You’ve probably noticed a decrease in posts the past few weeks. (I’m sorry for that!) I love our blog, and I love writing posts, but I’ve just had my hands busy with school. Yep! After being out of the academic loop for two years, I am back in the game! It’s been a slight adjustment with getting back into my nerdy, studious habits, but it’s been more of an adjustment with how face-paced summer blocks are. Despite the moments of stress, I’ve been very excited to get back into the classroom again, and learn. Because it has been so long, I’ve been very grateful for this opportunity we found for me to go back, so I have been taking the school work very seriously. I think this will be my best semester yet :)

My favorite class that I’ve been taking is Marriage and Relationship Skills! (Of course!) I’ve learned so much these first few weeks already, and hope to continue applying what I learn into my marriage. It really has been amazing to see the process of how relationships can succeed, but also how they can fail. As a newlywed, I definitely want to establish good patterns and habits now, of working through the difficulties that Trevor and I have, because with every couple, it is possible for more difficulties to happen.

I’m just so passionate about relationships, and finding the tools to improve them. For that reason, and because we have a blog about how to strengthen marriages, I would love to share some things I learn each week on here! While we love sharing our experiences, opinions, and things we have learned, we do want to share information and statistics from psychologists who have studied this important relationship, as they can teach us a lot as well. So I’ll be incorporating a lot of that in here as well.

There is always something to learn

I know there will always be something new to learn on this journey through marriage. That is why I think it is so important to be educating yourself somehow along the way. Whether it is by reading credible books, attending seminars, or taking classes, I know you can learn some empowering things to implement into your marriage! We may think we know a lot about relationships because of the personal experiences we have had, and while that can help you understand a concept better, there is a big difference between experience and knowledge! So I encourage you to take the time and effort every once in awhile to study up on how you can improve your relationship. I am so grateful that I have this opportunity to learn things, and am looking forward to sharing those things with you!

I love self-help books! If you are interested in some summer reading, here are a few books my professor recommends:

• “Fighting For Your Marriage” by Howard J. Markman, Scott M. Stanley, and Susan L. Blumberg (This is one of our textbooks for class and I love it)
• “The Five Love Languages: How to express heartfelt commitment to your mate” by Gary Chapman
• “And Baby Makes Three” by John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman
• “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work” by John Gottman
• “Saving Your marriage Before it starts: Seven questions to ask before and after you marry” by Les Parrot and Leslie Parrot
• “The Couple Checkup” by Thomas nelson
• “The Case for Marriage: why married people are happier, healthier, and better off financially.” by Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher

• all
• effort
• techniques