Hey guys! In celebration of Valentine's Day this upcoming week, I'm collaborating with three of my beautiful blogger friends on a series called the "7 Days of Love." Each day we will be talking about different topics with the approaching day of love in mind.
For the first day, we are to discuss things marriage has taught us. Seeing as how J and I had been together 8 years before we got married, we learned a lot about relationships prior to saying "I Do." So to keep it light, airy and romantic around here, I'll discuss 3 major lessons being married for the last (almost) three years has taught me.
1. COMMUNICATION IS ESSENTIAL. I feel like the main ingredient of any lasting relationship is great communication. J and I are able to talk about ANYTHING together and I'm very grateful for that. No matter what is going on or what kind of emotions I am experiencing, I know I can go to someone who has my best interest at heart. Sometimes I have a tendency to bottle my emotions in until the point that they come bubbling over. But being with J through the best of times and worst of times has shown me that I can truly depend on him to listen and really care about my feelings. If there is an issue within our marriage, I have no problem going to him and discussing it, either. While sometimes it may be tough, we always try our best to "talk it out" whenever something is bothering us. A little conversation about a matter can go a long way!
2. DATE NIGHT, LUNCH DATES, & MONDAY MATINEES ARE A MUST. One would think that J and I spend a lot of time together, being that I'm a SAHM. But that's not always the case. Having children, with one being a 5 month old, can be quite taxing! So when I'm not spending time nurturing them, working on various projects, or taking care of the home, I'm trying to get a few winks in. Lately, however, I'm only able to catch those winks when J is home. With everyone being busy during the week and always having a meeting to attend, practice to go to, and extracurricular activities to work on, it's easy to lose that quality time a new marriage so desperately needs. That's why I make sure to schedule time throughout the month that J and I are able to spend alone without the children. Sometimes it happens in the daytime, sometimes we are lucky enough to score weekends. But whenever it's feasible, we do make the effort to do something together. Not getting that one-on-one time leads for two frustrated parents and no one wants to see that, trust!
3. THE CHASE SHOULD CONTINUE, EVEN AFTER VOWS ARE EXCHANGED. For some reason, the sanctity of marriage can get a bad rap these days, when it comes to intimacy. People assume, because of these played-out stereotypes, that married women stop fixing up and claim to have a headache when it's time to get intimate. Others think married men are sex-deprived and dream of living life like their single friends. None of this is true. Well at least not for me it isn't. Please understand that each individual marriage is what the couple makes of it. I still like to "get pretty" for my husband among other things, and he enjoys "getting to know me" on a deeper level. We still talk and ask each other questions as if we are getting to know each other all over again after eleven years. He still tells me I'm beautiful. I still tell him he blows my mind. We still date, role-play and all that other fun stuff. I say all of this to say, we've been learning that we can still keep the fire burning as long as we put in the work. Fireworks aren't gonna just shoot from the sky!
What lessons have you learned in your marriage?
Please be sure to stop by and check out my partners for the week.
We are each married SAHMs that have something interesting to add to the mix.
So check them out and show them some love!
Feel free to join in on the fun by using these prompts if you would like!
We will be here all week :)
