When We Were First Married vs. Now

We just passed the 7th anniversary of the first time we met (not particularly romantic, guys, we didn't start going out till a year and a half later). We're quickly approaching 5 years of marriage. Lately I've started thinking about how our lives and expectations have changed over the past half decade.

Our first day of marriage.

Now. Well, a month ago at a friend's wedding. We don't take selfies often, apparently.

Let's look at a few comparisons...

When we were first married...Angel was a nurse in a Burn Unit and I was a Junior in college.
Now? He's an ESL teacher with a nursing license and I'm an ESL teacher with a cosmetology license.

When we were first married...Angel worked 7pm-7am night shifts, three nights a week.
Now? He works 6 mornings a week, and maybe 1 or 2 afternoons.

When we were first married...Our favorite date restaurants were El Arriero (Mexican) or Arnie's (American breakfast food)
Now? Chili's (Tex-Mex) or Sri Ananda Bahwan (Indian)

When we were first married...We lived in a rural farmhouse with several acres of lawn.
Now? In an apartment complex--no lawn, no garden, just a solitary mint plant.

When we were first married...Angel had no intention of ever learning a word of Mandarin Chinese, in spite of the fact that I was majoring in the language.
Now? His survival Mandarin is pretty decent (he loved living in China and wants to go back to visit) and he's learning a few words of Bahasa Malaysia to help him out in case of need.

When we were first married...I cooked supper nearly every day--fried potatoes and eggs, chili, baked chicken, baked salmon,etc.
Now? I still cook supper nearly every day--fried rice, chicken fajitas, fried chicken and mashed potatoes, veggies and rice, etc.

When we were first married...I exercised in my P.E. class at college, which was a 'games' class that semester--we played tag and dodgeball and stuff like that. Best 1 credit ever. Angel was too tired from the night shift schedule, he didn't exercise at the time.
Now? I exercise to Youtube videos in our little computer room and Angel goes running early in the mornings and plays basketball or soccer with friends.

When we were first married...we didn't watch tv, because we didn't have an antenna, and Netflix wasn't a thing for us yet. If we wanted to watch something, we rented a DVD from Blockbuster.
Now? We don't have a television set, but we watch shows on our laptops together. We source most of our DVDs from my parents' collection.

When we were first married...we owned two older cars.
Now? We have one brand-new car.

When we were first married...we were still deciding where to go on our honeymoon. We ended up choosing Mammoth Cave National Park.
Now? I have yet to plan our 5th anniversary trip, but Angel gets a week off work in December, so we definitely ought to go somewhere! Cameron Highlands? Kuala Lumpur? Singapore?

When we were first married...we talked about someday moving to Kentucky.
Now? We dream of living in Malaysia forever.

When we were first married...kids seemed part of a far-off, post-college future.
Now? We're surprised we don't have them already. Seriously. Kids, where are you?

When we were first married...we were the only married couple among our total of 8 combined siblings--and all of them were between the ages of 20 and 3, so that wasn't surprising.
Now? Angel's brother is married with a kid, and 3 of my siblings are older than I was at our wedding--plenty old enough to start getting teased about potential spouses, although they don't seem to appreciate that very much.

When we were first married...we moved in to a mostly-empty house and spent months gradually accumulating, through either purchase or hand-me-downs, furniture and appliances.
Now? Funny enough, we're in the exact same spot once more, with plenty of room and not a lot of stuff to fill it with! The apartment is furnished with hand-me-downs from parents, along with whatever else we've bought or been given so far. :) I like all the space.

When we were first married...I had no idea that it was my husband's life dream to own a mascot-style bear costume.
Now? I know that, and so many more, and weirder, facts about him.

When we were first married...I wasn't a blogger. Gasp. I know, right? That whole lovey-dovey time was entirely skipped.
Now? I've been blogging so long I can't quite imagine not blogging at all. Writing with a pen on paper, what's that?