As many of you know, mine and Daniel’s 3rd wedding anniversary was this past week. Being married for 3 years has flown by just as quickly as being together for nearly 9 years has. I will say that the beginning of our relationship, like many, is always the most fun. It’s new, it’s exciting, and it’s fantastic.
Now, we’re sort of comfortable with one another. This sometimes means that we can be mean, ungrateful and generally just not all that lovey-dovey to one another. We take each other for granted sometimes…
And it’s not what I would want my marriage to be. I don’t want to be that crazy wife that is always nagging, and I don’t want Daniel to be that oblivious, apathetic husband that they portray all too well on most TV shows.
Photo credit: Amazon.com
I was asked to read “Attracting Your Extraordinary Love” by Ricky Cohen, and I really did enjoy the overall message of the book. Although I am not trying to attract anyone other than my husband nowadays, the book helped me focus on our relationship. Lately I have been snippy and angry and bossy and that’s not good for us.
I let all the small things and nuisances of our hectic lives affect our relationship. I try to get Daniel to act certain ways. I am angry about something that has nothing to do with him and take it out on him.
Cohen’s book didn’t read like a how-to manual, nor does it promise to fix everything, but it reads more like a stream of consciousness. Prose, even. Little tidbits of thoughts and information for the reader to mull over and apply as needed or desired. The only slight issue I had with it was it did have a bit of religious stuff in it, which is just not my thing. But a minor caveat to an otherwise good book.
My favorite line in the book is this:
“Love him or her for how each can love you, rather than how you would like to be loved.”
Personally, I took that as let Daniel be who he is. Sometimes we expect things of our significant other that wouldn’t be natural to them as individuals.
The book was a very quick read on my iPad thanks to buying it from Amazon and reading it in my Kindle app. It wasn’t condescending, and it will definitely make you think a little, if not feel a little differently about your spouse or loved one. Overall, it didn’t feel like I was reading a self-help book with 10 steps that I needed to do or else.
So, with some new thoughts in my head, Daniel and I headed out for a fun date day. We got up early for breakfast, went and shopped at Walmart, got excited when we saved 20% on our groceries using coupons. Then we came home and watched TV, had dinner, went to a graduation, then went out for a movie night. It was fun to chronicle our day through some Instagram photos. Gotta love technology.
It was a gorgeous day to enjoy great company and conversation.
We both love to have drinks, so we were excited to find a light beverage both of us could enjoy. Both of us had one last night and thought it was tasty. See? Shopping trips to Walmart can be fun.
Some tasty food at Dog & Bee. Though it’s not good for our bank account and waistlines, we enjoy eating out on date nights. Makes it feel a bit more fancy and special.
During our date night we made time to support our best friend’s daughter at her Kindergarten graduation. Part of having a strong relationship is to be good to friends and family.
Here’s a picture of us before heading to the movies. I love this pic!
And during the pre-show at the movies we have fun chatting about our day. The movie we ended up watching is “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” and it was such a cute movie. We give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars.
Overall, I think the book helped me work on myself, which will in turn mean less fights and nagging. I hope. He hopes. Our weekly Friday date nights help us have fun and remember why we picked one another to be with forever more.
Also, I created a board on Pinterest with some fun ideas, tips and quotes for date nights/relationships.
What sorts of tips do you have for keeping a marriage strong and fresh when it starts to feel a bit stagnant?
We love to laugh.
This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias
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