How to Have Fun

Ten ways to have fun in your marriage while keeping things alive and mushy:

1. When you are driving in the car together, kiss at every red light. Just make sure one of you has their eyes slightly open so you can tell when its green again. This can also double as a cure for road rage.

2. When shopping together, hold hands. This may seem simple enough, but the trick is not letting go. From the time you step in the store until the time you leave, your hands must remain touching. You haven't experienced fun until you've tried picking up a 20 lb bag of flour from the bottom shelf...together.

3. Hide and kiss. This game works best when you are in a public place together. While walking past a deserted hallway, empty room, or behind a block of some kind, grab the other person and kiss them until someone else appears. You then continue walking as if nothing happened. The trick is not getting caught.

4. Play games together. Matt and I love playing racquetball together! But, unlike our competitive friends, we celebrate the wins together. If I score an exceptionally good point, Matt will give me a high five, kiss me, or pull me into a big hug. I do the same for him. This way, the game stays fun and neither of you feel like you've lost.

5. If you don't want to join 'em, beat 'em! Have you ever gone somewhere public and seen those disgusting couples (usually teenagers) who are all over each other? Well, the best way to turn one of those awkward situations into a good laugh is go and stand right next to that couple, and start making out. Most of those lustful teenagers will feel threatened by your obviously superior skills and leave. (probably to find a hotel). I know you have to be similarly disgusting for a little while, but its totally worth it to watch the other couple look disgusted and scamper away. Plus, kissing is fun!

6. Jump back in time. Remember the first time you met your spouse? Your first date? The first time you held their hand? To make the evening a little more exciting, pretend you are on your first date again. Get ready for your evening in different rooms. Ladies, if you can, buy a new top or try your hair in a different way. Men, go out and buy her some flowers and come back to pick her up. Ring the doorbell as if you don't already live together. Then, have a nice evening and exchange small talk. Get to know each other's likes and dislikes, share your hopes for the future. Who knows, they may have changed since you first started dating. Stay away from discussing the kids, or anything that ties you together. This will give you a relaxing, stress-free evening alone. The best part will be at the end of the night, when you don't have to say goodbye on the porch and leave!

7. Pet names. I'm not really sure how this started, but some days it results in stomach aches for both of us from laughing so hard! Everyone uses pet names now and then; Matt and I use them to compete. Every once in awhile one of us will say, "I love you sweetie." When the other replies with a funnier pet name, the challenge has been issued. "I love you too, Googly bear" "Ok, Smoochy poo". And we continue back and forth, coming up with the silliest pet names we can think of, until one runs out of ideas and gives up.

8. Work together, play together. Until we moved into our house, we didn't have a dishwasher. So we would often stand, side by side, and wash the dishes. And no dishwashing experience is complete without a bubble fight. Have fun and do the work together. After awhile, it won't seem like work anymore. One of our favorite "work" activities is raking leaves together. As soon as we get a large enough pile, without a doubt, Matt will pick me up and throw me in it. I'll dump leaves over his head as well and sometimes we team up against the dogs, throwing leaves on them.

9. Always say "I love you". Whenever you are on the phone with your spouse, whether its a half hour call when he's out of town or a thirty second call to come upstairs for dinner, do not hang up without first saying "I love you". Its something that can never be said too much. I'm shocked at how many people tell us we're cute because we still say "I love you" to each other. I truly hope no married couples ever stop!

10. Save water. Shower together. ;)

Beating the Odds

It's very simple to tell who is happy in their marriage and who is not. Matt and I have been married for two and a half years now. I know that doesn't seem like a lot to some people, but for many, its nearly impossible. We have always enjoyed showing our affection for each other around other people. Since we started dating, we've often gotten comments from those people around us. The happily married people say, "You two are so cute". The unhappy people often make comments like,"Just wait till you're married, it'll stop." Then after we got married, "Just wait till you've been married about a year, it'll stop." Then we hit our first anniversary and it turned into, "Just wait till you've been married a couple years, it'll stop. You'll see." Well, I have one thing to say to those people. =P
We happen to still love each other. So I'm sorry to those who aren't happy, but stop spreading your bitter manure views to those who are.

Matt and I work together at the same company. I've also heard many people say, "I don't know how you can stand working with your husband every day!" Let me tell you...its great! He often tells me he loves me throughout the day and he'll come over and kiss me frequently. Who wouldn't like that? I guess I don't understand why you would marry someone if you can't stand being around them. People baffle me. Anyway, I was at work the other day and Matt had just kissed me goodbye before returning to his desk. A newer lady at work asked, "So how long have you two been married?" I told her two and a half years and she snorted. The woman actually snorted! Red flags were going up all over the place. "Warning! Angry married woman ahead!" After doing her pig impression, which was quite good actually, she said "Oh, that's why. Just wait till you've been married for ten years. It'll change, you'll see." Wow! This woman can impersonate a pig and a female dog! Now there's talent for you.

Matt and I may lessen our cuteness slightly as the years go by, but we've made it a goal to always show affection for one another. We want to still be disgustingly in love when we're old and wrinkly. So say what you want, but we plan on acting this way for many years to come. If for no other reason than to prove the cynics wrong.