Love and Relationship7 ways to keep romance alive in your marriage

Stop going through the motions and start living every moment. Check out 7 tips to keep your marriage thriving, instead of just surviving.

Between busy schedules, taking care of the children, and a demanding career, sometimes your relationship can fall to the wayside.

Stop going through the motions and start living every moment. Check out 7 tips to keep your marriage thriving, instead of just surviving.

These tips are easy to try at least a few times a week and can bring that sparkle back every single day.

1. Stop eating, start dining: Nights that you have a few extra minutes, dress up the dinner table! Dimming the lights and adding a few candles can make your meal so much more relaxing and intimate. It doesn't need to be so formal either, cozy up on the couch or even snuggle in bed for dessert. The extra few minutes of alone time, just talking about your day will be so meaningful.
2. Stop talking, start meaning: Set aside a time when talking about stresses at work is taboo. Whether you choose an afternoon phone call, dinner, or that time right before bed pick a time to just chat about future vacations, goals, friends, movies, and anything not about work woes. It will make you both more relaxed and caught up in each other's lives.
3. Stop pecking, start kissing: Outlaw the thoughtless, routine peck for real kisses. Spending an extra couple second lip-locked with your husband can be so intimate and a little reminder of how in love you are.
4. Stop looking, start remembering: Sit down together and go through old photos and scrapbooks and remember all the good (and bad!) times you've had together. You've built an amazing life together, so every once in awhile stop and look back on how far you've come and the fun you've had along the way.
5. Stop having a routine, start being spontaneous: Being able to keep a weekly date is awesome! Don't get in a slump of just doing dinner and movie, switch things up! Write three out of the ordinary date ideas on note cards (like taking a cooking class, hiking, or taking a brewery tour!), pick one every week and do it. You'll love switching things up and experiencing new things together.
6. Stop being overwhelmed, start relaxing: Although it seems unrelated, stop triple-booking yourself and start clearing out your schedule. Keep all aspects of your life, including your marriage, manageable to you. It doesn't make you incompetent or a failure to have to cut some extracurricular activities out, it makes you aware of your limits so you can give 100% to the different parts in your life. In the same way, don't be afraid to sneak in a nap or 15 minutes of meditation. Mellowing out your mood and relaxing your mind will help your marriage stay strong and the relationship with your husband peaceful and happy.
7. Stop obsessing, start appreciating: Through the everyday hustle and bustle, it's easy to lose track of why you love and appreciate your spouse so much. Sure, he forgot to drop that package off at the post office but he does give you a foot massage everyday after work. Start thinking about the little things you love and your attitude towards your marriage will stay loving and bright.