Tʜᴇ Aᴅᴊᴜsᴛᴍᴇɴᴛs & Pᴇᴛᴛʏ Aʀɢᴜᴍᴇɴᴛs

Being newly married entails a lot of joys, excitements and a new set of pretty little challenges especially if it's an intercultural kind of marriage.  I have never lived with a man until I got married.  I have stayed long vacations with my husband before we got married but those are different, they were "vacations", stress-free and everyday-happy except on the days when he flies back to France (I was still in Cebu then). 

Living with someone who grew up in a totally different culture can be challenging sometimes for both parties.  And aside from the cultural differences, as a woman, I also got my mood swings especially during the "red alert" times of the month.  I can be a pain in the ass sometimes with my over-sensitivity, my being too emotional and or my jealousy.  Thankfully I've been blessed with the most understanding man in the whole world!  He also has his low moments that require my patience and understanding.  Nobody's perfect and we both embrace that fact. 

We're both adjusting to a lot of things together and he's been really kind and considerate with me for the fact that this is the first time that I've lived away from my family, the first time that I left my comfort zone and the first time that I become totally dependent on someone yet there are those moments when both of us are just too stressed and are not able to keep our cool over certain things.  Simple things!  We are both working on our differences with respect towards each other, always!  I need to constantly remember that he has his side of the bed and if he's in the wrong side he won't be able to sleep correctly.  I always sleep under the sheets and he doesn't so he has to make sure he doesn't lie "all over" it otherwise I'd end up waking him while trying to pull it out in the middle of the night.  I cook rice in a way I used to do in the Philippines and he does it like he's cooking pasta (and there's nothing wrong with that, just never thought it's even possible)hehe...  He eats medium rare to rare beef, I don't!  The blood disgusts me so much.  I like eating pork, he doesn't like it as much (unless they are some barbecued ribs).  These are just examples, the list is pretty long.  I'm just trying to say that we're both different and yet we're perfect together! 

There are times when jokes don't come out right and they cause tension, a raised voice or an emotional breakdown (for me).  We react to stress very differently and sometimes I'm very negative that it gets to him which always ruins the day.  Sometimes he becomes so impatient over certain things and he'd bang the door and me being "over-sensitive" I'd always feel like he did it against me which of course is not true, yet he will really have to give me a hug to console me for that because I hate door slamming.  I have a tendency not to speak when I'm upset and it drives him crazy when I'm acting like that which just makes the situation worst so I'm little by little trying to stop this bad habit.  As I've mentioned my jealousy can be an issue that he has to deal with as well and as days go by he's getting better with that.  I can't help it, I've always been jealous as far as I could remember and he knew it since the beginning.

My husband fascinates me everyday.  Every little detail about him makes me fall in love even more over and over again.  We might have raised our voices against each other but there was never a time that we didn't say our apologies shortly.  Thankfully I've been blessed with a very kind, sensitive, loving and respectful husband.  All our petty arguments are actually helping us know each other better and love each other even more. 

In our couple we recognize the importance of open and honest communication and it is one of the things that's keeping us happy everyday.  Knowing that at the end of the day, no matter how simple or complicated an argument or issue is, if we talk about it then we'll both feel better.  Respect on the other hand plays a very important role too for without respect the "open and honest communication" can turn out to be just nagging.  I respect my husband and let him take his time when he's upset, I don't approach him like a hungry lioness just to have an open and honest talk, it doesn't work like that.  If you do it that way then good luck!  I am most certain that it will make the situation worse, of course!  My husband does respect my space too and waits until he feels that I'm ready to talk.  Everyday I feel like I owe him the world for loving me the way he does.  I have never felt this completely happy!  I love him and I will continue to love him more and more despite all our differences because our differences are our strengths too like he always said!