All posts tagged: tips

Why you Forgot about Date Night

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One thing I keep hearing from friends and family is that they don’t have enough time to go on a date night with their significant other or they meant to but forgot. Why is it so easy to write off some of the most potentially rewarding memories of your relationship? We all get busy; that’s just a part of life these days. Not that I completely agree with it myself, but I fall victim to it just as much as anyone else. A date night on top of a full work day, mixed in with possibly kids, volunteering, and other commitments can feel like it has no place in the week. Then the weekend comes and it’s time for chores, friends, and more commitments. It’s a vicious cycle, but then again no one ever said life was easy. This might seem like a bit of a downer up to this point. I’m with you 100%, but do we pay attention to whispers or war cries? Date night is meant to be a time for communication, …

50 Fun "Would You Rather" Questions to Get to Know Your Spouse

50 Fun “Would You Rather” Questions to Get to Know Your Spouse

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Need a fun activity for date night that really gets the laughs and conversation flowing? Newly married or engaged and want to get know your partner even more? We’ve come up with some fun (and a few funny), thought provoking questions for you and your partner to get a little closer and laugh together. Find a quiet place, get comfy, light some candles, follow the instructions below and let the conversation begin! Instructions: Download the PDF! Print, cut, fold each question and place them in the bowl, times two (one bowl with the 50 questions for you and one for your partner). Take turns pulling questions from your bowls and answering them. You can’t say answer with “both” or “neither”. That’s cheating! If you have less time or 50 questions seems a little daunting, you can always print one copy, put them into a bowl and take turns answering until the questions are gone. Whatever is easiest for you! Questions: Would you rather travel to the past or the future? Would you rather have hard …

How You Can Use Myers-Briggs to Better Your Marriage

How You Can Use Myers-Briggs to Better Your Marriage

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Have you ever taken the Myers-Brigs test before? If you haven’t, it’s time to understand you and your spouse a little better. I believe that if you can understand the cause of what makes people make the decisions they do, you can really understand how to thrive with in your relationship with them.  With this free worksheet, learn how to communicate, motivate, protect, and care for your spouse. Don’t know what the Myers-Briggs test is? In short, it’s a test to give you accurate results of your psychological indicator type (I’m an INFJ and Eric is an ESTJ). Remember that everyone is unique and with 16 categories, there may be a couple traits that might not be exactly you. But it does gives you a deep understanding of who you are and what motivates the decisions you make. This test is used by psychologists and counselors helping clients to understand their complex personality, and even large corporations helping their employees thrive in their work environment. I’m sure you’ve taken Facebook quizzes before, but this is …

8 Ways to Prevent Long Commutes from Ruining Your Marriage

8 Ways to Prevent Long Commutes from Ruining Your Marriage

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Chances of divorce and infidelity can happen when one or both spouses are commuting long distances. Based on a 10 year study in Sweden,  couples that have commutes 45 minutes or more have an increased chance of divorce by 40%. Not only are there these statics, but there are an overwhelming amount of infographs on Pinterest and headlines on popular sites that read “Couples with Long Commutes are More Likely to Divorce ” and “The Rise of the Super Commuter and the Fall of the Marriage”. It’s enough to make any commuting couple, with a healthy or strained marriage, fear for their relationship. We’ve been in a celebration mood for the last couple months, partly because of my husband’s successful completion of his MBA and partially because he had a job as soon as the diploma was in hand. However, a reality has recently set in on the arrival of his dream job. He commutes an hour to work and an hour back home. Sometimes more depending on traffic. Plus business trips. Uh oh. More …

Tonight's Better Togehter Top Ten Posts

Our Top Ten 2016 Posts for Marriage Resources and Date Ideas

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The month of May marks our one year anniversary for our blog. We’ve made it! We’ve gotten through our first year and we’re reflecting on how amazing of a journey it’s been so far. We can’t believe how fast this year has flown by, how many incredible people who we’ve connected with, all of the adventures we’ve been on and the community that’s grown around this blog. In one year, we have an amazing community of 2,000 readers, we’ve written 57 posts, taken 5,208 photos and have spent countless hours planning, researching and learning. A very big thank you to all of our readers, commenters and new friends we met during this process. So in celebration of our one year blogiversary, here’s a round up of the top ten articles that became everyone’s favorite. If you’re not a weekly reader or if this is your first time here, this is a great way to get to know us. We invite you read and join the community. 1. 50 Questions to Really Get to Know Your Spouse …

