::All About Marriage:: Three Keys to Failproof

I am so excited to have Jenni from Story of My Life here talking about her relationship with her husband Matthew.  I read their love story in the car on a road trip and it had me laughing and crying and "ummm...hummm'ing" the entire time.  Mark looked at me in the passenger seat like I was crazy!  Jenni has a gift with words and is sweet as pie.  After you read this post, run over to her blog to read their love story.  It is a must!
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Hello new and old friends!  My name is Jenni (from the blog Story of My Life), and I'm so glad to be here with you at the Scribble Pad today! 

As you can see above, I'm a married lady--and not just married--happily married!  I don't pretend my marriage is perfect or that everything is always unicorns and roses in our life, but I do think that we have something great. 

Matthew and I have a pretty cool and unusual love story if you'd like to check it out, but that's not what I'm here to talk about today.  I just want to tell you about three of the most important factors in a failproof marriage, according to me. :)  Now none of these things are terribly original--you may have heard all this before--but only because it's the TRUTH!

So here goes.  For a great marriage, or relationship in general, you need...

1. A good sense of humor. Seriously.  You absolutely HAVE to be able to laugh at yourself.  Life is weird sometimes.  Turn it into something to smile about.  LOOK for the good and the humor.  It's there, I promise!

2. A+++ communication.  Don't pout or mope or whine.  Men don't understand that stuff and nothing will get done if you aren't clear about what you want and how you're feeling.  Men are very simple creatures, for the most part, and are usually happy to do what makes YOU happy if you're clear about that and aren't a crabby, nit-picky you-know-what.  The secret to getting what you want is knowing how to ask for it. ;)

3. Quality time.  Spending QUALITY time together covers a multitude of sins.  Meaning, perhaps work/school/other responsibilities keep you from spending as much time together as you'd like, but when you set aside QUALITY time together doing something you both enjoy, it will leave you feeling reconnected and refreshed.  Take it from me--someone who spent almost every waking hour with her husband for the first year and a half of their marriage (because we were both working from home): spending lots of time together does not equal awesome togetherness.  The quality of the time is what matters most!

So that's my two cents.  Thanks for having me Shannon! And the rest of you, come visit anytime! :)