6 Big Changes Your Relationship Faces When You Move from an Apartment to a House

huge new house

Like our new house? Kidding! Ours is about 1/6 the size of this one in Austin, TX.

In the past two months, Paul and I sold our apartment, bought a house, and moved out of one and into the other. Despite only closing on the sale of our apartment mere days ago, we’ve been living in our house for a month-and-a-half now. Even though our new home is far from a sprawling estate, some key feature additions and expansions have changed a lot of things for us. Continue reading

Spoiler Alert: Almost Everyone on ā€˜Bridezillas: Where Are They Now’ Is Divorced

cake with beheaded groom topperWhile we were planning our wedding and for the couple years after when my livelihood depended on writing for brides, I watched a lot of wedding TV shows, including the weekly train wreck known as Bridezillas. These days, I’m more likely to flip to HGTV on a weekend morning to catch house-hunting shows. Today, though, when Love It or List It went to commercial, I changed to We TV (hey, I get to watch this stuff only when Paul’s sleeping—I’ve got to take advantage!). And while what I saw shouldn’t have surprised me, it made me sad. Continue reading

5 Reasons to Get Pregnant on Your Honeymoon–and 5 Not to

When I got married at 25, I couldn’t think of a single pro to trying for a baby immediately after our wedding. Now that I’m 30, I’m starting to get it (as did half the newly pregnant women I know). Still, if you’re thinking about getting knocked up days after I do–or if you’re not dead-set against it–consider the following. Continue reading

The Absolute Silliest Reasons for Which I’ve Gotten Mad at My Husband

I don’t enjoy being angry. I much prefer to talk about butterflies and sing. Truly. But when you’re with someone for 17 years, you’re bound to get mad about something. I try to limit livid responses to only Paul’s most abhorrent actions. Still, on occasion, I’ve become furious over admittedly stupid things. Here are the highlights. Continue reading

Lamenting the “No Spouses” Rule for Company Holiday Parties

Last week, I asked one of Paul’s co-workers what she’s wearing to their company’s semi-formal holiday party. She went on to describe two beautiful-sounding options and asked me to help her choose. Then, she asked what I was wearing to the event. “Oh, I’m not invited,” I said sadly. Shock crossed her face. Here’s why I suspect that happened. Continue reading

Marriage First: Not Sitting Together on a Flight

Paul and I love traveling, so we’ve made it a priority to fly to many destinations together since college. While we’re still not experts at climbing over each other when we need to use the plane’s potty, we much prefer awkwardly stepping over one another to getting personal with other passengers. And we usually pre-load our laptop with movies and funny clips to watch to pass the time on each flight. So when a recent flight was canceled and we were squeezed onto an alternate and soon-departing flight, we weren’t thrilled that our seats were many, many rows apart. Continue reading