Our Little Secret

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret: my husband and I had a fight on Tuesday. "What? They fight? I thought all they did was travel!" I know, I know - Let's get all the gasps and shocks out now before I continue.

A lot of times social media doesn't actually show this piece of your life. Instagram, Facebook and blogs all show the good not the bad, the laughs not the tears, the love not the fights. People don't want to talk about it because it's perceived as bad or that a relationship is in trouble. Plus, it's very personal and sort of depressing. But all of these things are life and what make us human.

It really was a stupid fight (aren't they all most of the time?), just pure frustration and exhaustion. We went to catch a tube after taking our red eye in from New York, and I made the decision to go to a different tube stop than normal because I thought it would be quicker. We arrived, and the line was delayed and the station was packed. There was no way to know it would turn out that way but it spiraled from there: blame, frustration, anger, all human emotions to feel. We angrily walked 15 minutes to another tube stop, I was late for work, we said a rushed goodbye... but I still had a sick feeling in my stomach. So I ran down to Aaron's tube line where he was waiting, and we both apologized and carried on our way. All was forgotten in an hour.

It's an interesting experience being abroad for your first year of marriage. We are facing a lot of frustrating and tough situations where often times the only people we have to take it out on is each other. But then we are also going on these amazing adventures, seeing once-in-a-lifetime things and experiencing it together. I like to think of it as extreme highs and lows on the expat rollercoaster : )

I can't speak for everyone's first year but I think that this year I'm really learning more about the roles that Aaron and I play in our relationship. I am the emotional one who relies on my feelings and impulses. Aaron is the calculated, rational one who uses his reasoning and senses. We both balance each other out but we also share a lot of things in common - one of those is not being able to leave a situation angry.

The next day was the first day of the London tube strike. When the tube shuts down, it is pure chaos and disruption. I left work yesterday 45 mins earlier than I normally do to account for this, only to ride the bus for an hour and find that a tube line that said it would be open was closed. The taxi line was wrapped around the station. People were everywhere, all on their phones trying to look up how to get to work. Naturally, I did the same thing only to find a message on my phone: "No Internet Connection". I was lost and had no idea how to get to work. So who did I call? Not ghost busters, but my husband. And he helped me figure out a way out of the situation.

It took me another hour and a half to finally get to work (yes, my one hour commute turned into 2.5 hours) but it definitely made me realize how much Aaron and I rely on each other here especially during all these highs and lows... and how truly thankful I am that he is my someone to rely on.

Because my husband is very reliable : )