5 Things I Learned from Dating My Husband

Today’s guest post is by Ashley, a fabulous blogger friend. It is my hope you will learn as much from her as I have since stumbling upon their marriage blog months ago. Enjoy!

I’ve known my husband since we were two years old. That being said, we are still quite new to marriage. While I am a happy wife, I have to admit that I never imagined how much work it can take at times to maintain a happy marriage. One of the most trying times we’ve had (and this surprised me) was right after we got married.

After the wedding was over, the gifts were unwrapped, and we had returned from our honeymoon, we fell into a bad routine. Between work, mortgage payments and other obligations we seemed to stop having fun together like we used to. As if overnight the passion, butterflies and spontaneity seemed to vanish. What happened to the man I fell in love with? It was then that I realized he was probably asking the same questions to himself. We got so caught up in the mundane details of life that we had forgotten to live.

That’s when I had a brilliant idea to break us out of our rut – I started dating my husband all over again. I know it’s not rocket science, but the simple idea of turning off the TV, getting up from the couch, and going out together once per week has revolutionized our relationship. We laugh more, tell better stories, and have new things to talk about.

What I found most surprising was that after talking to friends, I discovered that I wasn’t alone and I wondered if other people might benefit from my experience. That was over 6 months ago and my husband and I have been dating weekly ever since. Through all of our new experiences we’ve grown a lot and learned plenty about ourselves and our relationship. In the hope that I can help other wives beat their boring routines, here are 5 things I’ve learned from dating my husband.

1. Make it a priority

As I said before, life can get in the way of living and the only way around it is to make your relationship a priority. Plan a date night and stick to it. Whether it’s once a week or once a month is up to you but once you’ve planned your night, don’t cancel or reschedule because something else comes up. If you don’t make your relationship a priority – no one else will do it for you.

2. Take a risk

Try something new. One of my favourite dates was an introductory scuba diving lesson at a community pool. I’ve always wanted to try scuba diving, but to be honest, I’ve always been a little too scared. Driving to the pool my husband confessed that he was nervous too! We agreed that together we would face our fears and support each other. The date was a huge success and we both loved it. On our next vacation we made it a priority to go scuba diving in open water. We would never have that incredible experience if we didn’t take a risk with our date night.

3. Have fun

Don’t put a lot of pressure on yourselves. You don’t need to book bungee jumping lessons if that’s not your style. Since starting this project, some of my best memories have been stay-at-homes dates with good food (and good wine) talking until all hours of the night. Pushing yourself can be fun, but relaxing at home can be just as rewarding.

4. Take turns planning dates

It’s important that you both take responsibility in planning date nights. This is a relationship that you are in together and it should mean as much to both of to keep things interesting. As an added bonus you get to enjoy anticipating dates that the other has planned.

5. Choose happiness

Fawn once wrote that “happiness is a choice”. I choose to be happy. I choose to put my marriage at the top of my priority list. I choose to get up off the couch and go out with my husband, no matter how tired I am after work. I choose to laugh, have fun and try new things. I choose to be a happy wife.

Do you have regular date nights with your husband? What are your favourite things to do? What are your secrets to maintaining your happy marriage?

Ashley and her husband write about their date night adventures at www.neveradulldate.com Each week Never a Dull Date reviews a creative date idea and offers tips, highlights and potential pitfalls so that you can make the most out of your next date. Whether it’s your first, fifth or five hundredth date, we’re sure that Never a Dull Date will help to keep your dating life from ever getting boring!

Until tomorrow…make it a great day!

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Fawn Weaver

Founder at Happy Wives Club

Fawn Weaver is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of Happy Wives Club: One Woman's Worldwide Search for the Secrets of a Great Marriage, adopting the same name as the Club she founded in 2010. The Happy Wives Club community has grown to include more than 1 million women in over 110 countries around the world. She’s an investor in real estate, tech sector and lifestyle brands. When she’s not writing or working, she's happily doting over her husband of twelve years, Keith (and sometimes manages to do all three simultaneously).