Husband

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!

February: Time To Try Fun Things Together

Don’t forget to prioritize time to try fun things together. Now that you’re a newlywed, you may have noticed that you have more spare time than you did when you were planning your wedding and honeymoon. One great way to utilize those extra hours is to take some time to try something new with your spouse. A new experience adds instant spark to your relationship and may become a joint hobby or interest that you can share for many years to come.

Here Are a Few Fun Suggestions:

Take a dance class together. Your options range from ballroom, to salsa, to hip hop. We’re guessing your husband is going to be much happier with the latter suggestion. Is his dragging his feet? Offer a trade to make it worth his while…we’ll let you get creative with that!

Sign up for a bad-ass gym class like CrossFit. You’ll both be challenged by the class and can cheer each other on. The result? An awesome endorphin high and the bond of making it through together. If you keep attending the classes as a couple, you’ll both have rock hard bodies before beach season!

Consider attending a wine or beer tasting class . You’ll both enjoy yourselves and come away with a new appreciation for adult beverages. You can also use your new knowledge to create really cool food pairings at home and impress a few friends.

Join a recreational sports team. Ultimate Frisbee or rec soccer would be good choices. You’ll make new friends and foster a team mentality that can be very helpful in your married relationship.

Try a cooking class. Pick a genre of food that you both love to eat, but have no experience cooking and then find a class offered in your area. You’ll have a great time and end up with at least one dish that you can prepare as a couple.

No matter what you do, the point is to try something new together. The challenge itself will be exciting and give you something to talk about at the next party you attend. You’ll be the cool couple who learned how to Cha-Cha or make pad Thai last week!

Have you committed to try fun things together as newlyweds? Did they turn out to be fun or at least something to laugh about? Leave a comment and let us know!

Splitting the Chores, Newlywed Style!

It’s official: no one likes doing chores. You’d always find that strange kid in high school who actually liked to do homework, but show me one person who actually likes to do all the chores that have to get done around the house and I’ll be duly amazed. Chores are the most mundane part of being married, but believe it or not lots of couples have huge fights over chores. Before you begin to argue over whose turn it is to do the dishes or who has to take the trash out, it’s a good idea to split up the chores in a way that’s agreeable to the both of you.

One of the biggest deciding factors on who is going to do what type of chore is who is going to be home and who is not. Some couples have similar work schedules, but quite often, in today’s economy, one spouse is working much later than the other, or on days that the other spouse has off. Before you can begin to split up all the household chores that you have to get done, you need to make sure that you set realistic goals. You can’t expect someone to take out the trash every Saturday morning, for instance, if they have to be at work at 7 am on a Saturday. Take their work load into consideration before you even begin negotiating.

When you start splitting up the chores, volunteer to take everything that you truly enjoy doing. Do you like making meals? Do you not mind folding laundry? Put on the table everything that you actually enjoy doing. If you both like to do similar things, you can bargain for things that you dislike to do, like taking out the trash or sweeping the floor.

While some couples divide up each and every chore, others are more fluid in their division. For instance there are many couples where the wife is in charge of most of the household chores (with a few thrown in for the man), while the husband is in charge of vehicle and yard maintenance. Or vice versa. What works best for you is what’s important, and that you both agree on the division of labor. And remember: if you ever start to have an issue over the chores that you’re supposed to be doing, don’t get upset or passive-aggressive, actually talk to your spouse about the situation. Bargains and changes can always be made!

What deals have you and your spouse made about chores? We’d love to hear about your division of labor!

5 Surprising Ways To Show That You Heart Him

As thoughts of Valentine’s Day begin to surface, you might be stumped about what to get your husband this year. As a newlywed, you may really want to do something special but you don’t want to be lame either (most guys just don’t love flowers or balloons sent to the office). Think outside the box with one of these 5 Valentine ideas.

