Such a scary topic for some, right? That’s what I thought at first. I’m going to share a few things I’ve learned from living with my significant other (before marriage). Enjoy!

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Don’t Get Too Comfortable with Being Lazy

It can be extremely easy to get “too comfortable” living with your partner. This can ultimately lead to weight gain and other issues. I learned that it is important to practice healthy habits (eating healthier meals together, working out, encouraging one another) with your partner for the sake of not only your personal health, but the health of your relationship as well. Motivating one another in the beginning sets a standard for your relationship to carry throughout! Once you’re in the habit of doing something one way, it can take true effort to change the way you do it.

Grocery Shopping Together = Fun + Cheaper

Doing this together will teach you both how to work as a team! My partner and I used to honestly bicker about the dumbest things while grocery shopping because we just weren’t used to each other’s shopping habits/ways. With that being said, you will learn allllll about yourself and partner (as shoppers) like which bread your partner likes most (if any), their guilty pleasures, if they go for sales or just throw things in the basket, etc. My advice would be to make lists before you go, so when you arrive, there’s no question about what you should and shouldn’t get and have an idea budget in mind. Grocery shopping together is pretty fun and you’ll learn that there’s no better feeling than a successful (under budget) shopping trip!

You’re Going to See Every Side of Your Partner and the Same Goes for You

Crazy bed hair in the morning? Awful morning breath? Are you a snorer? Do you talk in your sleep like me?! Well, get ready for your partner to see it all! Also, prepare to see the same from them (they aren’t perfect either). I quite frankly love the idea of it because you learn to love everything about them! It’s a beautiful thing to be able to live under the same roof with the one you love. 

Make Your Place A Space You BOTH Enjoy

Don’t go all crazy like me and decorate everything in the place… JK (I know it can be tempting), let them in on some of the decisions and design aspects. It’ll be cool looking back if they were apart of creating your home together. One of the ways I was sure to include Sean was by having him pick which color to paint our TV stand and coffee table so they match (love me some DIY projects). It was so cool to put our living room together and we see how cool the blues are that he picked out! It’s also just a simple way to make your partner more comfortable and feel more ‘at home’ because they actually had a say. 

Don’t Forget About Your Friends

We are lucky enough to have an extra bedroom so if our friends want to crash for a night they can. It’s really easy to stay in rather than going out on the weekends now, which is fine.. you just don’t want to get all boring!! We like to host pre-games at our place or sometimes I can’t wait to have the girls over for Bach Monday’s! Go out with your friends, invite them over, go get food with them, check-in on them – just make a little effort and don’t exile them.

Going Out and Doing Fun Things is Important 

This can be to a bar for drinks, movies, park, the beach, wherever you want to go! You could even go out of the country, but doing things outside of your place will be good for the both of you and your relationship as a whole. One of the things Sean and I love to do is go to a local nature preserve near our college town. We also love taking trips to the lake for the day! We go for hammocking or just walks sometimes, it’s good for us and it’s another way to spend quality time together outside of your home. 

Try Avoiding Bickering About the Little Things – It’s Not Worth It!!!

After seeing your partner 24/7, you may become irritated at times and overreact at little things. It’s a thing I try to stay away from because when people are upset, they can say very hurtful things they’ll soon regret – It’s usually avoidable with a simple thought before reacting. My advice I guess would be, think before you speak. You love your partner, show it. Another thing I’ve learned to practice is to put yourself in your partner’s shoes, think about how you’d think/feel/react if the tables were turned, then react. After a disagreement or whatever the case may be, saying sorry also may go a long way depending on your partner!

Figuring Out Yours and Your Partner’s Love Language(s) is Important

This was something I’d never really heard of until college. In one of my holistic health courses, we had to find out what our love language is, which to me is basically what makes you feel most loved. It’s important to know your partner’s love language as well because you understand more about them and their preferred method of receiving love, since we all feel and express love in many different ways. After finding out our love languages, we were able to apply some of those aspects to our relationship, which made us both feel even more loved. The 5 love languages are: words of affirmation, acts of service, physical touch, quality time, and receiving gifts. Mine is quality time and I couldn’t agree more! Here’s a free link to find out what your love language is: https://www.goodnet.org/articles/5-love-languages-which-one-are-you

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Overall, you and your partner will grow a lot living together and get very comfortable with one another. Keep things interesting and grow as a couple, avoid becoming stagnant. Since I never see articles touching on this topic, I thought it could be helpful for some. Feel free to add some things you may have learned while living with your partner. Hope you all enjoyed! 

Xo,

Toni 

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