For the Fellas

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!

It’s That Time Again: March Madness

Your idea of March Madness may be coming up with a plan to put your winter items away. However, March Madness is actually an NCAA Basketball Tournament involving the best 65 teams in college basketball.

You may be confused about March Madness, but believe me your husband not only knows what it is, but chances are he’s one of the 30 million Americans who participate in an office pool in hopes to win the big prize! You can expect to watch your fair share of basketball from March 13^th-April 4^th and maybe even hear a few choice words coming from your spouse’s mouth if his favorite team fails to make the game winning shot (or worse he loses the money he bet filling out an office pool bracket)!

March Madness Fun Facts

• Odds of picking a perfect bracket? 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 1. That’s nine zillion to one! How big is that number? It is a billion times as big as 9 billion! Think of it this way: if every man, woman, and child on the planet randomly filled out one million brackets each, the odds would be greater than 1000 to 1 that even one would have a perfect bracket.
• Defining an upset as beating a team at least 4 seeds higher, there’s an average of 8.7 per year. There’s never been a year with less than 5 upsets.
• The last 10 champions have been won by 9 different schools. Connecticut is the only team to cut down the nets twice in the last decade (as of 2007).
• The FBI estimates that more than $2.5 billion is illegally wagered annually on March Madness each year. Less than 4% of that amount is wagered legally in Nevada.
Whether you’re going to tune in for March Madness or you’re planning to have some quality ME time, you’ll need to know the dates for the 2011 NCAA Tournament:
Selection Sunday: March 13^th
First Four (NEW): March 15^th-16^th
Second Round: March 17^th-18^th
Third Round: March 19^th-20^th
NCAA Sweet 16®: March 24^th-25^th
Elite 8®: March 26^th-27^th
Final Four®: April 2^nd, April 4^th

Are you into March Madness like your spouse? If not, what do you do for 3 weeks during the tournament?

Announcing Our Home Depot Gift Card Winner!

We’re so excited for our Home Depot gift card winner! Today Kelly won our week long mini-giveaway For the Fellas—a $50 Home Depot gift card! Congratulations!! It’s the perfect stocking stuffer and will arrive in time for the Christmas Holiday, leaving her with one less gift to worry about.

Kelly simply posted a comment on our newlywed blog and won this great prize for her man! We hope you will send us a picture of of what project you ended up completing with your gift card. Please check your email for the details on how to redeem your prize from Home Depot. Happy Holidays from the MissNowMrs.com team!

How to Convince Your Wife That She Needs a New Gadget

Are you longing for the latest version of your favorite electronic toy (i.e. TV, iPhone, Xbox, etc.)? Not sure how to convince your lady that it’s a good purchase that you’ll both benefit from and surely enjoy? Well, don’t sweat it! Try these helpful strategies and you’ll find yourself making your next new gadget purchase as early as this weekend.

As women, we don’t always see why your new $200+ new gadget is a good idea, much like you don’t understand our shoe bill at the end of the month. Your wife may not see the point in your purchase because she hasn’t been convinced or sold on the idea of the mutual benefits.

Your job is to figure out what those mutual benefits are (not your strong suit? Not a problem, we’ve got you covered!…keep reading) and tell her about them. Once she has a better understanding of how this new gadget fits into both your lives (and relates to her interests/hobbies), she will be more susceptible to the idea of purchasing the said item!

Women tend to care about the following (among so many other things, but for the purpose of this post we’ll stick with these): how will it fit/look in our home, will it make my life easier and will it affect our communication (i.e. will it bring us closer together)?

How will it look in my home?

Women spend a lot of time making sure everything in the house is color coordinated and has its own special place. Don’t mess with that! Try talking to your wife about how a new TV will not ruin the chic and sleek look she has going on in the family room because it’s a wall mount with wires that will not be seen! She’s more-likely to agree to a purchase that won’t clash with the décor or ruin her vision of your home.

Will this gadget make life easier?

Women have so much on their minds (i.e. You, a career, a home, fitness, kids just to name a few) and don’t need anything to make life more complicated or stressful. If you can figure out a way to prove that the new gadget will make life easier you will be one step closer to getting exactly what you want. It could be as simple as explaining how a universal remote will work the TV, DVD player, stereo and surround sound system, eliminating 3 of 4 different remotes. Believe me, this will sound like a mini lifesaver to your wife!

Will this gadget affect our communication or bring us closer together?

