Kitchen Countertops - Decisions, Decisions!

SO, one of the last things we have to do in the kitchen is to select the countertops.. Exciting, but stressful! I'm dragging my feet.

You see, when I originally started designing this kitchen, I envisioned marble countertops.. They are my FAVORITE by far! However, my husband and my dad have been adamantly trying to talk me out of them ever since! We went to a stone yard together, and the sales lady told us they make you sign a waiver if you get marble countertops. A WAIVER! And she went on to tell us about several people who got the marble counters who came back crying a month or a year later upset about a spill or stain that tarnished them forever! (I wonder how much money my dad snuck to her under the table to scare the crap out of me - because she did!) So I don't know what to do anymore...

Here are pictures of the slabs I liked the most, along with the corresponding quote:

48.5 sq. ft. of Carrara Marble Countertops: $2,885

However, I was also drawn to this steel gray granite... It's very pretty, but I worry it might be too dark? I think if I would have had this in my original vision, perhaps I would have made different choices in terms of the backsplash and hardware... hmm..

48.5 sq. ft. of Steel Gray Granite: $2,300

There was also this Alpine White Granite (It also goes by "Donna Sandra" which was pretty... but the sales lady said it was also more porous and prone to stains.. and this was by far the most expensive:

48.5 sq. ft. of Alpine White Granite Countertops: $3,150

Source: Mont Granite

Do you still love the marble the most??? I do..... but I don't know if I can bring myself to invest that much money in something so prone to damage! (We are pretty hard on things...)

Thoughts?