Thoughts on Frozen Pizza

About a month ago, Thomas and I were grocery shopping at Walmart. It was the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and we were planning a trip home, so we didn't need much food for the few days we would be home. We grabbed a frozen pizza, with the intent of saving it for Wednesday night. We planned for Thomas to throw it in the oven before I got home from work, and we would eat it as a quick dinner before hitting the road.

When we were done grocery shopping, we had several other errands to run. By the time we got home, brought the groceries inside, put them away, and cleaned up the kitchen, it was evening (around 7:30PM). We were both totally exhausted, and we were hungry. I asked Thomas what he wanted for dinner, and he asked me,

"Can't we just heat up the frozen pizza?"

Immediately, I was furious. Doesn't he think I can cook? Does he hate the food I prepare? Why does he want a frozen pizza? It is better than the pizza I make? I'll bet he hates my cooking. What is wrong with him? What is wrong with me?

I allowed these thoughts to crowd my head until I finally had to go sit in a quiet room, alone, for a few minutes.** Why in the world was I so upset?! It was just a frozen pizza, after all! We were both hungry and tired, and it was a simple solution. 

Eventually, I came to a realization: 

I had a serious case of Internet Envy, and it was causing me to think horrible things about myself.

You see, I have a tendency to immerse myself in social media. Being so busy at work and so tired when I get home doesn't allow me to go out often, so I love seeing other peoples' pictures on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I don't obsess, but I do check them frequently during my down time. I am also an avid fan of Pinterest. I could spend hours and hours browsing Pinterest and hardly notice the time passing!

On these social media sites, I see people sharing their best pictures. Their best moments. Their best experiences. I see annoying selfies, home-cooked meals, DIY projects, cute outfits, and lots of other wonderful things. But... you don't see people posting pictures of the frozen pizzas that they bought and threw into the oven. You just don't. When I compared myself to these people, I came up short... really short. 

(Insert short joke here.)

At that moment, sitting in a dark room alone, I had to remind myself to not compare myself (and my current situation) to those people online who I may or may not even know! 

I had to tell myself that nobody is perfect, regardless of how their Instagram pictures look. Everyone's life looks better in heavily-filtered pictures.

I had to realize that, even though my Pinterest home page is overflowing with healthy recipes, people are still serving and eating quick meals like frozen pizzas. 

I had to understand that I was not a bad wife for popping a frozen meal into the oven for one night.

So, Thomas and I ate frozen pizza that night. (Well, okay. We cooked it first!) And, do you know what? It was delicious. I was glad that I didn't have to cook, and I was even more glad that I didn't have to clean up the kitchen after cooking! And, while I don't plan on making frozen dinners a habit, I was just fine with it.

**Please note that I have a tendency to be very over dramatic when I am tired and/or hungry.**

Marriage (Take II)

I've been hearing lots of comments about marriage lately. None of them have been said to me, but I love to listen to people talk and hear snippets of conversations as I walk around and do... whatever I'm doing.

Yesterday I was at the grocery store in the school supplies section (so, um, I was totally in heaven!) and trying to choose a notebook to buy, and a young couple with a child came rolling around the corner, clearly agitated. I heard the man say to the woman, "Well, trust me. I'm only with you because I married you."

Ouch.

Then, today, I overheard someone tell someone else, "Marriage shouldn't have to be hard. You shouldn't have to work at it, it should just work itself out. If you have to try to make it work, something's wrong." I thought to myself, What universe is she from?!

When I first became engaged, I thought that marriage would just be wonderful. Thomas and I would still have the same kind of effortless relationship that we had always had, except that we would also be living together. We would have the perfect little house and a nice little car and probably a dog. We'd have the occasional argument, but we'd kiss and make up.

And then... the wedding planning came. We both had totally different ideas of what our wedding should look like, and we are also both extremely stubborn. It was a struggle to come to an agreement most of the time. We managed to get through it.

And then... the honeymoon began. To be honest, I'm pretty sure that Thomas and I had our first "married argument" in the car on the way to the reception. (He didn't turn in the right place, even though I told him exactly where to go!) We also struggled to find a balance on our honeymoon. He wanted to buy things like comic books, and I wanted to save as much money as possible for the "real world" that I was so afraid of.

And then... married life began. It's great! But, we aren't perfect. (Thomas actually told me a few months ago that one of his friends was shocked to hear us arguing, because they thought that we never disagreed. I think I laughed until I cried on that one!) We argue. We disagree. We even shout (frequently). We're both stubborn, and we're both always right. We mess up.

But... in spite of all that, I could NEVER use such biting words as the man in the store who I mentioned earlier. And, I would never, ever dream of telling anyone that marriage isn't hard work. Because it is. It's the hardest thing I've ever done, but it's also the most wonderful. I like my guy. Sometimes, I think I'll actually keep him around for awhile.

:)

"So, how's married life?"

When you get married, you gain so many things:

1. A lifelong partner.
2. The assurance that someone will always be there for you, whether or not you want them to me.
3. At least twice the laundry and dishes that you used to have.

However, you also lose some things:

1. Privacy.
2. Privacy.
3. Privacy.

Not only are you sharing all of your space with another person, but people seem to think that it is acceptable to ask you about your marriage, sex life, and home business. After you get married, people stop asking, "Hey! How are you?" Instead, they'll ask, "Hey! How's married life?" I love answering that question... but it's so hard to answer when someone is rushing down the hallway or across the campus yard.

I've also found that lots of people don't actually want to know the real answer. They want to hear, "It's great! So fun! Cupcakes and rainbows and puppies."

Marriage is not cupcakes and rainbows and puppies.

I've thought and thought about how to describe marriage, but I can't.

Fortunately, Someecards has been able to describe marriage perfectly. I'll stop rambling now and leave you with a few snippets of real marriage.

Tired

College makes people tired. We stay up late to study, watch movies, and go to Taco Bell. We wake up early for class, and then we spend all day hanging out and "studying" (in other words, get on Facebook and Pinterest). This was my life for 4 years.

Marriage, though, has made me a completely different kind of tired. I now have no problem waking up at 6:30AM to go for a run, but don't ask me to stay up past 10:30PM unless you want me to laugh in your face. I have all the energy in the world to clean my entire apartment throughout the day, but fall asleep when we have friends over to watch movies at night.

My conclusion is that I have turned into an old, boring lady.

But the husband is cute... so I don't even mind! :)