Whether it’s a conversation over a glass of wine or watching a movie with a bowl of popcorn, at the end of the day your wife just wants to spend some quality time with you. Let her know how a new gaming system will allow you to have video game nights together; which is great if you are the competitive types or how a new laptop or Smartphone will allow for you to sit on the couch and catch up on emails and bills instead of having to head to your home office. After all, it’s not always about what you’re doing that matters most, it’s that you’re able to be together while you do it.

Tell us: What purchase were you able to convince your wife to make using our tips or others? Share your tactics with other readers…I’m sure fellas all over will appreciate advice Man-to-Man!

Football Sunday Fun-days Had By All

Heard of football Sunday fun-days? Are you a guy’s guy—meaning do you enjoy anything football related? Does your partner share your enthusiasm for the sport? I’ll bet that if she doesn’t you secretly wish that she did so you could watch the game(s) in peace every weekend (or at least once in a while)! Although there are some lucky couples that truly enjoy watching the game together and cheering for their favorite team; it’s not the norm. We’re hoping to change that for you with the following newlywed tips, so this Sunday you can enjoy every minute of the game uninterrupted by a nagging spouse!

Co-host a party: That’s right, I said party! Women love to be the perfect hostess and entertain guests. Perhaps if you say, “Hey honey, I was thinking we could have our friends over this weekend for the game. What do you think?” She will appreciate you considering what she wants to do and will most-likely say, “Great! I’ve been dying to make homemade chili and my buffalo chicken dip.” Maybe not in those words, but she will happily accept the challenge of hosting a get-together with friends (especially if other females will be there too). Here are some tailgating tips and recipes you might want to try!

Tell her to invite her girlfriends over: They could enjoy a glass (or three—wink, wink) of wine while discussing the latest trends in fashion, fitness or whatever suits them and you won’t have to miss a single play of the big game!

If all else fails, buy her a gift card to the spa or 2 tickets to the new chick flick so she and her BFF can enjoy the movie together while you celebrate every touchdown and sip on a few beers! Click here for the NFL schedule. Tell us how you enjoy your football Sundays…together or separate. If separate, what does your most special lady do while you watch the game?

New Wife, New Life: New Wardrobe?

The saying goes, “Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover;” but we know that unfortunately it can be hard not to! I was recently hanging clean laundry up in our walk-in closet, when I realized that some of my husband’s clothes looked seriously faded and old. I thought to myself, “He is in desperate need of new shirts!”

I bet if you took a look at what you’re wearing right now or thought about what you enjoy wearing, you too could find a good excuse for some new attire. It’s a fact, men do not like to go shopping like women do; which is fine, but there comes a time when you NEED to purchase yourself some new stuff—and I’m not referring to electronics or the latest video game (nice try though)! After work or on the weekends, you have your go-to outfits of t-shirts and jeans or maybe a pair of sweat pants or mesh shorts that you choose to wear as often as possible.

Chances are that you have a specific dress code required for work, whether it’s a suit and tie or uniform of some sort; which means that the last thing you want is a “uniform” or “dress code” for your home life. That’s not what I’m alluding to here at all, so no need to worry! I am, however; suggesting that it might be time to donate some of your go-to t-shirts such as: your FBI (Female Body Inspector) t-shirt, your I heart Atari t-shirt and your VANS sneakers to a teenage boy in need of your old wardrobe. While these items are a token of your youth, they don’t exactly spell-out mature, sophisticated, married man.

If you can’t imagine getting rid of your favorite childhood t-shirts [that somehow miraculously still fit you], then perhaps you should limit how often you wear them (i.e. wear them only to bed, to the gym, or better yet, put them away for when you have a son someday). Your wife loves you and has vowed to love you “til death do you part,” so she’ll no doubt still love you in your Superman t-shirt and jeans—but do her a favor and put on a nice button down shirt, polo or sweater when her family or friends stop by—she’ll greatly appreciate your effort!

And if you don’t, you may find that your favorite t-shirt has mysteriously disappeared. Gentlemen, please do your ladies a favor and get shopping! Check out your local Outlets for bargain prices on your favorite brands. Women LOVE shopping, so I’m sure your wife will have no problem being your Personal Shopper—just say the word and fork over the credit card!

What is/was your favorite piece of clothing to wear (i.e. t-shirt, sweatshirt, etc.)? What does/did it say and why is/was it your favorite? Share your stories of Batman Boxers or Thunder Cats sweatshirts that your wife had no choice, but to hide from you! Please leave your comments below and enjoy a laugh with us!