I Believe...

You should only have marital friends. This concept wasn't new to me, but I didn't have an actual term for it. "Marital Friends" can best be described as friends who, if you went to them with a problem, would only offer solutions that support your marriage. They wouldn't guide you in the direction of another person or tell you that you are better off without that person...at least not without encouraging you to go to some counseling or try to work it out first! They would only give you the advice to make sure that you are 100% sure that you do not love the person you are with and to end that relationship completely before moving on to another relationship. Marital friends don't take you out to the singles scene or encourage any behavior that would be anything but honorable to your spouse.

Happiness is where we make it. It is up to each one of us to make our own happiness. We should not depend on others to make us happy. We have friends and family to support us, but it is not their responsibility to make us happy. We should be on the lookout to do things for them to make them happy! And while some things make us feel happy, it is not the accumulation of things that will keep us happy. We should plan as much as possible to be around those who make us happy...friends and family. We should visit them as much as they visit us. We should make plans, traditions, and memories together :o)

It is important to make time for yourself. I think maybe this was more important when we had children at home. It is so important to make sure that you feel like you are an individual and not just always an extension of someone else...mom, wife, etc. Moms should take time to recharge. Wives should spend some time out with their girl friends. Husbands should spend time out with their guy friends. (Marital friends, of course!)

You should travel as much as possible. Geno and I have always loved the fact that we will make an awesome retired couple. When we would drop the boys off to spend visitation in Colorado, we would just pick a place to get a hotel and then head off to see what the town had to offer. When Geno travels for work and I am lucky enough to get to go along, I will drop him off at his class in the morning and set off on an adventure for the day. I try to go to Archiver's, IKEA, local scrapbook stores, and see the sights. I spend the day learning where places are and making note of the things I know Geno wouldn't want to miss. Then I pick him up from class and we spend the entire evening together seeing what there is to see and making the most of the time. When gas isn't so expensive, we just get in the car and choose a road we haven't been on and just drive. We stop at the little stands and shops along the way. We learn a lot from our travels about places, people, and each other.