Buy a jigsaw puzzle. Or ask me to send you one. Mr. Right and I can do a 500 piece puzzle in about three hours. Have a quick dinner. Make/buy some snacks and pour a couple glasses of lemonade. Unplug the phone, turn off your phones, blackberries, ipods, the television and on and on. Turn on some great background music. Write down the time. (After each puzzle we sign our first names, the date and how long it took us. Then we trade, pass on the puzzle with other couples.)
You will soon learn which companies you like doing. Don't spend too much. Remember that old adage to get an hour of entertainment out of each dollar you spend. Well, now days I can't find many puzzles for $3.00 so try and keep it under $10.00.
Mr. Right and I usually do about four a year. So pretty much every once in a while.
Dump the puzzle on the table. You both have to turn over every piece. Then go to it.
Now, here is the "marriage advice" portion.......talk, talk, talk. Talk about your families, your issues, topics of the day, work, friends, problems and on and on. You and G.I. Joe will have to be looking down at the puzzle. Not looking at each other. Just working on something together. An amazing thing will happen. Three hours of talking will fly by. You will accomplish something together. You will learn something new about the other every single time. You will have spent three hours of quality "talking" time. Engaged in conversation and making an effort on your relationship without even noticing. You are so worth the effort.
Get an address book, today. Do it. I will wait........ Okay, fill it in. This is now your responsibility as a couple. Get all of his and your families and friends addresses/birthdays/anniversaries NOW. Within the month. Let me tell you, three years down the road is not the time to ask for an address that you never had or misplaced. Keep one address book. Keep his sister's name, address, birthday, anniversary, kids names, favorite foods, allergies, phone numbers, e-mail addresses etc. in her section. You will be AMAZED at how impressed everyone is that you sent a birthday card or a sympathy card at the appropriate time. YOU WILL BE ENDEARING YOURSELF TO HIS FAMILY. HE WILL ENDEAR HIMSELF TO YOURS. Everyone appreciates the effort. Here's the secret, you only have to do this once and then updates now and then. So that first thanksgiving you spend with his family. Both of you can sign and send a thank you card the day you arrive home. I know it sounds like work. It is not. It is the effort you are putting forth to build a solid relationship. Hey, look this is Wonder Girl and G.I Joe being a couple and making an effort. You will not regret the power of the address book, not once.
Next......Have a picture of you and G.I. Joe taken and framed and keep it in your home. NO, not just a quick cell phone picture. Buy your friend a coke and have him or her snap a couple of pictures. Or actually save up and have one done professionally. PRINT it and frame it. Update the picture now and then. Find a cool frame on a trip you take together. It is a wonderful reminder of you two. The happiness will build on itself. This is important. Did I just say this IS important? Yes, I did. You two are worthy and valuable individuals. Make the effort. Oh sure you can tape it to your refrigerator or tuck it into a mirror, but this one time, well actually once or twice a year, put it in a frame. Set it in your bedroom. Put it on a table, move it around. Tie a great ribbon on it. Paint some hearts on it. Write your initials in the sand and frame that picture. Glue some seashells on the frame. You can spend way too much on a frame (been there, done that) or you can buy a $1.00 frame from the dollar store and paint and glue and mod podge to your hearts content. Here's the ps to this piece of advice. Have a framed picture on your desk at work. Make two. I am not talking about dozens and dozens that clutter the area. I am speaking of one really excellent photograph. Give him one. If he doesn't have a desk, get a smaller version printed for his wallet. Material things come and go. You will be blessed to have so many great pictures of you as a couple. If you are really proud of this relationship, then you should take the time and effort and energy and make that feeling evident to you both and the people around you.
I adore, love, respect, admire, like, can't get enough of Mr. Right. I want you to have that same feeling. We are standing in your corner, silently, lifting you up. We are supporting the both of you. We want you to have what we have.
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