The Girl He Married
I cooked the other night.
If this were six months ago, my husband would have been impressed.
If it were six years ago, he would have been shocked.
So as he savored his mustardy pork chops with apples and onions via “Dinner: A Love Story,” he looked at me happily and said – “wow…so not the girl I married.”
He was joking, of course, and we had a good laugh.
But it got me thinking…how different am I from the girl he married?
The one who stood next to him in a small garden in Old Montreal eight years ago next week and said “I do,” through nervous giggles in front of 50 or so guests?
Well, for starters, that girl was about 15 pounds lighter. Let’s just get that out of the way, shall we?
She had just moved to Los Angeles to build a career and get a nice tan and try her luck in Hollywood.
She had no real vision of kids, a house, a subscription to Food Network Magazine…
She had pretty much the same hairstyle I have now (note to self: time for a change).
She was starting to get tired of late nights out, but couldn’t quite wrap her head around early morning wake ups…if only she knew what was coming.
She was just starting to feel the pinch of real-life expenses on a real-life entry-level salary. Rent in Los Angeles, a car payment…therefore she could never feel good about splurging.
She had like two real jobs on her resume.
She picked the wrong bridesmaids dresses.
She couldn’t boil water…she needed to Google how to make an egg.
She considered laying on the beach with a magazine a sport.
She cherished her friendships. She didn’t realize how some of them would change…some for the better, others not.
She was nervous, but excited. Not for marriage. But for the future, what it would bring to her.
If I could go back, I would tell her just one thing: it will bring you a killer recipe for pork chops.
Are you different from the girl your husband married? How?
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Hmmm. This takes some thought.
I’ve been married 8 years, but we’ve been together 14.
the girl he married had one real dish she could make – lasagna.
the girl he married was able to leave for work at 6am and commute into NYC.
the girl he married worked out with a private trainer twice a week, at $100 a session.
the girl he married went to the movies most Friday nights with her best friend.
the girl he married would roam the malls i her free time.
the girl he married was excited for babies.
the girl he married had NO IDEA how expensive those babies would be.
the girl he married had bigger boobs, (before nursing those babies)
the girl he married used to enjoy spending an hour to get ready for our Saturday night dates
If I could go back, I would tell myself to save ALL of my money, as child care costs were going to be killer.
this is awesome!! I have no marriage or babies just yet to worry about so thank you for the heads up!
I love that you didn’t have cooking in the bag when you got married because I feel super insecure about not knowing how to cook. I promised myself I would learn. What do you think is the best, simple recipe reference?
I found a lot of my recipes from a subscription to Cooking Light. That was before all of the cooking blogs were around like they are now.
I still love to read cooking magazines and cookbooks. Cooks Country is awesome for learning why ingredients work the way they do.
Lately I’ve subscribed to 6 O’Clock Scramble, and try 2 – 3 new recipes a week and have been EXTREMELY happy with them. I would be in a major rut if if weren’t for the weekly email I get with 5 recipes to choose from.
I love it…one moment please, while I ponder over my honey wheat pretzel “dessert.”
The girl H married (oh, and I might just ask him this one):
loved to cook, and *thought* she knew how to cook. She now knows she didn’t, really, and will always keep learning.
was 10lbs less healthy
was ready for babies
didn’t have a full appreciation of the balance it would take to even *attempt* to do babies + life + work + marriage
loved him 6 years less than she does now, but already had loved him 8 years worth
barely ate seafood and fish then, vice now, where she’ll eat just. about. anything (except, unless pressed, icre)
was on the verge of this whole e-thing, this blogging thing, this twitter thing, this social media thing (and she had no effin’ clue about facebook at. all.), whereas now she can’t hardly get away from it
had no idea that some of her staunchest supporters and friends would be people she’d never met in real life
was just plain old naive. here’s hopin that sticks
would never have thought she could put together a price proposal in any way, shape, or form
thought she wanted 3 kids, maybe 4 (she has 2 now, and they’re juuuuuust right)
had no idea how much she would appreciate her h. none.
never thought she’d ever own a 2nd home, let alone one At the Beach
would still tell fibs every now and again. thank goodness that one’s gone.
plain old couldn’t wait to grow old(er) and old with her partner and (yeah, cheezball) best friend.
I didn’t know how to cook a lick when I got married, either! I don’t know what my traditional Brazilian husband was thinking, lol. Now I do it all, and am damn good at it, but he definitely took a risk with me. Now I do it all, and am damn good at it, but it’s only luck that that’s the road we went down.