Marriage – Page 2 – Melissa Schlies

No One Prepared Us for Married Life in a Pandemic

"You don't marry someone you can live with, you marry the person you cannot live without.” — P.S. I Love You For longer than any of us have been alive, there have been movies about love. For centuries before that, there were plays. Acted out stories that have made us think and even dream about romance. Ones that have shaped the way we view relationships and marriage. Only, None of them prepared us for marriage in a pandemic. For almost eleven months, Tony and I have been working from home together. Not only that, but we’ve moved into our first [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2021-02-06T21:19:35+00:00February 8th, 2021|Categories: Adulting, Change, Conflict, Health, Hope, Marriage, perseverance, Relationships, Social Distancing|2 Comments

Why It’s Important to Make Time for “Us” —Even In the Time of Covid

This past weekend, Tony and I took a trip with our closest friends to the Finger Lakes in New York. There we had “socially distanced” wine tastings. We hiked the gorge in Watkins Glen with our masks on. And we ate almost all of our meals at the little cottage we rented. Proving that traveling in the time of COVID is challenging, but not impossible. If someone was to ask me and Tony what makes our marriage not only work, but also thrive, we’d probably tell them two things. In seasons like these, travel can often feel like a luxury. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-09-23T21:05:08+00:00September 24th, 2020|Categories: Adulting, Balance, Habit Making, Health, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Marriage, Mental Health, Relationships, Travel|Comments Off

This Week, We Turn Ten

Ten years ago, this week, we said, “We do.” In other words, “We’re in.” For the adventure, the joy, and the highs of accomplishments earned. For the experiences we never thought we’d have, made better by enjoying them together. Only, that is not all. We also said, “We’re in” for the mundane. The days that string together as boring as iceberg lettuce lined up at the grocery store. “We’re in” for the dark days of struggle and loss. And “we’re in” for traversing the breathtaking lows we didn’t see coming. We’re in this thing called life, together. Ten years ago, [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-24T19:40:57+00:00June 25th, 2020|Categories: Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Marriage, Relationships|Comments Off

Six Ways to Handle Conflict With Your Spouse—During Quarantine

A few weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, one of us woke up to the other scrolling through their phone. Tony and I said good morning, asked each other how we slept, and then both of us got lost in our socials. For a while our conversation revolved around what we were seeing online. Then both of us put down our phones. We talked about what we wanted to do that day, and a few other things, before stumbling into THE CONVERSATION. No matter what stage of marriage you’re in, every couple has a conversation that needs to be had. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-04-29T23:35:58+00:00April 30th, 2020|Categories: Conflict, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Marriage, Relationships, Social Distancing|Comments Off

Six Rules For Fighting Fair In Marriage

Here is the thing they don’t tell you when you get married: some of the rules of your relationship change along the way. Or rather, you and your spouse keep changing so how you handle crisis and times of stress isn’t always the same. Even if your marriage is good, you can hit a rough patch and be completely blindsided. It is kind of like being on a long road trip with each other. Sometimes, you or your spouse can handle getting lost and even losing a tire with complete patience and grace—for an entire stretch of your journey. But [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-02-18T16:04:59+00:00February 20th, 2020|Categories: Adulting, Change, Conflict, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Marriage, Relationships|Comments Off

The Unspoken Secret to a Successful Marriage

One of Tony’s favorite things to do is to watch romantic movies with me. And by favorite I mean least favorite. As in, he doesn’t like most movies where the main focus is a love story. He says romantic movies are predictable, cheesy, and always end the same way. Yet even when I completely agree (like when he’s talking about Hallmark Movies), I still love them. There is something about two people learning to love each other that gets me every time. And my favorite part of these movies is when the two people in love do this one thing: [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-02-16T14:09:09+00:00February 17th, 2020|Categories: Adulting, Conflict, Marriage, perseverance, Relationships|Comments Off

5 Things I’ve Learned About Love & Dating (repost)

This is one of my most read posts. So I thought I’d share it again on this year’s Valentine’s Day Eve. The other night, Tony and I were telling each other about some of the dates we went on in high school. I shared a time I went on a date with a guy even though I knew he wasn’t good for me. And he talked about borrowing his mom’s mini-van to pick up a girl for a dance, which reminded me of my first real date with a boy. He too picked me up in his mom’s mini-van. We [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-02-06T15:56:22+00:00February 13th, 2020|Categories: Fear, Friendship, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Marriage, perseverance, Relationships|Comments Off

Five Ways to Better Communicate With Your Spouse

It was a warm, sunny day, and the stone streets felt hard under my sandaled feet. There was an event going on in the city so there were people everywhere I looked. We were on a small and winding medieval street in the middle of Siena, Italy. Tony was walking a little ways behind me, but I didn’t stop. I was upset. Only I wasn’t even sure why. All I knew was it felt like Tony and I were speaking a different language. I felt unseen, and like I could cry any minute. That is why I was breaking one [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-05-23T13:53:55+00:00May 30th, 2019|Categories: Conflict, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Marriage, Relationships, Uncategorized|Comments Off

The Real Secret To Our Marriage

Do you remember, in high school, wishing you had the answer key to a hard exam? Even though you knew cheating was wrong, there was a part of you that wished for an easier way. For me, it was always my chemistry exams—which is ironic as here we are talking about a different kind of chemistry. That of love and marriage. But now, even as adults, many of us are still looking for that answer key. We’re looking for the easiest way to lose weight, get that promotion, and even understand our spouse. With so many things to fill our [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-05-23T13:38:53+00:00May 27th, 2019|Categories: Character, Conflict, Faith, Marriage, Relationships, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Five Date Ideas to Keep the Romance Alive

When you first fall in love, almost anything can be considered an amazing date because you’re together. Going to the movies, eating leftover Chinese food, hanging out at each other’s places—heck, even grocery shopping is fun. But what about when you’ve been married for a while, and curling up on the couch to binge Netflix, starts to get old? As we talked about in Monday’s post, with all of our real life responsibilities, it can be difficult to make time for each other. And it can be easy for us to fall into ruts romantically. To count our time in [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-05-23T11:54:23+00:00May 23rd, 2019|Categories: Habit Making, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Marriage, Relationships, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Why It’s Important to Make Time for “Us” —Even In the Time of Covid

This Week, We Turn Ten

Six Rules For Fighting Fair In Marriage

The Unspoken Secret to a Successful Marriage

5 Things I’ve Learned About Love & Dating (repost)

Five Ways to Better Communicate With Your Spouse

The Real Secret To Our Marriage

Five Date Ideas to Keep the Romance Alive

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