I didn't notice that he SNIFFED all the time! LOL When I told him that, he told me, "Well, you didn't tell me that you'd cough all winter every winter, either!" LOL If that's all we had to discover - we're doing okay!

Hi, Dances!

My biggest surprise was what a slob I was. It was always just me and I would clean every two weeks. I was never home when I was single so I didn't mess up the place. When I got married we stayed home more often and I found out I don't pick up after myself.

i didn't expected he'd take over the dishwashing or laundry detail!! nor did i expected he'd keep remembering (without me ever having to tell him even once) to take his greasy garage shoes off at the door before walking on the carpet! definitely very nice surprises ;o)

Aleksander, my Husky, for my birthday 6 years ago.

Actually, Dave is FULL of pleasant surprises. He always does the grocery shopping and usually the laundry. He cooks a lot because I get home from work later. When I am in school (Sept-May) he does ALL of the housework, unless I'm particularly under-loaded. I do it all in the summer, though.

To top it all off, he doesn't want kids either! I knew that way before we got married (otherwise I wouldn't have married him), but it was a nice surprise when we were just getting to know each other.

We didn't live together before we got married, either. My biggest surprise was our heat differences. He can sleep in a deep freeze & I want to be warm & toasty. I feel funny wearing footed PJ's in the middle of the summer!

Dances, the bedtime difference happened to me too, and after living together 8 yrs (married 3) it still can cause problems, LOL! DH just requires much less sleep than I do, so he is in later and up earlier, which still wakes me up on both ends. We are much more in synch on vacation. He also naps while I don't which is cheating! :)

My surprise for me would be nesting: despite living together for years, when we actually got married I suddenly redecorated our apt and bought new drapes, and sheets, etc. to create a "home." Meghanne, we aren't planning on kids either, and we rent an apt. and travel a lot which makes us very different than our house/kids/van'd friends, so the nesting part made me laugh at myself.

That he was total wimp when it came to dead animals. I just assumed it would be a 'man's job' to empty the mousetrap, remove a dead chipmunk out of the pool, clean fish, etc. but he would actually get ill if he had to do anything like that. So I traded him that job for doing the dishes and we've done that ever since.

My husband is a very sweet nice guy not a person that meets him doesnt like him...we didnt live together before marraige either. I always thought.. ahh.. Ill finally see some nasty side no ones this nice or calm...well 10 yrs later and im still waiting...I really did luck out with just a real good guy! Its like they say every pot has a lid

It seems that once we moved in together, I realized how bad his feet are. I know this is so petty, but he has big, gnarly feet...and well....they STINK!! And of course, he, under no circumstances, can throw them into the hamper all by his self. So he will lay them by our bed, of course by my side. By the time I wake up, I am gagging.

He didn't realise that I wouldn't cook meat! He knew I was vegetarian but we had just never discussed home cooking or anything! lol

I am still surprised that there are few things he can't do. Not lying here...anything from imbalm a body to build a house...oh and weld on a bridge 200 feet under water and fly a plane...and he isn't a bragger either. He just DOES it (well the imbalming thing doesn't come up too often since he left his family's funeral home to get a more exciting life).

BUT he cannot load the dishwasher correctly. It's a fair trade though, because I can't lay a wood floor with boards that I routed myself...:)

We adjusted with much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I was 36; DH was 30 when we married. It was his first marriage, not mine. I'd been single, and completely independent, for 12+ years. We dated for three years but never lived together until after the wedding.

One of the things that bothered/surprised me the most was seeing his socks in "my" laundry hamper. I was thinking 'why are his dirty socks in my bathroom?' Oh! He lives here; this is his bathroom; this is his hamper. We now share laundry!

It was so weird having to adjust to someone else living in the house. There were two toothbrushes and extra towels in the bathroom. There were more coffee cups on the counter. Someone's eating my icecream! It's the little things that will throw you for a loop.

My younger sister got married just after her 18th birthday. I asked her what married life was like and she told me she was shocked at how much laundry a man has. Did I know men wear both shirts and undershirts?

I have to really think about this - it's been almost 20 years.

My husband came from a family where MOM did EVERYTHING. Yep, it was Leave it to Beaver in the 1980s. Fast forward 20 years and we have made some progress...but we're still working on it!!! (He's lucky I love him so much!!!!)

Don't even get me started about dirty clothes going INTO the hamper....

Sheryl

MY DH does help me out around the house and he will even do his own laundry when I can't get to it right away....BUT A couple of things that drive me crazy is that he will empty out his pockets any where in the house and he takes his shoes off just about any where and leave the shoes where ever then he leaves his dirty dishes all over the house.....the other thing is leaving his clothes on the floor and even sometimes right next to the hamper!! Ok That is more than a couple of things! LOL

My biggest surprise was how I felt about talking about money. Previously, I had not been answerable to anyone about my income. Feeling that I had to justify spending or not spending just felt awkward.

What was lovely was living with someone I felt totally at ease with, whom I trusted and was completely comfortable with. After my rather nasty childhood, years of roommates and slacker boyfriends, it was great to feel I finally had a home. HOME!! What a great concept.