Guest blogger Dani Klein Modisett: My husband and I will be married seven years the end of this month, and we've been together almost nine. Who knew when we were dating that he would take kindergarten homework so seriously? 

Or feel the need to rush the kids to the emergency room if they start playing with their ears and crying for more than ten minutes? Or wind up wanting to train for a marathon, be really picky about the peaches he eats or be driven mad when there're random papers left on the dining room table?

All these epiphanies about him have made me wonder: How can you possibly know a person well enough to marry them before you actually marry them?

We flew to Chicago for our first "away" date and had a lot of fun at a wedding. We went to countless dinners during that time and museums and even some theaters. We talked about politics and religion and pets. We talked about a lot of things ... which is my point.

Despite all our many conversations, and the fact that we even lived together for a year before the wedding, there was still no way to experience the minutia of who each of us is until we married. Talk is cheap. It's also really easy. Marriage, however, is a series of actions, and generous, compassionate, and tolerant reactions. Thankfully for me, the effort is worth it, but it's no wonder I put it off as long as I could!