love and marriage

paul and i have been married 3 months and 6 days.
for the past ohh... 3 months and 1 day, all we've heard is "so... how does it feel to be married?"
paul and i usually look at each other with puzzled looks, scratch our heads and ask, "is it supposed to feel different?"

i mean, what's there to change except a new last name and an extra ring on my finger?
oh yeah. legally sanctioned sex and childbirth (if we so choose), a tax break, and a new term to call each other. on an emotional level, though, i think we feel pretty much the same today as we did on june 16th as we did on june 18th.
isn't that how it should be, though? if you're really ready to be married, and you do get married, what's going to drastically change in the few months after your wedding?
before we got married we already:
divided up housework
knew how we each like our coffee
picked a side of the bed to sleep in
knew which shows we like to watch on friday evenings when there's nothing to do
called each other from work just to check in
rsvp'd for "plus one" in all events
called each other's parents "mom and dad"
knew what kind of toilet paper should always be in our toilet paper holder
figured out who showers first
shared funny tidbits from the news
automatically changed the channel to comedy central at 11:30
ordered ranch AND blue cheese with our wings

i think the biggest transition people expect from marriage come from having to figure out how to live with each other in one shared space. sure, people stay over for days at each other's places, but i think it's different to really "live" in a space together all the time. when you have your own space, you always have the option of going back to your own place when you're sick of your partner's space. you don't have that option when you're living together.

so then... now that a lot of couples live together before marriage, why is it then so shocking to be married all of sudden? unless you're planning to have kids right away, isn't it pretty normal to be... normal after your wedding? maybe i'm missing something here.

but i kind of like that life's calmed down to a familiar norm. i think it means we had it together before we were married. i think it means we're good for each other.
i think i'm going to enjoy this calm until we do decide to have kids. we'll live like love struck college students until we have to be responsible. seriously... why have a date night once a week when you can have a date night every night?