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March 07, 2008
Relationship "Savers"
Remeber WAY back when, when you were dating/courting/engaged to your sweetheart? For some of you, that might be now( you can just read this blog in 3 years,) and then for some of you, you have now spent more time together than you did apart. Remember the long talks covering everything under the sun? Jason and I went through a little something called "courting questions" that took us through 8-10 big areas of life where couples can trip up in a ways because they hadn't talked about how often in-laws would come visit or who was in charge of the garbage ...ect, ect. I remember going through those questions and not having a lot of disagreements- we were pretty sure that we were destined to be together forever since we couldn't find much that we couldn't stand about eachother! :)
Fast forward 3 years....
We are still hopelessly in love! :) And we still get along quite well. (Just thought you would all like to know!)
HOWEVER, as we have walked along this path it has been interesting to watch couple's go from single to "having someone special and I can't stop smilling" to married with jobs, and finally to lots of lil' tax deductions running around. :)
It seems as though each couple comes up with one or a few relationship "savers" that are worth the time, energy and effort in their lives to make their relationship better. I was talking to my sister-in-law the other day and was quite amused to find out what has made their relationship so much better. There isn't hardly as much stress- they are smiling more and find themselves enjoying eachother so much more now. Wanna know what they purchased?
Any ideas?
Drum roll please.....
A BRAND NEW WASHER AND DRYER! :) Now, I'm just guessing, but if you would have asked them 9 months ago before they got married if they would solve their love problems in the first year with washer and dryer- i'm pretty sure they would have laughed! I'm laughing now- but then being married a while, I can understand the different ways people make this wonderfully, hard, rewarding, 'i wouldn't trade it for the world" journey together.
So it got me thinking...what do other people use as their relationship saver? Wanna know ours?
I refuse... absolutely refuse to buy long sleeve dress shirts for Jason that are not wrinkle free! I know that sounds weird, but it is true. When we first got married, he had just started his job and didn't have a large budget for clothes. So whatever shirts he could find for a good price- he bought. The result: A closet full of shirts that needed ironed every week. Yeah, that lasted about 6 months! :) I started out such a wonderful and perfect wife, ironing every week and never thinking or mentioning anything about it. Then I got pregnant and I got so sick and nothing got done on a regular basis around the hosue... not cooking, cleaning or ironing. I think it was around that time that we found a couple good deals on some wrinkle free shirts. I did'nt think much of it because I sitll have a closet full of them to take care of. Then we bought a house and we had a baby. Yeah, ironing...where is the iron? I'm lucky to get a shower in the morning, let alone get the ironing done. Then the baby started growing up and I tried the ironing thing again. This time with a baby that moves and could pull the iron down- yup- pretty sure I should give this up.
And now? Well, let's just say I find it to be the most unrewarding job. :) Seriously, Jason has only 2 or 3 shirts left that need ironing and I find that if I don't iron them, he doesn't wear them so then I don't have to iron them! :) No, but really, I finally got the iron out last week and informed Belle that she needed to play in her room as to not knock the iron over and I got the three shirts ironed and put back in the closet. The rest of the day I felt great! I felt like "susie homemaker" and that I had done my duty as a wife. I was ready to soar on this cloud for the next week- but then you know what? Jason picked out one of those shirts to wear that next day! AAAAAHHHH! I didn't even get the satisfaction of knowing that the shirts were ironed and ready to go in the closet. That's it! I'm done! I plan on hitting the Kohl's clearance section to finished off those three shirts with wrinkle free!
Anyway, I'm done now. But I'm curious to know what has "saved" your relationship. Is it the take out number already programed into your phone in case dinner gets burned again or perhaps your dry cleaner is on your christmas card list? :)
Posted by Leah at March 7, 2008 04:49 PM
Comments
I'm just encouraged that, after three years, you are still in love with each other! Yay! Gives me lots of hope!
Posted by: Holly Boston at March 8, 2008 12:02 AM
Our "relationship saver" is hiring someone to mow our lawn! I used to mow lawns for a part-time job in high school so I'm a little, well, picky that it gets done at the right time, but with our current back yard with a really big hill, a toddler, and a hubby that doesn't have a ton of free time, this has definitely been a great "investment" into our marriage. I can rest confidently knowing that someone else is worrying about how long our grass is!
Posted by: Nancy at March 8, 2008 09:10 AM
I'm not sure it's so much of a relationship saver as a sanity saver (or are they the same?). But I try to always have Jonathan's keys, wallet, phone and watch sitting on the kitchen table before we go anywhere. If I don't then he stresses me out by taking 20 minutes looking for everything. I also try to be a mental map for all his stuff (ex: where'd he leave his coat, jeans, shoes, etc) so that when he starts running all over the house I can just call out "It's in the office; It's in the bathroom; etc, etc". I've been doing for so long now it's almost second nature. :)
Posted by: Sarah at March 8, 2008 02:35 PM