My top 10.

And yeah, I keep getting surprised.

Sex with your spouse gets better. Seems counter-intuitive. Yet, something about practice makes perfect. So keep practicing. You’ll be attracted to others. No matter how attractive your spouse. Just a fresh face. So daydream but don’t chase. Some days you’ll feel madly in love. Some days you’ll wonder, “What the hell?” Learn how to keep falling in love. Those cute idiosyncrasies your spouse has? They’ll eventually drive you nuts. Change what you can. Forget the rest. Together 24/7 sounds idyllic. And eventually will start to feel more like prison. You both need time alone in the sun. Give it. You can’t imagine it, when you first marry, but you’ll fight. So learn how to fight fair. Resolve the issues. And restore your relationship. After a fight you won’t feel like intimacy. Make up anyway. You’ll discover falling in love again. And it really is the most fun. You think marriage is a 50/50 relationship. It’s really 100/100. If you keep score you lose. If both of you never stop giving 100% you win. You’ll screw up. Your spouse will screw up. Something about being a fallible human. Expect it. Forgive it. Forget it. Move forward from it. Marriage is the most fulfilling experience you’ll have. Oh, and the most frustrating. So together commit to growing your marriage. So you experience the fulfilling part. These are just a few of the surprises that await you.

After all, I’ve been married for a while and my wife still surprises me. Of course, I think, most of the time I baffle her.

So what is your biggest marriage surprise?

You can build a great marriage when you expect it to be surprising.