"Are you allergic to anything?"
"Yeah," Calvin replied. "Road rash."

The nurse chuckled.
Calvin landed himself in the Instacare again. At 9:00 at night, I panicked. I still had 30 more minutes of work left and I had no idea what situation Calvin was in. The last time Calvin got into a bike crash he looked like an extra from a zombie apocalypse movie.
It was bad.

At 9:36 I burst open the door to our home where he is furiously inhaling the chili and cornbread I made earlier that day.
"Calvin! Whaaaaaaaatt happened?"
"I wanted to surprise you with a pastry from Shirley's," he said, "so I was riding my bike with one hand, tried to shift gears and lost control. It's coconut, because I know that's your favorite." Calvin half-pointed with his good hand to the table where a perfectly-shaped pastry was sitting in a clear plastic container.

My heart dropped. It was the saddest but most lovely predicament.

His knees and hands were bloodied and he had a wrist brace on. There was the possibility of a wrist fracture.
And all he was trying to do was love me.

People look for love stories in romantic movies, in deep poetry, or 80s love ballads.
However that is the stuff fairy tales are made of.

True love is not knights in shining armor rescuing distressed damsels in far away towers.
Married love is not full of roses and butterflies; frolicking in the field without a care in the world, (despite what people think.)
Real love is however, saying "I love you," and then proving it. Love isn't just a feeling but an unconditional commitment to put the other person first. I hope I can always live up to the stellar example of my husband. I try hard everyday. I've learned a marriage is not 50/50 its 100/100.

Even though I'm a newlywed, I know I have the real thing. The real, genuine, L-O-V-E.
I just hope next time it doesn't involve a trip to the ER.

Calvin being treated.

The love pastry.

"One the twelfth week of marriage my true love gave to me.... "

A beautiful bouquet of flowers and my favorite chocolates.

The funny thing is Calvin didn't even realize we had been married for 12 weeks. He wanted to surprise me with flowers and chocolates, "just because." I can't even imagine how he carefully balanced flowers and chocolates while riding his bike in the dark.
I love that man.

A person knows they are fresh if they can measure major life milestones in weeks. 12-week-old braces, a 12-week-old job, a 12-week-old baby. We have a 12-week-old marriage. So far, so good.

Sitting down and talking we both felt like we have been married for a lot longer than three months. (In a good way.) We just fit together. (This is the part where a you imagines a dramatic Jerry MaGuire,"you complete me" scene in your head.)

Now that we are a "seasoned" married couple, I have come to realize a few things about marriage:

• Marriage is awesome. Anyone that says being single is better is LYING to you. (This does not mean single people should not enjoy being single. They definitely should. But marriage is in my opinion, better.) 
• I no longer have to wonder "what will my eternal companion will be like." He is right next to me. I can see his curly ringlets and mega-watt smile. 
• The first year of marriage is not always a horrible trial in poor communication and power-struggles. Although marriage is life-changing, the first year can actually be amazing. 
• Sharing the bed is not as easy as it sounds. Before we were married I had imagined we would fall asleep cuddling in each others arms. Truth is this actually happens most nights. But sometimes I get cold and steal all the blankets, which makes Calvin curl up in the fetal position trying to stay warm. Or most nights I come onto "his side" and make it so he is precariously close to the edge of the bed. We thought it was because we sleep on a full-size bed, but the same thing happened even in a King-size bed. I somehow managed to sleep-crawl through all the covers of the King-size bed and curl up next to him, leaving him hanging off the edge again. It takes practice learning to have another human being in bed with you.
• Little quirks will pop up that I had no idea about. I cannot stand dirty pillowcases with face-juice stained into them. Calvin cannot stand his peanut butter knife touching the jelly when making a sandwich unless it is absolutely clean. Surprises are just part of married life. I just laugh sometimes. 
• There's cheaper car insurance.
• I will never have to go on a horrible date again. 
• I am now a BYU football fan. 
• Marriage is great, even when life kind of sucks. Even if I had a bad day, there is always a man to come home to that will stop what he is doing and give me a hug. 
• I have an excuse to cook good food. when I was taking a lot of classes I would usually just make a quesadilla or pb&j. Now that I'm married I have a little more time to cook. Plus it's much more inviting for Calvin to come home if there is good food waiting. 
•  My feet never get cold at night anymore. 
• I love Family Home Evening. We both get off by 7pm, so we have the rest of the night together. It is like an extra date night on Monday. 
• Inside jokes. We can just say something or even give a look to each other and bust up laughing. It's like our own little language. 
• It's ok to sing off-tune loudly to songs that pop-up on Pandora. There are no judgers.
• We feel like the same people. Except we live together now.