Floor your tough guy with a custom (temporary) tattoo on your tush or anywhere else he might find interesting!
Is your man a serious meat eater? Go straight to his heart (via his stomach) with a sweetheart steak. It really is a steak in the shape of a heart! If custom cut steaks are out of the budget, you can always use cookie cutters to make gourmet heart-shaped hamburgers for your sweetie.
Get creative with your spouse’s morning coffee by adding a cinnamon or cocoa heart right on top using one of these cute stencils (also great for dessert decorations).
Appealing to your Italian other half or just married to a guy who seriously loves pasta? Try whipping up this amazing heart-shaped lobster ravioli for dinner.
Heart shaped soap might not be a man’s ideal Valentine’s Day gift until you offer to hop in the shower with him! We promise he’ll love the concept by the time you’re both drying off.

The great news is that whatever you do, your other half will know how much you love them and frankly, that’s what Valentine’s Day is all about. Do you have any alternative V-day surprises for your spouse this year? We’d love to hear about them.
*Image from Lobels.com

A Few Minor Changes to Keep Your Marriage Interesting!

It takes work to keep your marriage interesting! Do you ever feel as though you’re living a life like the movie Groundhog Day? Where everything suddenly seems so routine that it doesn’t require any thought and you’re just going through the motions!? It’s important, and natural to get into a daily routine with your spouse, but it’s equally important to keep things interesting!

If you and your spouse discover that you’re living the WES (work, eat, sleep) life, take charge and throw in a few changes in your newlywed schedule! Simply going through the motions with your spouse in your day-to-day life can create a somewhat boring, monotonous atmosphere in your home and in turn can create tension and stress for both of you!

Not sure what to do in order to change it up a bit? Try having a date every other week! Take turns choosing the restaurant, and try somewhere that you’ve never been to before. So instead of coming home and having dinner in your pj’s in front of the TV, get a little dressed up and go out!

Another idea is to make plans with some friends that you haven’t seen in awhile. You may find yourselves having the same conversations, and frequenting the same hang-out spots when you’re around the same people, so schedule a date with some old friends! If you get home from work before your spouse, throw on some lingerie to start your evening off right!

Whatever it is that makes you and your spouse happy, stop putting it off, and make plans to do it this week! If one of you is experiencing stress, boredom, or unhappiness, it affects the other person as well so take it upon yourself to explore some new ideas! A big part of being married is being there for one another and offering your support, love, and comfort. It’s important to keep things interesting and positive in your relationship, so take a look at this article I found to get you thinking about ways to spice up your relationship!

What are some things that you and your spouse do to keep your marriage interesting and spice up your routine? We would love for you to leave a comment!

Wedding Anniversaries: Traditional or Non-Traditional Gifts

Wedding anniversaries are something new to look forward to as a newlywed! Before I became a newlywed, I was completely unaware of the fact that there are traditional gifts that you exchange with your spouse on your wedding anniversary each year! Okay sure, I’ve heard of the 25^th as the “Silver Anniversary” and the 50^th as the “Gold Anniversary”, but aside from these two celebrations (what can be considered as monumental achievements these days) I didn’t know that there are actually specific gifts for each year.

I was pretty excited about this list of gifts, since I never know what to buy for my hubby, or even if I’m actually supposed to get him anything. This makes things a lot more interesting than flowers, dinner, and a movie (don’t get me wrong, I love these things but for your anniversary you like it to be… um… a little something more! My hubby and I have started our own tradition from wedding anniversary #1, to re-visit the venue where we had our reception where we have a nice romantic dinner, a bottle of wine, and end up sneaking ourselves into the reception room in the midst of another wedding taking place, just for one dance!

Here is a complete list of annual traditional wedding anniversary gifts. You may use this guide for sentimental gift exchanges between you and your spouse or you can make it more fun by doing your own thing! Whatever you choose, this list will offer some ideas for you, and the opportunity to participate in this tradition which dates back to the Middle Ages. You can find out more on the background of this tradition by reading the history.

Is this a tradition that you and your spouse participate in? Do you and your spouse have your own traditional wedding anniversary gift or celebration with one another? We would love to hear about it!