Will you take this person. . .?

I do. 'I do' promise to wake up to morning breath, 'I do' promise to put the toilet seat down after using the bathroom, 'I do' promise to ask for directions when we're lost, 'I do' promise to limit my shoe collection to five pairs, and most of all 'I do' promise to love and to cherish you for the rest of my life. These two words may sound simple, but you may be getting more than you bargained for in marriage.

What is marriage? Marriage, as defined in Webster's Dictionary, is the legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. Why is it that some fear this commitment while others embrace it as they wait for the day they're able to say "I do"?

Before marriage, there is a period of dating called courtship. Of course, the first thing we want to do when meeting someone new is to make a good impression. Girls spend hours and hours looking in the mirror, picking out the right outfit and putting every strand of hair in place. Guys check for minty breath, talking to themselves in the mirror and making sure there's enough money to cover the date. This period is often the fun time. Everything is so new. Dawn Lipthrott, LCSW founder and director of The Relationship Learning Center, relates this to a new job.

"Everything seems perfect at first. When you see things that you don't like, you might deny or at least minimize them. You tend to go above and beyond what is required or expected. You feel energized, alive, and filled with new dreams. In romantic relationships, your heart is filled with love and you know that this person loves you. You both find many ways to show your love. When you're apart, you are thinking of one another. Everything feels right. Some people feel a sense of finally 'being home' or of being 'complete', feeling alive and connected."

We're exploring and finding out what makes this other person who they are. As the relationship develops, it grows into something more meaningful. You start to trust and share your innermost self with the other. It's a feeling you'd like to hold on to forever and never let it end. We then make the decision to get married.

The wedding ceremony happens. You're no longer dating or trying to impress the other. You are who you are and everything else that comes with it. After the novelty and excitement of the honeymoon wears off, your first morning as a married couple leads to questions: Who makes breakfast? You would like your eggs how? How many kids did you want?! All of a sudden, we're asking questions that probably should've been answered before we said the "I dos." . . . . .