Post # 1
Member
289 posts
Helper bee
First of all, I mean no disrespect by the title! I think growing together in time and in love is a absolutely beautiful thing, and I cannot wait ’til my beloved and I are rocking back and forth on a porch swing, watching our great-grandchildren play together in the yard (cheesy, yet true!).
Anyways! Life sure is busy. Jobs are stressful. Couches and televisions are inviting. And I know that as couples (dating, waiting, engaged, married) grow closer and more comfortable with one another, “date nights” are quickly replaced with take out chinese cartons, and freshly shaven legs have now become long pajama bottoms and a, “Don’t mind me, I’m just a little prickly”.
While the switch to “casual and comfy” is a meaningful transition in any relationship, the fire has got to keep burning strong! If I wasn’t careful, the mister and I could spend all weekend on hulu.com eating frosted pop tarts.
In order to avoid that ever-tempting fate, we make sure we go on a bike ride every Sunday morning and spend the afternoon outdoors, and cook dinner from scratch together every Tuesday night. I’m even thinking about incorporating a “No Media Monday” in order to kick the TV addiction for one night. 🙂
So, what kind of things do you and your SO do to keep things exciting, fresh, and new?
Post # 3
Member
2194 posts
Buzzing bee
Lol! Cursed hulu and long pajama bottoms, I have succumbed to them far too often. We don’t do this intentionally, but about once a month we have these internal upheavals that make us pronounce that we’re too young to be spending our weekends as we do and we make ourselves head out to the city to some age-appropriate dance club and get silly drunk and dance the night away. We don’t have time for much during the semester, but during the summer, we make a point of trying tons of new things (we spend most of our time in FI’s hometown, NYC, where there never ceases to be new things). I’m the sort of person who gets bored of things very quickly and goes stir-crazy with monotony, so I sort of demand that we explore yelp/the interwebs for new and exciting things to do.
Post # 4
Member
2206 posts
Buzzing bee
Friends who also like to go out are, IMO, the best way to avoid the couch. Make friends with other married or committed couples that are more into going out than you are, and tag along. If your social circle is constantly haning out, having BBQs, hosting dinner parties, you will too. If your friends rarely get together, it is hard to get out of the house.
Post # 5
Member
283 posts
Helper bee
We started to get into this pattern, so we decided to join a club together. Swing dancing twice a week 🙂 It’s so much fun, good excercize, and it’s something we can to together for a long time. We’re thinking about taking a salsa dancing class next year.
Bonus: once you’re signed up for something and paid a membership, you feel like you should go, so you’re less likely to let date-night slide.
Post # 6
Member
2203 posts
Buzzing bee
Cooking together, day trips on the weekend, date nights, trying to talk about current events or other things going on in the world aside from just us, we go out into Boston often (bars obviously, but museums, historical sites) and of course, quality time together (if you know what I mean…)
Post # 7
Member
1854 posts
Buzzing bee
We train together, and also take dance lessons.
The ultimate date night for us is to order takeout and watch a movie on the couch, but only because we never watch TV – no cable.
Another good date night is to cook together and have a long dinner with great wine and talk all evening.
Post # 8
Member
211 posts
Helper bee
We keep the same lifestyle we had before we got married- we still like to go out, still have the same friends, have met new friends, exercise together, like to be out and about and explore this city that is new to us both.
Just little things. You don’t have to stay out all night or go out every night but it’s not hard to keep adding fun or trying new things here and there.
Post # 9
Member
655 posts
Busy bee
We go on a date night every week, we work out together every Saturday (taking turns making it super hard), and we still have our own lives, friends, etc. Since we’re both creative people, one of us often comes up with something new to try/do and the other gets inspired and tries it in their own way too (ie taking a short story writing course, etc).