gifts, reality hit me. We weren't just playing house anymore! For the next two and a half weeks, I wasn't working, so I had that time to get settled in—it was good for me. Now, though, the best thing has been for me to get involved in my new job and church and meeting people. I have plenty to do to keep me occupied!

Well, I think that's it for our married life report—for now! We're still waiting on our professional pictures, but I have a few more posts about our amazing honeymoon before diving into recaps.

How did your life change after the wedding? What did you find the most challenging?