Name Change Advice

Looking for name change advice or some tips for newlywed life? The MissNowMrs experts have created state-specific name change articles and checklists for you. We’ve chronicled our recommendations for how to travel while changing your name AND how to handle voting during the transition.

We’ve also compiled our best guidance for how to handle difficult sister in laws, holidays as newlyweds, the ever-annoying baby questions, and much more. Why? Because, while we are name change experts, we’re also newlywed wives, moms, and sisters.

We hope our name change advice articles help smooth your transition to your new name, and a whole new phase of life. Congratulations and best wishes from the entire MissNowMrs team!

In-laws And Boundaries

Some husband and wives adore their in-laws. Others, well, not so much. You don’t have to adore your in-laws, but if you want your marriage to be happy, it’s important that you learn how to tolerate them, and that you set up some boundaries. Setting boundaries about your in-laws can help to make a marriage run much more smoothly and can stop fights before they even occur. And the best time to set those boundaries is right after the honeymoon is over, so that there is no confusion about what’s going to happen.

Discussion Time:
You can’t set boundaries about your in-laws without having a discussion, so set a date for the two of you to get together, with no interruptions, to discuss your issues. Before you have the discussion make sure that your partner is aware of what the discussion will entail so that they can come to the table ready, and so that they won’t feel ambushed, and you, yourself, should get a list ready of things that you want to discuss.

Remember, during the conversation, that you’re talking about someone else’s family. Even if they have a hard time dealing with their own family, and often say things that aren’t very nice about them, you have to be respectful. You wouldn’t want them disrespecting your family members, even if you have problems with them. They’re family and as such deserve to be spoken about in a respectful tone.

Setting Boundaries:
Once you’re ready to talk it’s time to get down to business. Setting boundaries for in-laws may be a simple process or it may be one that takes some time, and to many couples it may originally feel like making some sort of a contract. These boundaries can be anything, from specific ones to more relaxed ones. Some couples, for instance, enjoy their privacy and so they agree to only visit their in-laws once every few months or so. Others want more contact and agree to go to dinner with their in-laws every few weeks or even more. The type of boundaries that you set are completely up to you. It’s most important to remember that your in-law is your spouse’s loved one, and that you need to take their needs into consideration, which may mean dealing with someone that you don’t care for very much.

What boundaries have you set for your in-laws? Are there any you wish you would have set earlier in your marriage?

Post-Holiday Pep Talk!

Get ready for a post-holiday pep talk! Are you sitting around in a post-holiday daze? Well, snap out of it! Now is the perfect time to bang out all of those projects you meant to do last year. l If you follow our suggestions, you’ll be busy all Winter and totally care free when the warm weather arrives in the Spring.

Organize – Are your closets and cabinets completely out of control? Use the dark early evenings to get things organized. Not only will you feel better, but you’ll know exactly where everything is in your home, which will make doing other projects much easier.

Donate – Do you have a pile of unused gifts from this holiday season (and others)? Donate them and any of the items you discarded from your closets to a good cause.

Sew/Tailor –Looking at the pants you bought on sale last year and still haven’t had tailored? Now’s the time to collect all articles of clothing that need some mending or hemming and take them to a tailor or sew them yourself. The result of your efforts: “new” clothes in your closet that you didn’t have to buy!

Deep clean – Why save cleaning for Spring when you want to be outside enjoying the weather? Make a checklist of what needs to be done in your home and split it with your spouse. I find that having a reward for the completion of the list makes things much more fun. Decide to go out to the new restaurant you’ve been dying to try or to the movies as a reward for finishing your cleaning.

Doctors Appointments – What’s worse than going to the dentist or OB? Going to sit in their offices for hours when you could be playing tennis or soaking up the sunshine. Schedule your (and your hubby’s) year’s worth of doctors appointments for January-March and then you’ll not only be healthy, you’ll be free to enjoy the weather.

We hope post-holiday pep talk gets you motivated and through the Winter slump! If name change was on your to-do list last year, we can help with that. Check out the MissNowMrs name change app or online service to save 13 hours of hassle!

Help Me Change My Name

Kissing: Not Just a Newlywed Past Time

Kissing is not just a newlywed past time. Think long and hard, when was the last time you and your spouse really kissed? I’m talking about a passionate connection, not just a peck on lips before you leave for work or when you get home. Kissing is a wonderful way to connect with each other and can make you feel like a love-struck teenager!

