Workin' It Wednesday... Keeping Your Marriage Strong

Happy Wednesday friends! This year I am linking up with Shay & Erika for Workin' It Wednesday....

Sharing tips for working mamas on keeping it together.......

This one is quite the topic....Keeping your marriage strong. When I think about what we have done to make our marriage work, I think a lot of it has evolved over the years. We have moved five times, had two babies, started a business, closed the business, and I changed careers...among a whole bunch of other things!! The one constant is that we are there for each other every step of the way...good, bad or ugly. Each marriage is different, so each may need different things, but I will tell you the three things that work for us....

one

Teamwork. It sounds hokey, but we work pretty well together as a team...
I cook...he does dishes
I do laundry....he vacuums
I clean toilets....he scrubs showers
I mop the floors...he cleans windows
It's just a system that works for us. We joke sometimes when asked to do something out of our "norm"...like... I don't do that?! We have fallen into a routine of things we do to make our household work and it feels good.

two

Date nights & friend nights. I think both are equally important. You need to have some time together without the kids each month to keep your marriage strong. Paul and I are the foundation of our little family and we need to put that first and make sure we are solid. I think it's good for the kids to see us working on our relationship and putting our marriage as the priority.
You need to have your own time too. For me, it's usually my weekly coffee and running with my girlfriends and Paul will go out with some friends a few times a month. Keeping friendships strong helps a marriage stay healthy. You need other outlets besides each other.

three

Sunday Nights. I can't really remember how long ago we started this, but our Sunday night is the best night of the week! We put the kids to bed, grab a bottle of wine and watch something together or just hang out.... every Sunday night! It is the perfect way to unwind after a busy weekend and relax and get on the same page before starting a new week. Sunday night is our jam!!

Aside from those things we have fun! Paul and I laugh... a lot. We love to try new things, take adventures and do it all as a family! I decided to take a stroll down memory lane... and gosh we have done a lot of fun stuff together! I thought it would be fun to share some pics of Paul and I in the early years, so here are some pics from the last 19 years....
Let's start with this gem.... we were dating for about 3 months and going to see Billy Joel in concert. For some reason we are kind of matching in grey shirts and jeans and I thought not straightening my hair was a good look!

We took this picture ice skating up in Canada... we had been dating about 4 months here...

Our first few dates involved kayaking, waterskiing, mountainbiking and rollerblading... I am not lying when I tell you Paul is an adventurous guy!

He also bought me my first pair of skis and took me skiing for the first time!

We got engaged in Lake Placid....while camping....with his parents.... I'll share that whole story another time!

The night of our engagement & coffee by the campfire the next morning....

We had a beautiful wedding....

And the adventures continued on our honeymoon....with parasailing....

And biking down Mt Haleakala... the steepest paved path in the world....we had to wear these all weather suits to travel through the climate changes...

A honeymoon selfie....in September 2000....

We have run a bunch of races together....including this half marathon in Virginia Beach...

And the Shamrock Run last year...

And I am thankful to have kept our adventurous spirit with E & L...

There are challenges in every relationship... but find what works for you... stick with it and learn to laugh along the way... that's what has worked for us. We will celebrate 17 years of marriage this year! Have there been times we wanted to quit? Yes. Times we weren't perfect? Yes. It's not easy... a relationship takes work & forgiveness. Sometimes you have to let little things go and look at the bigger picture, because at the end of the day, this guy took my hand and we made a promise to never let go......