Danielle Tate

Unplug to Reconnect!

It’s time to unplug to reconnect. Now that you’re settling into the newlywed life, do you ever feel like you don’t have time to talk or connect with your spouse the way you did before you said “I do”? Balancing jobs, a new marriage, family obligations and all the other joys of life can make for a grueling schedule.

My suggestion to you? Take an evening or weekend and unplug so you can reconnect. Turn off your phones & computers and sign off of all your online vices (from Facebook to shopping). Having uninterrupted time together is precious.

So you’re unplugged and staring at each other…now what? Take a walk through your neighborhood or a park and hold hands. You can talk, or not. Just being together is a good thing! Do activities that you love to do, but never have time for. Restaurant hop and have an appetizer at a few places, discover a museum or get a couples massage.

Another option is to tackle a project that has been on your joint to-do list forever. Need to paint the kitchen? Go pick out paint colors and roll up your sleeves. Completing a task together is rewarding and has been shown to strengthen relationship bonds.

As your unplugged time draws to a close, talk about what you liked about uninterrupted time together. Did you both de-stress? Learn something you didn’t know about your spouse? Have mind-blowing sex? You may realize that the time you spent together makes it easier for you to handle your spouse’s or your own work travel. Whatever the positive outcomes were, make plans to unplug on a regular basis!

What do you do to unplug with your spouse? Have you seen it benefit you relationship and marriage? We’d love to hear about it in a comment!

Newlywed Interest in Pinterest

Explaining the newlywed interest in Pinterest. We have to admit, we’re a bit obsessed with Pinterest. Not sure what it is? It’s a virtual pin board that lets you collect ideas/images/recipes/you name it! What does that have to do with nearlywed and newlywed life? Um…everything!

This is the perfect way to plan your dream home (room by room). Pin color palettes, furniture, plants, and artwork that would make your perfect place. When you click on the picture you pinned you’re taken to the site it came from, so you can purchase the items as you need them.

No more searching in vain for the perfect pillows you saw online, somewhere. Pinterest is also a great way to plan a shower and allow input from your friends. You can allow other people to add pins to your projects if you’re looking for help. You can find inspiration boards for healthy eating or any type of exercise.
Here are a few of our boards to give you ideas for your own!
Married Name Change

Are you using Pinterest to make your newlywed life more fun and more organized? We’d love to heat about your boards….so leave a comment!

I Heart You 4 Budget Friendly Ideas for Valentine’s Day

Looking for budget friendly ideas for Valentine’s Day? The holiday is around the corner…so every business is doing their best to convince you to splurge to show your love. While every newlywed loves receiving an amazing gift, simple and unexpected surprises are often the ones that touch your heart the most. Here are a four ways to say “I love you” without breaking the bank.

Dinner Delight – Heard the expression “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”? Whip up a batch of pancake batter and pour it into heart shaped cookie cutters f

or an adorable breakfast sure to make him feel loved. You can also make fried eggs this way too!
Fill in the Blank– Surprise your spouse with a valentine tucked into his/her car visor or computer case. Purchase a box of heart candies with sayings like “You’re the one” and glue them onto a piece of construction paper. You can fill in sentences around the sayings to make a romantic or racy Valentine’s mad lib!

Jock Shock – Married to a guy who’s more into football than the whole girlie holiday thing? We can guarantee he’ll love seeing you in a pair of undies proclaiming you’re his “tight end”! We’re going to bet you’ll feel pretty cute too!

Fond of You Fondue – What’s more romantic than dipping fruit and cake into chocolate? Here’s a great chocolate fondue recipe that takes less than 10 minutes to prepare! You can get creative with your dipping items beyond fruit: pretzels, marshmallows, cookies and even potato chips are fantastic coated in chocolate.
Do you have any fun ideas for celebrating Valentine’s Day as a newlywed? We’d love for you to share them in a comment!

Name Change Kit or Service?

We get lots of questions about name change and exactly what the MissNowMrs.com service is. Many newlyweds wonder if we are a name change kit for brides? While we do help brides and newlyweds change their names on all of the necessary paperwork…the answer is below:

Short Answer: No, we are not a name change kit.
Long Answer: We are an online name change service.
What’s the difference? When you order a name change kit you spend precious newlywed time waiting for it to come in the mail, sorting through the multitude of forms you receive, writing in your information eight million times and then figuring out where/when/how to file each form from the paragraphs of legal mumbo jumbo instructions. Not sounding too “convenient” is it?
The MissNowMrs.com service allows you to purchase an online name change account and immediately begin answering questions that will auto-complete the name change forms you specifically need to file in your state and situation. You enter your maiden name and new married name ONCE and those names appear in the appropriate places on all of your name change forms. Say goodbye to writer’s cramp and white out! Our service also provides easy filing instructions for each form, including a bullet pointed list of what needs to be filed with the form and insider tips on how to file by mail or miss the long office lines. We’ve simplified the 13 hour hassle of married name change into 30 minutes!

Hopefully that clears up the difference between name change kits and name change services! Please let us know if you have more questions in a comment.

3 Small Steps to a Better Marriage

Looking for steps to a better marriage? Has your marriage hit an unexpected slump? If so, now is not the time to give up. This is an opportunity to renew bonds and strengthen the relationship that led you down the aisle. All marriages hit rough patches. As people grow and change and meet different obstacles, new strains and stresses can be placed on a couple. While coping may be tough, these stressful times are what make your relationship stronger and help you get through even bigger challenges in years to come.

Actions Speak Louder than Words
When your relationship is feeling rocky, the first thing most women want to do is speak up about it, but that is not always the best thing to do. When tempers are already on a short leash because of earlier arguments, tension is high because of outside stresses, or communication has simply run dry, talking about it might add fuel to the fire. Consider instead the ways that you can say what you feel without opening your mouth (it helps to envision how to communicate with a cave man). Are you tired of fighting and just want your partner to know that you are willing to hold on? Then, perhaps the best way to say so is with an impromptu hug. Slow dancing, hand holding, rubbing shoulders, and other similar gestures have universal meaning and will very likely let him know what you’re feeling.

Offer a Helping Hand
Perhaps one of the reasons that your spouse has been in a bad mood recently has more to do with outside pressures that it has to do with you. Perhaps he or she just needs a helping hand. Marriage is about team work, so show that you understand by helping with a small task, chore, or just offering some insightful advice when he or she is talking about problems at work. Taking the trash out might seem like a small thing…but it may mean a great deal to your stressed out spouse! Knowing someone is in your corner can make any situation more bearable.

Create Love Tokens
Another great way to demonstrate your feelings without words is through small tokens. Handmade cards left in a place that he or she is sure to find them, lunch delivered to the office during the day, or even a message scribbled on the fogged over bathroom mirror are great wordless ways to show love and affection.

Taking the time to make another person know that you are thinking about him or her is the best way to show how much you care. However, these ‘gifts’ tend to lose their meaning when only given after a fight. These are the things that should be done now and then and consistently throughout a relationship. They don’t have to be frequent and might occasionally be used to say sorry after an argument, but let them maintain their intended meaning. If you’re looking for a more tangible love token, draw a heart on a stone. They can be put in a coat pocket, desk drawer or even passed back and forth between you two.

Talk to us newlyweds. Can you recommend any steps to a better marriage Did your spouse get the unspoken message you were trying to convey? We’d love to hear from you in a comment!