SOCIAL MEDIA

20 September 2017

Married Life: Texting

This may be a bit unusual for couples in 2017, but Angel and I have never really developed a texting habit.

 
{Photos I never showed you from our anniversary photoshoot earlier this year}

When we became friends in college and later, for all the years that we lived in America after we got married, we didn't have phones with texting service. Adding texting service cost extra so why bother adding that extra fee? Plus, in pre-marriage days, I'll admit that I especially loved it that not having texting on my phone forced Angel to be a man and call me rather than flaking out and texting (you won't believe I was born in the 90s, will you? It must have been the 50s).

When we lived in China, we shared  one cell phone, so whenever we were apart, we had no way to contact each other and simply assumed that the other would arrive home safely from work or errands. We worked at the same school so we weren't apart all that often.

NOW. For the last two years, we have each had our own phone, and these phones can text. Each text costs something like a few cents, though, so there's no call to overdo it on the texting. So...we've adding texting into our lives as if we also live in the 21st century. But I've noticed that our texts seem to follow a very regular theme. Here are our real-life texts from the last month or two:

Rachel: Wanna bring me home ramen? The same kind I had before.

Angel: Ok

...................................

Rachel: Don't forget to pick me up on the way. :)

Angel: Ok

..................................

Rachel: I have a stack of books to send to the printer  so you can carry them when you pick me up.

Angel: Ok

..................................

Rachel: You must pick up the family at the airport in the big car at 4:45

Angel: Ok

..................................

Rachel: "How about bringing home food for us? Is ramen open for lunch?

Angel: Ok

.................................

Rachel: Don't forget your tesco shopping if you guys stop at McDs. Need lunch ingredients for tomorrow.

Angel: Ok

...............................

Rachel: We are at the Korean restaurant. Haven't ordered food yet. If your lesson is finished you can join us.

Angel: Yes

...............................

Rachel: You have a lesson at 3 pm today

Angel: Ok

...............................

Rachel: I cooked lunch for us.

Angel: Ok

..............................

Rachel: My phone is dying now but don't forget to pick all of us up at 4.

Angel: Ok

............................

And...that's it. I think I also texted "I love you!" once and he texted "Take care of the baby!" once but pretty much it's just information about schedules, meals, and rides going one way with Oks coming the other way. There was that "Yes" one time which I think shows his excitement over the Korean restaurant. Works for me! No wasting of unnecessary cents on needless texts and Ok is easy to type, even on Angel's old-school Nokia!

What role does texting play in your marriage?
Kay R. said...

I love this. Im an avid iMessage and whatsapp-er but most times phone calls are the way to my heart. My fiancé is currently travelling and we use both to stay in contact all day so I definitely see benefit of texting but yes, phone calls definitely win. Love how Angel always says "ok" haha

Elizabeth said...

Love this! I'm single but even with my family and friends I'd much prefer a phone call! I didn't have a cellphone until I was 18 and going to college and it had limited texting abilities. I only upgraded to a smart phone a year ago and still prefer calling over texting!

The Lady Okie said...

Bahaha! This is hilarious. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but sometimes we text when we are in an argument, and I think it helps us say what we want to say better than talking because we can't interrupt each other or get angry by tone, etc. not that we text when we are in the same room, but like if we are apart and have been in a fight, we text and it usually ends up getting resolved!

Emily @ Pizza & Pull-ups said...

These does seem to be a pattern to the texts lol. The hubs and I text all the time. Hope you have a great day!

Suzanne said...

Ha ha! No wasted words with Angel.

I text my husband but probably more now that he lives in Hong Kong and the time difference is 12 hours. I'll text photos often of what I'm doing during my day or of the pug. It's just an easy way to keep in touch even though he is on the other side of the world. We FaceTime daily too.

bisous
Suzanne

Michelle said...

That's hysterical!!! James and I are big texters. It's just easy for us to communicate that way when he's working, though I prefer to talk to him on the phone. Too many times we've gotten in an arguement because we misunderstood the other's tone.

Meg Smidt said...

I like to send my hubs funny pictures and memes to brighten up his hectic work day. We also send each other songs we think the other one might like. It's fun... but it helps for practical info too!

Moonofsilver said...

My husband and I don't txt or really even call each other. At work he is always busy and never checks his phone :P

Kristina said...

He really changed it up with that "yes." :) My husband and I don't really use our cell phones much. But we do chat via Hangouts when he is at work and I'm at home.

Cheyenne said...

That's hilarious! I pretty much write novels through text. Oops. 😂

Unknown said...

Hahaha, this is my husband and I, too - texting is a very utilitarian thing for us a lot of the time, and I think that's normal. Once you're past the dating phase, the real conversations are happening in person - so texting becomes a thing you do out of convenience and necessity, not so much romance. But I do think it's important to reach out and say something more meaningful when you know they're having a rough day.

Yolanda said...

This is what my phone looks like with my husband! If we are away from each other we might send more lovey dovey messages but it's all about tasks and to do's otherwise. Oh and I may send some pics of the kids through text to him.

Divya @ EatTeachBlog said...

Hahahah, this looks quite similar! :) Sometimes he'll throw in a smiley face, but mostly because I've teased him about his texting!

Jenny Evans said...

That's such a man thing to do.

AnneMarie said...

Those conversations are so funny, and look a lot like ours! When we were long-distance dating for a summer and I had a more-than-full-time ministry job, I always appreciated it when we could text back and forth, but when we weren't long distance, and now that we're married, we just don't text much aside from me sending him a message during the day about something and him responding "ok." We also tend to send a couple "I love you!" text messages during the day, too. So texting doesn't play a huge roll for us, and I've been finding that I just don't even text many people that often anymore!

Ro said...

Hahaha, these are funny! My husband and I text back and forth but not as often so most of ours consists of "on the way" random questions about grabbing something from the market, and "I love you" texts, hahaha.

Crystal // Dreams, etc. said...

Love the one-word responses! I'm not married, but the guys in my family/the men I have to text for work-related things (because my coworkers and I have always communicated by text) have mostly responded with short/one-word responses. Maybe it's a guy thing! ��

Unknown said...

Malcolm and my relationship is pretty much documented in text messages/whatsapp... it's kind of cool being able to look back at when something happened. Those photos are breathtaking!

Christina @ Hugs and Lattes said...

Haha this is so hilarious! I'm going to guess you're the more talkative one in your marriage. ;) My husband & I don't text each other as much now that we're married and living together. Our texts now look like "what do you want for dinner." Occasionally we're flirty.

Martha Hokenson said...

I am HUGE on texting, lol, I just hate talking on the phone and also I'm on the go a lot, so it's easier to text quickly and quietly than to have a phone convo. Those photos are stunning!

Tayler Morrell said...

Texting doesn't necessarily take much part in our life either--typically like yours. However, we use Gmail chat box ALL day long while Justin is at work. We talk about the kids, how our days are going, other random things (geeky things, plans for dates, philosophical questions, etc etc). It's so nice to have the communication (especially since Justin always has his work email open on his laptop and Gmail Chat has an app on my phone).

Farrah said...

hahaha, I'm not married, but Angel's responses remind me of when I used to use AOL Instant Messenger and one of my friends would only ever respond with "k" no matter what I wrote! :P

Sephora Couturier said...

HAHAHA! This is so my husband... I really miss those letter writing days. Maybe, I am a bit old school :) Btw, Loved your dresses. SO pretty!!! *.*