Guest Post: Sharing A Bed

So we all know what Twitter is, right? Stupid question. Well long before I used Twitter, I used a social site called Plurk. It was one of the first social sites I ever experimented with, and I was taken by surprise by how many real, true, honest-to-goodness friends I made on that site. Carrie and Chris Cotter are a shining example of the amazing people you can meet when you open yourself up online. Enjoy, this is a hilarious read!

I want to start off by saying Congrats to Aubrey and Kevin. Even though I have never met them, (I met Aubrey on Plurk) I feel like I know them. I consider them both great friends and I look forward to watching them grown as a couple.

Aubrey asked if I would write up a guest blog post while she is away having a blast on her honeymoon and I am honored that she is posting this. I debated a while on what to talk about and decided I was not going to do a serious post. Those can be boring and repetitive. (I can not promise this won’t be boring and repetitive.)

I thought I would share one of the things I struggled with early on in my marriage. Sharing a bed with another person.

Growing up, I had two older brothers so I had always had a bed all to myself. It wasn’t until I married my husband Chris that I had to share not only space but also my beloved covers. Let me give you a little background before I get into the story.

Chris and I met in sixth grade. We were both in band and spent the next six years of school hanging out and becoming friends. It wasn’t until about January of our senior year that I realized I liked him as more than a friend. I was terrified to tell him how I felt for fear that he would run the other way. The second half of that year our friendship really began to grow. We spent almost every day together. If he had feelings for me he was great at hiding them. I fought the urge to tell him how I felt and tried giving little hints. Guys don’t usually pick up on subtle hints. We graduated and I decided it was now or never, I had to tell him how I felt. I couldn’t do it to his face so I sent him an email. (This was not near as common back then) He didn’t reply for a long time, I mean DAYS! I thought I had ruined the best thing to ever happen to me. We were still hanging out like we always had, but he never mentioned the email. Finally, I would say a week later, he was taking me home and said “You want to go out with me”. My heart leaped and I said “YES!” The date was June 14, 2001. I can even remember exactly where we were. That began a magical time in both our lives. We had many ups and downs in our relationship but ever down made us a stronger couple.

Chris and I were married a year later on May 18, 2002. Eight years and a completely different state later, we have two amazing little boys, Jordan 8 and Isaac 8 months. God has truly blessed us.

Now for the story, As I said before I was not use to sharing a bed with anyone. I am the type of person that needs my covers. I was not excited about having to share them. Chris and I make a perfect match because he requires no covers! He uses the sheet and I take the cover. Life is good!

The other hard part about sharing a bed is if your partner snores, talks in their sleep, or has nightmares. I can recall one night in particular that Chris had a nightmare. We still laugh about it to this day. I asked his permission to tell this story and he was reluctant but decided that it might give everyone a good laugh.

We had just gone to bed. Chris can fall asleep in a matter of seconds. His head hits that pillow and while I am trying to talk to him about stuff that happened that day, he falls fast asleep. Yes, my talking puts him to sleep…It takes me a long time. I lay there thinking about everything that I didn’t get done that day and what needs to be done the next day. I was still very much awake when Chris sat up and slapped the bed. I’m not talking a little tap, he hit the bed as hard as he could and said “Scooby no!!” Scooby was a beautiful dog that Chris had growing up. When he hit the bed it scared me to death. Once I caught my breath and thanked God that I was not laying on that part of the bed, I knew Chris was still asleep so I started asking questions. I said “What’s wrong?” Chris said “Scooby tried to take my money”. Me, “What money?” Chris “My five bucks. He was still very upset and mad at his poor dog. It was at that point that Chris woke up. He told me that in his dream Scooby had jumped up in his truck and grabbed his money off the seat. I told him what he had done and we had a great laugh. I learned that night that Chris can talk to me in his sleep and there are many times when I can’t sleep that I will ask him questions just to see what he says. The great part is, he doesn’t remember it the next day. I have not asked for money or presents, but i have considered it!

Aubrey and Kevin, my advice to you is, put an extra blanket on the bed in case one of you is a cover hog. Buy a pair of ear plugs in case one of you snores. Buy a recorder to record the answers to the questions you might ask your sleeping spouse And look forward to the funny dreams that are ahead.

God bless you both!

You know what I’m going to ask you to do. Go, read, and comment on Chris and Carrie‘s sites!