man in the trees: a post on loving vs liking

I once heard that it is more important to like your spouse than it is to love them. I didn't quite understand it then.. but I wasn't married yet. Now, I kinda get it. Not all parts of marriage have those crazy passionate butterfly moments. I'm not saying that they go away, but they aren't always there. There are good, bad, and really ugly parts of life when sometimes you forget that those butterflies ever existed before.

Everyone thinks that we live this fabulous island life here. Don't get me wrong, Hawaii is an amazing place, but we've had our rough patches. Not in our marriage, but in life in general here. We both go through our stages of homesickness, mine usually much more dramatic than his, and we lean on each other to get through it. Being so far away from our family and close friends has made us become each other's support system. Through it all though, I'm really grateful for the blessing of being so far from our comfort zone through our first years of marriage. It's made us stronger. Closer. It's made me realize that I actually like my husband! I know that may sound funny, but liking someone is different than loving them.

I like hanging out with him.

I like being around him.

I like talking to him.

I like being silly with him.

I like when he makes me laugh so hard that I cry.

I like that I make him laugh too.

I like that I can tell him anything.

I like that I don't have to tell him anything at all.

I like that we can turn a day with no plans into a day of silly adventure... like climbing in trees.

As I stared at him in the distance that day, as I laughed at him trying to balance on the tree and pose for a picture, I realized... that even if I didn't love him, I would like him. Because even if he wasn't my husband, he really is my best friend.

And I'd rather be doing nothing with him than something with someone else. 
(totally stole that last line from the cutest picture posted on Kait's Instagram!)