Newlywed Tips

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!

Tips for Effective Newlywed Communication

Remember those nights that you used to spend hours on the phone talking with one another when you first started dating? Then, as time passed, you got more comfortable being quiet when you were in each other’s company. That’s actually a good thing. What’s not so good is when you start to have a hard time communicating with each other. Many newlyweds actually find themselves in this type of a predicament right after they’re married. Even if they’ve been living together before their wedding, and they had no problem communicating before, there’s something about that marriage certificate that changes everything, and you may need to learn how to communicate effectively with each other all over again!

How much time do you spend talking with your spouse on an everyday basis? Most couples say that they only spend a few minutes talking with their newlywed husband or wife, even if they have similar work schedules. They get home, make dinner, and then go to their respective ends of the house. She may be working out or chatting online, while he may be watching sports or tinkering in the garage. This is not effective communication, in fact it’s a total lack of communication. If you find that your life is like this, try meshing together what you love. For instance if she loves to get online after work, and he’d rather watch sports, why not get a laptop? Then she can bring it into the living room and can sit right next to her husband while he’s watching sports. Yes you’re both doing two different things, but the simple act of being together in the room will spark conversation, even if it’s only to debate about the benefits of having a high def television.

When you get into arguments having good communication established is the most effective way to end the argument. If you find that you’re having a difficult time talking about the subject with your spouse face-to-face, try doing it another way. Some couples have a very hard time with verbal disagreements because they turn into heated fights very quickly. If this is your situation, try sending emails to each other. When you write an email you are able to compose things to say exactly what you want to say to your spouse, without rehashing things that should be left in the past. Remember to always re-read the things that you have written a few times before hitting the send button. This can open up the lines of communication and can give you both time to cool down before you meet for that face-to-face discussion, and for the best part of any argument: the makeup portion.
What newlywed communication tips do you have for our readers? Please share them with us in a comment!

4 Easy Steps to a Memorable Super Bowl Party

It’s time for the ultimate manly event of the year…the Super Bowl and a Super Bowl party! Almost nothing will make your man happier than having his buddies over for the big game, enjoying a few beers and some great food. You may be thinking, “I’m not much of a football fan;” however, what you ARE is a great hostess! No? Well, just follow these few steps and you will be on your way to hosting an amazing game day party.

1. Prepare the guest list: You have to know how many people are coming in order to be sure you have enough food and drinks to go around. After all, there’s no good time to run out to the store during the game (not even during the commercials or half-time)!

2. Decide on the menu or Potluck: You can ask guests to bring one dish or drink (such as chili, nachos, chips and salsa or a bottle of wine or liquor) as the best Super Bowl parties have a casual feel to them. It’s a good idea to serve foods that don’t require much of your time so you can enjoy hanging out and cheering on your team with your guests during the game. We recommend anything that can cook in a Crock Pot (i.e. meatballs, fondue, chili, etc.). You can find easy Super Bowl Recipes for some of the most popular party foods through Celebrations.com.

3. Put up decorations: You can use streamers (team colors of course), football themed napkins and party plates. Feeling fancy? Check out Plates and Napkins Blog for these Super Bowl Cupcake Rings.

4. Decide on Drinks: Some people prefer to stick with beer to quench their thirst during the big game, while others are up for trying something new. Try an Old Fashioned Wisconsin if you’re a Green Bay Packers fan or The Black and Gold if you’re a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Not a fan of either? No problem, check out 32 NFL Team Inspired Cocktails* and choose your favorite! Just because your team didn’t make it to the Super Bowl doesn’t mean you can’t have a drink in their honor!

Do you have any Super Bowl party traditions, recipes, or ideas you’d like to share with our readers? We’d love to hear them, so leave a comment below to start the conversation!

*Drink recipes provided by StilettoSportsMagazine.com.

Finicky Finances – Who Controls the Checkbook?

Who controls the checkbook in your marriage? A huge percentage of couples who wind up divorcing do so over finances. In fact a study done by Utah State University in 2009 reported that couples who argued over money at least once a week were over 30% more likely to get divorced than those who only disagreed about money once or twice a month. Those who argued over finances almost every day were over 100% more likely to get divorced than those couples who were able to agree over their checkbook.

So if money is the root of all evil, at least in terms of marriages, how can you and your new spouse avoid this marriage pitfall?

Make a Plan
The only way that you can fight back against falling apart due to money is to have a plan. It doesn’t matter if you have only one income coming in, or two, it’s vital that you both are able to put together a plan that works for the household. And it’s actually a very easy thing to do.

The first thing that you should do is to figure out how much money you’ve got coming in, and how much you’ve got going out. Sit down together and add up how much money you bring home in a month. You then simply take all of the monthly recurring bills that you have and subtract them. Things like cable or internet or cell phone or rent are all things that should be deducted, one at a time, so that you can see how much money you have left at the end of the month. You can also estimate how much you spend a week for things like groceries and gas, and can deduct this amount as well.

The money that you have left over at the end of the money is the “play” money. This is the money that you both need to decide how to use. Some couples opt to give each other a stipend each week that they can spend however they want, while others simply pool the money into one big pile and use it how they see fit. What’s important is that you decide, together, what you want to do.

It’s also important that you decide who pays the bills. Some couples like to sit down and to do them together, while others prefer that one couple be responsible. Even if only one person is actually making the payments, both of you should know what’s going on, so if you’re the bill payer, make sure you tell your spouse when you’re paying this bill or that bill. This way both of you know where the money is going each month.

And most importantly of all: no secrets. If your finances are strained, tell your spouse. Tips like these will help to keep money from becoming the big evil that so many couples see it as.

How have you solved your financial situation as newlyweds? Did you figure out who controls the checkbook in your marriage? Is it both of you? Do you have anything to add to this post?