Nothing says I love you as much as a kiss out of nowhere, not to mention it could help keep your relationship young and fun. A great kiss can lead to a full on make-out session and some steamy heat in the sheets!

According to Hilda Hutcherson, M.D. author of What Your Mother Never Told You About S-E-X, for some women, “Kissing is more intimate, than intercourse.” You may be asking yourself why? Well, science tells us that kissing causes our bodies to release endorphins much like exercise, chocolate and other things that make us happy individuals.

In a recent Redbook Magazine poll, 79% of readers said they don’t kiss their husbands nearly as much as they’d like; 58% said they don’t kiss as much as they used to and 14% said they’re lucky to do it once a day. Wait, what?! Come on ladies and gents, brush those teeth and get to kissing! It’s a fact that our busy lives can cause stress and strain in our marriages, however; making a conscious effort not to allow life to get in the way of our relationships is the best we can do.

So, try this: Always kiss your spouse good morning, goodbye before work, when you come home, while you’re watching tv, before you go to bed… in bed. You get the idea, sneak in a kiss any time anywhere (within reason) as full on PDA could make others feel incredibly uncomfortable (i.e. when children are around or getting a wee-bit too touchy feely).

WebMD has a great article called Kissing: The Hot Love Habit That Makes You Both Happier full of giggly, fun, hot and sexy experiments for the 2 of you to try. Believe me, they will keep the sparks flying like fireworks!

Tell us: Did this post make you realize it’s time to for more kissing? Did you try any of these experiments and how did they make you feel as a couple?

A Happy Marriage, A Partnership!

I came across an interesting article the other day, and found it to provide some good ‘food-for-thought’ for married couples, and I wanted to share it with you! Have you heard people say that once you’re a newlywed it is no longer a “Me” thing it’s an “Us” thing!? To a certain extent I suppose that’s true but don’t forget that you are still your own person, and have your own needs, thoughts, desires and expectations for your life… you’re just now working as a team with your partner to achieve these things!

Have you stopped to think about the reasons why you fell in love with your spouse and what makes you happy in your marriage? The article that I want to share with you describes how couples are looking for more of a “partnership” in a relationship, to mold and shape each other into becoming a ‘better’ person! Individuals in a relationship can offer things to one another that maybe they were lacking on their own, ultimately creating a more self-fulfilling, happy marriage! I found this to be very true for my husband and me, in the fact that we compliment one another in different aspects of our life; which makes us a good team. He provides me with certain things that I was lacking on my own, and vice versa. I suppose this is backing up the “two heads are better than one” concept!

Share with us the things in your marriage that you and your partner ‘compliment’ one another in and what makes you a great team!

Bridal Glow At Any Age

Looking to achieve a bridal glow? Did you know the age of the average bride getting married in 2011 is 25.8, up from age 20 in the 1960s*? While that may be the current statistic, the majority of my friends were closer to thirty when they tied the knot.

Does this mean the era of the young blushing bride is over? Probably not, but it does mean that there should be a more modern vision of the bride as mature and independent!

Regardless of age, all brides want to beautiful on their wedding day. This can cause slightly older brides to pay more for beauty products and procedures. While we think cosmetic surgery and botox are a bit much for any bride, splurging on a facial or skin care regimen is usually a great idea!

Want that amazing bridal glow…but it’s not in your budget?? Don’t worry! Our January newlywed blog contest is perfect for you! Envy Medical has teamed up with MissNowMrs.com to offer one of our lucky newlywed blog readers the chance to score a Lumixyl Topical Facial Brightening system kit (valued at over $650)! Whether you’re trying to maintain your newlywed glow, or you’re planning to walk down the aisle, who wouldn’t want to kick off 2011 with a more fabulous face?!

Ready to get your bridal glow on with our January giveaway? Leave a comment on this, or any of our Newlywed Posts on Mondays this month and you’ll be automatically entered to win. Tell us all about why you should win this prize and what trouble spots it would help you eliminate. The randomly selected contest winner will be announced on January 31st!! If we don’t hear back from the winner within 2 weeks, we will randomly select a new winner to make sure someone ends up with this great goodie!

**If you tweet this giveaway by clicking the green retweet button below and then leave us a comment with your Twitter handle, you’ll receive an additional contest entry!**

*Statistics Source: healthymarriageinfo.org