Once the glamour of a new relationship wears off and the day to day normalcy settles in, some people tend to get restless and want to look for ways to spice things up. I’m all about keeping things fun and interesting, but there’s something truly magical to me about doing all the things you always do in life with someone you’ve fallen in love with. Here are the things I love doing most with my guy:
- Waking up and going to bed I’m going to do this with or without someone, but seeing the dude I’m with go through his nightly routine is terribly intimate to me. Not many people get to see him this way and I feel lucky that I do. I like the little things mumbled before bed and seeing each other first thing in the morning. With that, the intimacy returns when I see him brush and floss his teeth before work.
- Going grocery shopping This chore can be awful but it’s so much better with a partner. I actually enjoy bickering over which brand of bath tissue to get or surprising him by throwing some of his favorite treats into the cart when he’s not looking. He, in turn, gets to see that when I’m stressed I buy and eat my weight in candy. After a few trips, we know each other’s tastes so well we can get in and out of the store super quick.
- Making dinner I love to cook and especially after a fruitful outing shopping, I like to create things in the kitchen. I tend to be a huge perfectionist and maintain the kitchen is my domain, but I’m willing to let my guy play sous chef whenever he wants to. We have some of our best talks during this time, completely unrelated to the task at hand, and sometimes it just feels good to create something together, even dinner.
- Home maintenance I hate doing anything home related besides decorating, but when I have someone to share the burden with it becomes a lot less aggravating. I’m not super handy myself so my boyfriend can take care of the really difficult things, but sometimes he takes me under his wing and shows me how to do those things myself. I’ve been able to learn a lot and can hold my own, but mostly for me, it’s about doing it as a team.
- Binge watching TV shows I’ll never call watching TV boring, but I love sharing my favorites with him and then learning the shows he watches over and over too. The best part, however, is both of us diving into a new series completely unspoiled and finding out the plot twists together. I love being able to sit there for hours with my favorite person and just letting our minds go completely numb talking about the intricacies of scripted drama!
- Doing yard work Yard work sometimes makes me feel like a kid again. Growing up, it was always a chore or a punishment, but when you become an adult (without kids to pawn it off on), it’s just something you have to do. Now, as adults, my boyfriend and I can make sure the driveway is shoveled and the leaves are raked, but no one can stop us from jumping in the snow or leaf pile when we’re finished, either. Sure we have to clean it up again, but that’s a small price to pay.
- Taking care of finances Something about sharing that level of responsibility makes me feel really engaged with my partner. We both have to be mindful of our spending and we can’t really hide things because of it so it brings a lot of honesty into the relationship. This can transition into other areas of us as well. We already have to be honest about money, so why not be honest about everything?
- Putting up with family Family can be great, but let’s be honest, they can also be terrible. I can handle mine on my own but I love that my boyfriend can tell I’m reaching my limit, and he will jump in and take the reins for a while. I completely understand why he does because when it comes to his family, I love engaging with them and I can tell sometimes they exhaust him. It’s definitely a bit of a job, but one that requires little effort.
- Hardships in general. I’m not going to say I love going through devastation, I’m not a masochist, but the silver lining is that it has the chance to bring two people a lot closer together. When we’ve been hit with financial burdens, loss of jobs or family, or any kind of emotional stress, we’ve had to band together and push through. When I sit back and think about it, I’d rather have that deep, emotional bond than new relationship excitement any day.
