I don’t have a long dating history from before I met my husband. It’s not that I didn’t date, but I was one of those girls who went for relationships of the long-term variety. For the most part.

I spent over two years dating someone during my senior high years who was three years older than me. “Dating” seems like such a trivial word, considering that I had a promise ring. Do you remember those? Seventeen-year-old me wore it with pride. It now rattles around in the bottom of my jewelry box.

The next serious relationship I had was with a guy who was five years older than me. Five years older than me.  I come from a small town and, well, it seemed that the older guys were always the ones who my friends and I dated. They were so “mature.” I put that in quotes because in hindsight it is nothing but hilarious.

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The Washington Street Journal had an article this week titled, “Why We Lie To Our Spouses.” The article gives examples of lies that women tell their husbands (dress sizes, the cost of new clothing purchases, how much T.V. they watch, etc.) and examples of the kind of lies the husbands tell (how fast they drive, if they find female friends attractive, etc.)

As a good church-attending woman I should be able to sit here and tell you that I don’t lie to my husband (or my kids for that matter). To state that I never lie to my husband would be, well, a lie.

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A college friend of mine called over the weekend and it was great to get caught up on each others’ lives and families. She brought her husband and three kids out here last summer and while six kids under the age of six in one house was, shall we say, chaotic, our families had a great time together.

I hung up the phone and relayed bits and pieces of the conversation to my husband. In the midst of my (compelling, I’m sure) recap I remembered a tidbit about my friend and her husband that had always struck me as interesting. Not interesting in a bad way, but interesting in a “I don’t know how they did it” way.

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I came across an article over at The Frisky titled, “Eight So-Called Chivalrous Moves That Creep Us Out.” The title alone drew me in and I had to see what was listed as “creepy” moves by dudes who were trying to be chivalrous.

Most of them I agreed with. There is no need to tell me that you need to “tinkle” and there is no need to walk me to the restroom when I need to “tinkle.” Also. If I had ever gone on a date with someone who was willing (and able)(without cracking up) to hold my purse the dude would have been kicked to the curb. Purse and all.

A few of the points I have to disagree with. I like it when my husband pulls out the chair for me and helps we with my coat. I also like it when he opens the car door for me. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I kind of like being treated like a lady.

(Not like a lady of the night; that’s totally different.)

Do you like it when the man in your life tries to be chivalrous? Or are there “chivalrous” things that he does that creep you out?

I ran across an article over at Yahoo! Shine titled, “What’s the WORST relationship advice you’ve ever received and who did it come from?” Before I even read the article a few pieces of advice came to mind that were given to me repeatedly when I was single but did not hold true for me.

The first piece of advice that popped into my head was, “Date for at least a year before you get married.” I’ve mentioned it a few times over here, but we started dating in November, got engaged a month later and then got married the next May. We’re in our tenth year, so I think we proved that one wrong.

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I stumbled across an article over at The Frisky titled: 20 Things Every Woman Should Do Before She Gets Married.

While my inner prude made me balk at a few of the suggestions (Have sex with at least one person she’d never want to marry (or introduce to mom)) (Really? This will help your future marriage HOW, exactly?), there are a lot of valid points in the list.

A few of my favorites:

• Live by yourself for at least a year. (I tell EVERYONE this. It makes a world of difference in understanding things like how to clean your home and do crazy things like budgeting.)

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Yesterday afternoon I stumbled across this article (from MSN.com) that stated Chris Brown had pled guilty to assault. I don’t generally watch a lot of television or submerse myself in gossip magazines, but this whole situation has been very prominent in the news ever since the incident happened.

The thing is, I have never experienced abuse. My parents have flaws, yes, but they never once laid a hand on me or subjected me to mental terror. I married a man who in nine years of marriage has never (NEVER) said anything derogatory, condescending, or hurtful to me. He is my biggest supporter, my source of encouragement, my number one fan.

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I can’t believe that I’ve been writing about marriage here for eight months or so (Because I’m such an expert. Ha!) and have never addressed the topic of soul mates.

There is often talk of people meeting “The One.” They believe that there is only one person on the entire planet Earth who is meant for them and when they find THAT ONE, then everything is all sunshine and roses. Or something like that.

Do I personally believe in soul mates? Not at all.

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While perusing the interwebs for marriage and relationship articles I came across an article by Wendy over at The Frisky titled, “How Long Should You Wait Before Getting Engaged?”

In her post she referenced a post by Dan Savage over at Nerve where he said, “Three months — eight months, sixteen months — is way too soon to be discussing marriage.”

And then I laughed out loud.

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I came across a Cosmopolitan article via msn.com that was titled, “The Secret Happy Couples Know.” The article gives a bunch of fun ideas for a couple to do together to keep their relationship fun and full of life.

I was excited to see this, because as I mentioned before, we can get a little bit boring on our date nights.

As I read through the list I thought that “becoming margarita connoisseurs” would be a lot of fun. We have spent time trolling through You Tube and laughing our heads off. We also spent part of our date last weekend in Value Village. Matthew found a t-shirt with the logo “Frick N’ Eh Beer” which he purchased (and then wore to Bible Study. Yes. Yes, he did.)

There are a few other suggestions in that article that I think we need to try out.

How about you? Any ideas to bring back the punch-drunk love?