10 ways to have a great relationship with your mother-in-law

How to Have a Great Relationship with Your Mother-In-Law

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Mother-in-laws. A combination of words that can strike fear, anxiety or even anger in a marriage. In the average household, the mother-in-law can be seen as the equivalent to a Disney princess stepmother. Why Disney never capitalized on mother-in-law villains beats me. But while we all smirk at the stereotypical mother-in-law figure that has been painted by culture and media, we also need to be the change to restore those stereotypes, the family unit and even our marriage. My mother-in-law and I have a great relationship. We even call each other just to talk. Gasp! I know. This is almost unheard of but at the same time, she and I have worked very hard to develop a healthy relationship. That’s why I want to share with you what I’ve learned interacting with my mother-in-law as well as watching my mother and mother-in-law deal with their mother-in-laws. Even if you’re in a situation where you don’t think your mother-in-law will want to reciprocate the work in restoring the relationship, the change has to start somewhere. Might …

10 Ways to Cope with Busy Schedules in Marriage

10 Ways to Cope with Busy Schedules in Marriage

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We know from experience how hectic and busy schedules can not only put a strain on your physical and emotional state, but it can also stress your marriage and your partner. My husband is a full time MBA student who also works part time in varying internships. I have a full time job. On top of that, we are bloggers (obviously!) and volunteer regularly at our local church. We’ve learned a lot about how to organize our days to better optimize our time spent together. Here’s how we do it: 1. Make Time for Each Other Being intentional with each other on a busy schedule is the key to a healthy relationship during time of extreme stress and busy schedules. Being intentional with your actual time is part of that as well. As weird and Type A as it sounds, looking at your schedules and finding gaps of free time can open the doors to quality time spent together. Remember, you’re not roommates, you’re married! For example, my husband goes to school at night. I …

50 Questions to Really Get to Know Your Spouse

50 Questions to Really Get to Know Your Spouse

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Maybe you’ve been married for a while and the conversation has run dry. Maybe you’re newly married or engaged and want to know your partner at a deeper level. Or maybe you two are so busy and want to have deep conversations but don’t know where to start or have the time to think up thought provoking questions. Whatever stage your marriage is in, we have come up with 50 fun and thought provoking questions to ask each other on date night. Find a quite place, get comfy, light some candles, follow the instructions below and let the conversation begin!     Instructions: Download the PDF! Print, cut, fold each question and place them in the bowl, times two (one bowl with the 50 questions for you and one for your partner). Take turns pulling questions from your bowls and answering them. Keep in mind that these are great conversation starters. Try not to answer with one or two words and elaborate on your answers. If you have less time or 50 questions seems a …

Grapefruit aperol spritz

Winter Date Ideas: Game Night with Specialty Cocktails

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One of our favorite parts of blogging is meeting the amazing, supportive, talented people of the blogosphere and Sofia Clara is nothing short of that. We met Sofia on Instagram of all places and our blogging relationship grew from there. Sofia is based out of Switzerland and has a beautiful blog on all things DIY, recipes, fashion and everyday life tips. My personal favorite posts are her Ikea hacks – nothing short of clever and beautiful. We hope you enjoy today’s guest blogger and definitely go check out her blog.     I don’t know about you, but the short days and grey weather during the wintertime have a big impact on me. I’m a big homebody and even more so during the winter months, but this month I really started missing those more spontaneous summer dates where you can just throw on a summer dress and head out for a drink or a walk by the lake (I live in Lausanne, right by one of Europe’s biggest lakes). I thought it would be fun …

6 Valuable Things I Learned in my First Year of Marriage (from the guys perspective)

6 Valuable Lessons I Learned in the First Year of Marriage (from the Man’s Perspective)

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The following points illustrate things that I have learned through my first year of marriage as a husband. These are not necessarily words to live but merely lessons that my wife and I are hoping will be valuable to our wonderful readers out there. I have heard, like most men have, the age old proverb, “happy wife, happy life”. While that is generally a fair piece of advice that was communicated to me on my wedding day, I couldn’t help but wonder “how do I go about that in the best way?!?!” So this is a compilation of my knowledge around that very question. 1. Pay Attention Self-admittedly I am still working on this particular point, but it should be said. As a guy, I tend to get laser focused on one thing at a time and my wife is able to juggle ten thoughts at once. You can see where conflict can come into play. One of the things I have noticed is that while I am never able to multitask effectively, making sure …

7 Valuable Lessons I Learned in the First Year of Marriage (from the Woman’s Perspective)

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This is a round up of the top 7 things I’ve learned from marriage that weren’t always in the marriage books or past blogs I’ve read but are easy to implement into your daily life. This is not a general list but is written from the woman’s perspective. These are lessons I’ve learned as a woman, but there may be some sweet morsels in here too for the men out there. 1. The honeymoon stage doesn’t have to end. Towards the end of year one of marriage, I actually got this question more than I can count from my new newly wed friends: “When did the honeymoon stage end for you?” My reply? It doesn’t have to end. I’m not saying that your marriage will be bliss for the rest of your life but what I am saying is the honeymoon stage doesn’t have to have a shelf life of 6 months or a year. My husband and I approach the honeymoon stage as a mindset, not a state of mind. The definition of a …