Photography: Seth & Beth
I can’t believe today is our five year anniversary; man did the time fly! I feel like it was just yesterday we were walking down the aisle and celebrating with all of our family and friends. It was the most amazing day, my advice to brides is always to be to enjoy every second because it goes by so fast!
We’ve been married five years, but I met Mo when I was 19, so we have been together for a looonng time lol! We’ve been through so many transitions in life together, college to jobs, moving across the country two times, losing family, gaining family, and just the change of growing older. I’m not going to sit here and tell you it was all rainbows and butterflies, we’ve definitely had our ups and downs, as most couples have. But if you can grow together and learn what makes your relationship tick, then you can always work out the kinks. Now I’m not claiming myself the master of relationships here, but these are the things that I have learned along the way and that I think are key in a successful relationship.
1. Communication
To me this is number one! Being open and honest about how you’re feeling is so important. Sharing how your feeling in certain situations or just simply talking about your day is what keeps the communication flowing and open. There’s nothing worse than being hurt or upset about something and then keeping it all in. That’s a recipe for disaster! But it’s also not good if you’re screaming and yelling because you’ve worked up your temper. Take some time to cool down so that you are able to talk it out. Yelling never gets you anywhere good.
2. Trust
I can’t stress how important this one is. If you don’t trust your partner, then you’re going to literally drive yourself insane! And if you have to worry that much, is that person even worth being with? If there’s one thing I have learned about trust, it’s that sometimes you have to let go, you can’t control everything. I can promise that if you learn to trust and let go, you’ll feel a hell of a lot better and life will be much easier!
3. Find Balance
When I say find balance, I mean with how much time your spending together. It’s always so nice to have a date night and just have some quality one on one time together. Date nights are what helps to keep your connection strong. I also think it’s important that you have time apart as well. I’ve seen many relationships that once they get serious, they cut out all friends, for me that just doesn’t work (I need my girl time!) I think it’s so important that Mo have his time with his guy friends and I have my time with the girls. And then other times we have a night out as couples with the guys and girls. You have to find balance with the relationships in your life. Plus a little time apart makes the heart grow fonder!
4. Support Each Other
There’s no better feeling than knowing your significant other has your back. Whether it’s making a big decision or just a day to day type thing, it’s nice to have the support. When I started this blog, Mo helped me get my website going (he’s much more tech savy than I am) and he takes all of my photos for me. When he got promoted for his job and we had to make the move out here, I supported him by agreeing to make the move so that he could excel in his career (although it may have taken a little convincing!) Whatever the situation may be, having that support makes things so much more enjoyable and easy.
5. Learn Their Love Language
When we took our pre cana class we did an exercise with this. I had heard of love language before, but I didn’t really know what it was. Basically it’s how your partner feels loved and appreciated. There are five of them; receiving gifts, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service and physical touch. You can have more than one, and I think it’s a really interesting and great way to find out how your partner feels most appreciated and loved.
Those are all of my tips! What is it that helps you keep your relationship strong?
Xoxo,
Danielle
