"Why can't you just let me watch The Hills in peace?!"

One of the things I love about my boyfriend is that we have a lot in common. We both like football, video games, movies, and music. However, we have a few differences as to what exactly we like.

Over the summer we went out to go see Funny People because we both like Judd Apatow movies and we thought it’d be really good. I thought it was really funny and that while, yeah it dragged a little bit, I enjoyed it. Matt on the other hand, HATED IT. And he felt the need to list every. single. reason why. All I heard for the rest of the night was Matt trashing the movie that I actually liked. Naturally, I was annoyed.

It’s not like I can’t handle a little opposition, it’s just that it’s little hard to take sometimes. Whenever he goes off on one of his rants about something I like, I can never tell if I should keep my mouth shut and question his taste in my head or if I should stand up for myself and my opinions. If I just sit there, I end up just internalizing thoughts like, “my boyfriend is an idiot and I’d really like to throw something at him right now,” when that’s the last thing I should be thinking about the guy I love. And the breakable things I also love. I also know that if I speak up and defend things I like, I’m most likely going to spend the next 3 hours arguing, and I just don’t always have the energy for that.

We have been able to come to a truce on some things. He doesn’t make fun when I watch Say Yes to the Dress, I support the Dallas Cowboys as long as he supports the Green Bay Packers (except for when they play each other – then all hell breaks loose), and Matt uses his iPod when he wants to listen to music he knows I don’t like. And it’s all made us a much happier couple.

But when you’re with someone, no matter how much you have in common and agree that Coke is far superior to Pepsi, there will be things that can’t be compromised. (And if there aren’t – well, that’s just boring.) The biggest thing I’ve learned from being one half of a couple is that you have to pick your battles. While there will be issues to stand up and fight for, some things are just not worth the long-winded-argument-that-leads-to-door-slamming-and-silent-treatment.

Yeah, I’ll still speak up if it’s really important or something I care passionately about, but let’s be honest – the world will not end if your boyfriend doesn’t agree that Lady Gaga is the best thing since sliced bread.

Which family will we be dining with!?

With Halloween over and done with and Christmas decorations lining hte aisles of my local CVS, it can only mean one thing: holiday season has begun.

But along with the amazingness that is Thanksgiving and Christmas, comes with one big question:

Where the heck am I going to spend the holidays this year?!?!!

With my awesome boyfriend came an awesome family, and they’ve really welcomed me as one of their own. Fortunately, his mom made the question of “Where am I spending Thanksgiving?” easy. She got tickets for herself, her older son, Matt, and myself to go see the Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving day! It’s our early Christmas present and it’s a dream come true for my boyfriend. I mean come on, he’s a guy who grew up in Texas; going to see his favorite team in the new behemoth that is Cowboy’s Stadium is the best Christmas present ever.

So now that I have one holiday checked off my list, what to do about Christmas? While it might seem like a simple answer – we’ve already done one holiday with his family, now it’s time to do one with mine – it’s actually quite tricky. With Matt’s parents divorced we have three options: spend it with my family, spend it with his dad and his family, or spend it with his mom and her family. All 3 are in different states, all three would mean missing out on others, and most would involve one of us meeting the other’s extended family.

Yikes.

So what’s a girl to do? This is all new territory for me and anyone who’s in a serious enough relationship to want to spend the holidays together and adopt one another into their families. I never thought that when I got myself a long term boyfriend I’d have to start sacrificing my holiday traditions or missing out on major family time. I love Matt and his family, but part of me wants to go back to being a kid and go home to my traditions – eating dinner with my family, opening presents with my family, actually seeing my family for the first time in months…

I know this is all just a part of growing up, but I’m really torn. I’ve never spent any major holiday away from my parents, but flying back to see them would cost the two of us almost $600! Is it worth it when we have the option of going somewhere cheaper? But then again, is it fair to keep visiting the BF’s family when mine hasn’t seen us?

Is it time that Matt and I both move past our childhood traditions and start our own?

I’m not sure what to do, but I’m going to have to figure it out fast. It’s already November and the cost of plane tickets just keeps creeping higher and higher. And the fact that Matt and I couldn’t even figure out what to do on Halloween (his friends were having a party, my friends were having a party…) isn’t leaving me much hope that we’ll come to a conclusion anytime soon.

Sigh.
Who knew holidays with a boyfriend would take so much work?!

Anybody else out there with fuzzy holiday plans?

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