Newlywed 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!

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!

Fairytales vs. Realistic Expectations For Your Marriage

What are your expectations for your marriage? Most girls grow up dreaming about their wedding day. They dream about wearing a beautiful gown and walking down an aisle flanked by loving friends and family. Or they dream about an amazing ceremony performed on a beach. Either way, it’s a fairy tale. Even men tend to have fairy tale ideas about their wedding, and, their marriage as well. One reason why so many newlyweds have a hard time in those first two years of marriage is because they go into it expecting to live a fairy tale.

Unfortunately, all of married life can’t be a fairy tale. A fairy godmother isn’t likely to come sweeping into your home brandishing a beautiful gown for you to wear to the ball, nor is your new husband likely to cover you in chocolate and roses every day. While you should expect your new marriage to be a wonderful time in your life, you might want to tone down your fairy tale expectations to avoid putting too much pressure on yourself and spouse.

If you want your marriage to last, the most important thing is to recognize that married life isn’t a fairy tale, it requires work. Yes, there are a lot of fun and amazing things that you can do together, and there are certain days where it will feel magical, but eventually, you’ll find yourself dealing with the mundane or the frustrating. You’ll have to deal with in-laws or boring friends or demanding work schedules. How can you keep your relationship together with real life intruding?

Make your relationship your top priority. No you’re not Cinderella and that’s not a prince that you’re married to (unless you’re Kate Middleton), but he is your partner, and together the two of you are a team. Like your favorite sports team, you have to learn how to work together in order to keep your marriage together.

A big part of making sure that your life together is a happy one, and is the fairy tale that you hope it to be, is in enjoying the simple things that your share. Enjoy the time that you have together, and the silly and fun things that you do as a couple. This makes your married life much better than a fairy tale, it makes it a happy, healthy relationship! Now that’s something they should write stories about!

How are you keeping your marriage happy and healthy? Have you both been working to make your expectations for your marriage a reality?

Newlyweds: Good Habits Are Hard To Break!

Newlyweds, good habits are essential to a healthy marriage. Just as we have all figured out about one thing or another in life, bad habits are hard to break! Fortunately- good ones are too! There are, naturally, many different changes that take place once you’re married… your daily routines adapt to one another’s routine, your sleeping pattern alters, your eating habits, your interaction and communication conforms to one another’s, and so on.

So start newlywed life off on the right foot! Get into the ‘good’ habits with your spouse as you step into the married world, so that you’re more likely to continue following in each other’s positive nature, thirty years down the road!

Here are a few ideas for you to think about, while deciding what is important in your marriage, and to help you recognize what your good habits are with your spouse!

-Kissing each other hello and goodbye (of course) but also kiss for no reason! What better, more simplistic way of showing each other the love and affection you have for them. Remember, it’s the little things that mean so much!

– Keeping communication open and honest between you and your spouse is one of the more important good habits to get into. This is something that will be important in your relationship for life!

–Resolve disagreements through discussion with an open mind. It’ s never good to continue an argument for any length of time, so talking things out with one another, and not walking away mad is key!

-Taking time for you. It’s important to spend time together and it’s just as important to spend time doing something for you! If your spouse is glued to the TV and you have absolutely no interest in Survivor Man, then grab a book, and read next to him (then you’re both happy).

-If you and your spouse have children, and have a designated “date” night with just the two of you, stick to it! It’s important to remember that time alone is one key to a good marriage.

– Remember to spend time with your friends whether it be dinner and drinks or a day of shopping… it’s important not to lose touch!

-Do things together; such as sit down for breakfast in the morning or make dinner together at night, go to church on the weekends, visit your families on a regular basis…whatever it may be, keeping a variety of positive activities in your life helps to bring you closer as a couple!

What are some of the newlyweds good habits that you and your spouse share that are important in your marriage? We’d love for you to share in a comment!

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?

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?