EXPLORE

Yes! I am still in my relationship! Can you believe it? I know, sometimes I can’t either. Every day I wake up thinking “is today the day I fuck it up?” but so far the only thing I’ve fucked up is my Netflix queue and the only thing I’ve cheated on was my diet.

Within the first month, I had a lot to work on with transitioning from a single socialite who went on at least one date every week (and ate whatever I wanted) to someone who has to share a bed with somebody and text every day. Although, I do still get to eat whatever I want.

I thought the first month was going to be the hardest because it was something so different and new, but as it turns out, maintaining a relationship is hard work and it doesn’t stop after 30 days. It keeps going. With every day, there are new challenges and obstacles and “disagreements” you have to work on with your partner.

For the second month, getting used to somebody was my biggest struggle.

In case you couldn’t tell, I am an only child who was practically spoiled by my mother growing up (maybe she still pays my phone bill, I don’t know…) so for me, getting used to somebody is not such an easy feat. I remember last June when I moved into a new apartment with a new roommate, I had all of these feelings and anxieties about having to see and talk to someone new every day. It took a few weeks of getting used to her crazy behaviors (ie, doing the dishes every night, turning a light off when she leaves the room, showering, etc…) but in time, we adapted to each other.

Things with my boyfriend (wow, I haven’t written a sentence using the word “boyfriend” since I wrote in my journal about my crush on Howie from the Backstreet Boys) has been a pretty easy transition. For starters, he lives in another borough from me, leaving out the possibility of a “pop-in.” We each have our own apartments, our own jobs, our own friends, and our own lives. We make time to see each other twice a week, and honestly, I think that has had a huge influence on how well our relationship has gone. We don’t have a chance to get sick of each other or annoyed because we are only together for a short amount of time. And then we retire back to our own apartments and lives and miss each other.

But, even though we aren’t around each other 24/7, there are still times when I need to get used to somebody else’s “unordinary” behaviors. Luckily, my boyfriend doesn’t do anything too crazy or insane, but like every couple, there are always things we notice and we ask our partner, “…but, WHY?” For example, we were at dinner the other night and we ordered a pizza. It wasn’t until his second slice when I noticed something insane…something utterly ridiculous and irrational: He ate his pizza upside down.

That’s right. Cheese-to-tongue. Perhaps this isn’t something that outlandish, but for me, born and raised in a family of normal-pizza-eaters, witnessing this behavior was something different and unconventional.

Now, as you can infer, the way he eats pizza is not a deal breaker by any means (the way he eats an Oreo could be…) but these are just the playful things those in a new relationship tend to notice and focus on. And believe me, I am sure he could write a longer list about my insane behaviors.

… I just hope he doesn’t. 

GETTING USED TO SOMEBODY:

WHAT I'VE LEARNED FROM BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP FOR TWO MONTHS

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