I remember when my husband and I first became engaged; it seemed that people loved to give us marriage advice.

We, of course, were very grateful seeing as neither of us had ever been married before and wanted it to be the best marriage possible.

Some of the advice was very insightful, such as telling each other "I love you" every day, giving your marriage 100%, serving each other, learning to compromise, etc.

But what we overwhelmingly heard, and from seemingly happily married couples, was how HARD marriage is. Seriously, it seemed that every other conversation we had with married people was about the difficulty of marriage.

Now, don't get me wrong; I understand their good intentions. They were just trying to prepare us for the learning curve that occurs for most newlyweds. And although I haven't been married for a very long time, I am here to tell you marriage isn't really that hard.

Here are 5 reasons that marriage is really the best thing ever, and the most rewarding thing that you could ever do:

1. Feeling the love

"Love, true love. Marriage, sweet marriage."

In marriage you come to understand the true meaning of love; of loving somebody so much that you cannot imagine your life without him or her. Feeling that kind of love is one of the best things about marriage. This kind of love also comes with new understanding; understanding that you can have this love despite imperfections, or fights, or misunderstandings.

2. Having a permanent best friend

I am sure you have heard it a million times, but you should really marry your best friend. Having someone you can share everything with is both so comforting and so rewarding. You can share your hopes and dreams, your fears and aspirations, your bad days and good days. This person is who you laugh at weird things at and create inside jokes that only you understand.

3. Being weird together

Talking in alien voices. Weird pet names. Grabbing random body parts.

Marriage comes with the opportunity to be extremely odd together and totally accept it. You might get strange looks, and your friends might not want to be around you, but as a married couple you will love being weird together.

4. Learning life skills

Before I was married, I was pretty responsible. I got good grades in my classes, spent my time wisely, and tried to budget. But I feel that once I got married the life skills I had learned were taken to the next level, and I also learned many, many more. Marriage teaches you so many useful and helpful things about money, time, and life in general.

5. True communication

Marriage teaches the purest form of communication. It teaches you that in order to resolve an issue or problem you HAVE to talk about it. It teaches you to communicate your emotions and feelings in an effective way, to talk about how much you love and care for another person, and making sure they know it.

Being married is the best thing ever. There are just no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It is an opportunity to learn and grow, and to help you and him become better people. Because everyone doesn't know everything, there are moments of learning that may be difficult, but when you look into each other's eyes and realize how much you love each other, it all becomes insignificant in the end.