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"In my last post I spoke about the changing expectations of marriage. We all have our own must haves, as well as our own deal breakers. As for me, after ten years with Rex, I wish he were more social and more spontaneous. I wish he found our 1950&amp;#039;s kitchen as much of an eye sore as I do. I certainly would love to be closer to my in-laws and have the kind of relationship where we hung out every Sunday, whether laundry was piling to the roof or someone was in a bad mood. I just want to be me - and not feel I have to be perfect. (People, my in-laws are seriously the most handsome group of people you&amp;#039;ve ever set eyes on.) On the flip side of the equation, I adore Rex for being a man of honor. He says he&amp;#039;s going to show up somewhere and he&amp;#039;s there. While functions with the in-laws might not consist of sleep overs in their guest room or last minute lunches where I show up at their door unannounced, I know , beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the love their son, their grandkids, and heck, even me. I love that Rex adores me. I don&amp;#039;t ever take it for granted - not for a minute - that Rex is always growing as a man. He isn&amp;#039;t afraid to put his foot down if he disagrees with me (Ex: Sunday nights before work? Not the greatest time to have a surprise bbq or beg him to go rollerblading to Depeche Mode music at the local skate rink). But he&amp;#039;s also willing to kick his feet up and laugh with me over my silly antics, as well as go along with me to places that inspire me. (Don&amp;#039;t make me list all of them. I&amp;#039;m supposed to stick to 500 words. You say &amp;quot;rambling&amp;quot; I say &amp;quot;passionate&amp;quot;.) I&amp;#039;ve realized that life isn&amp;#039;t perfect. That I will never get 100% of what I want from Rex. It&amp;#039;s why I have my friends, my job and my faith (my faith being something that Rex does not share with me.) Is my marriage what I envisioned at 19? Heck, no! But it&amp;#039;s not enough to make me want to leave. More than that - I have days where I can&amp;#039;t believe how lucky I am land in the situation I did. But someone else might look at what I&amp;#039;m &amp;quot;lacking&amp;quot; and run for the hills. The key ingredient I have in my cake of a union is that I don&amp;#039;t allow my emotions to be swayed just by what Rex feels or does for me. I get to decide how I feel about my circumstances. I get to acknowledge that x, y and z suck eggs, but I can do a, b and c to make myself feel better. So now I ask you - what do you love most about your spouse? What do you wish would change about him or (gasp!) about you to learn to accept him/he morer? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/relationships/a2806/getting-lucky-with-rex-in-mo/>