On love, laundry, and learning how to grow up
Sometimes I feel like I’m just pretending to be an adult.
Since getting married and moving out on our own a few months ago, life has changed in ways that still surprise me. I’m somebody’s wife now—a thought that still feels a little surreal, though in the best way. We have our own house, too, and with it all the responsibilities that come along: laundry, tidying, decorating, cooking (on occasion), and of course, paying bills. We’ve even started having conversations about children. And yes, I was genuinely thrilled the day we finally set up garbage service, after months of hauling our trash to my parents’ house. Who knew a garbage tote could feel like such a milestone?
It’s all exciting (bills aside), but it doesn’t always feel real yet. Wasn’t I just in high school, making silly videos with friends and talking about graduation? Somehow that was already seven years ago.
What I love most is learning how to build this life with my husband. We’ve created routines that feel comforting, and I’ve picked up hobbies I never expected to care about. Now I find myself spending weekends in antique co-ops searching for primitive décor, then rearranging my new treasures at home. I pin kitchen and bathroom remodel ideas on Pinterest, daydreaming about the updates we’ll make someday. For now, we live with the very retro 70s kitchen and bathroom my great-grandparents once built—a little outdated, but full of history.
It makes me laugh to think how much I used to dread antique shopping with my parents. Now I’m the one dragging my husband along every chance I get (though the free coffee and cookies make it easier for him). And I catch myself doing all the things my parents once begged me to do: turning off lights to save money, closing cupboards, putting things away immediately, and Swiffering the floors on weekends. Somewhere along the way, those chores stopped being nagging points and became habits of my own.
So yes, it’s been an adjustment, but a good one. Sometimes I wonder when, exactly, adulthood arrived. It feels like it snuck in overnight. Some of my classmates are still figuring things out, while others are already married or buying houses. I think most of us are somewhere in between—still straddling that line between childhood and adulthood.
As for me, I’m grateful to be navigating that line with my husband by my side. We may not feel like full-fledged adults yet, but we’re learning as we go—one bill, one weekend chore, and one step at a time.
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| Got lots of adult gifts at my bridal shower over the summer, like this vacuum cleaner! |
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