Around the House

Looking for name change advice or some tips for newlywed life? The MissNowMrs experts have created state-specific name change articles and checklists for you. We’ve chronicled our recommendations for how to travel while changing your name AND how to handle voting during the transition.

We’ve also compiled our best guidance for how to handle difficult sister in laws, holidays as newlyweds, the ever-annoying baby questions, and much more. Why? Because, while we are name change experts, we’re also newlywed wives, moms, and sisters.

We hope our name change advice articles help smooth your transition to your new name, and a whole new phase of life. Congratulations and best wishes from the entire MissNowMrs team!

Splitting the Chores, Newlywed Style!

It’s official: no one likes doing chores. You’d always find that strange kid in high school who actually liked to do homework, but show me one person who actually likes to do all the chores that have to get done around the house and I’ll be duly amazed. Chores are the most mundane part of being married, but believe it or not lots of couples have huge fights over chores. Before you begin to argue over whose turn it is to do the dishes or who has to take the trash out, it’s a good idea to split up the chores in a way that’s agreeable to the both of you.

One of the biggest deciding factors on who is going to do what type of chore is who is going to be home and who is not. Some couples have similar work schedules, but quite often, in today’s economy, one spouse is working much later than the other, or on days that the other spouse has off. Before you can begin to split up all the household chores that you have to get done, you need to make sure that you set realistic goals. You can’t expect someone to take out the trash every Saturday morning, for instance, if they have to be at work at 7 am on a Saturday. Take their work load into consideration before you even begin negotiating.

When you start splitting up the chores, volunteer to take everything that you truly enjoy doing. Do you like making meals? Do you not mind folding laundry? Put on the table everything that you actually enjoy doing. If you both like to do similar things, you can bargain for things that you dislike to do, like taking out the trash or sweeping the floor.

While some couples divide up each and every chore, others are more fluid in their division. For instance there are many couples where the wife is in charge of most of the household chores (with a few thrown in for the man), while the husband is in charge of vehicle and yard maintenance. Or vice versa. What works best for you is what’s important, and that you both agree on the division of labor. And remember: if you ever start to have an issue over the chores that you’re supposed to be doing, don’t get upset or passive-aggressive, actually talk to your spouse about the situation. Bargains and changes can always be made!

What deals have you and your spouse made about chores? We’d love to hear about your division of labor!

Post-Holiday Pep Talk!

Get ready for a post-holiday pep talk! Are you sitting around in a post-holiday daze? Well, snap out of it! Now is the perfect time to bang out all of those projects you meant to do last year. l If you follow our suggestions, you’ll be busy all Winter and totally care free when the warm weather arrives in the Spring.

Organize – Are your closets and cabinets completely out of control? Use the dark early evenings to get things organized. Not only will you feel better, but you’ll know exactly where everything is in your home, which will make doing other projects much easier.

Donate – Do you have a pile of unused gifts from this holiday season (and others)? Donate them and any of the items you discarded from your closets to a good cause.

Sew/Tailor –Looking at the pants you bought on sale last year and still haven’t had tailored? Now’s the time to collect all articles of clothing that need some mending or hemming and take them to a tailor or sew them yourself. The result of your efforts: “new” clothes in your closet that you didn’t have to buy!

Deep clean – Why save cleaning for Spring when you want to be outside enjoying the weather? Make a checklist of what needs to be done in your home and split it with your spouse. I find that having a reward for the completion of the list makes things much more fun. Decide to go out to the new restaurant you’ve been dying to try or to the movies as a reward for finishing your cleaning.

Doctors Appointments – What’s worse than going to the dentist or OB? Going to sit in their offices for hours when you could be playing tennis or soaking up the sunshine. Schedule your (and your hubby’s) year’s worth of doctors appointments for January-March and then you’ll not only be healthy, you’ll be free to enjoy the weather.

We hope post-holiday pep talk gets you motivated and through the Winter slump! If name change was on your to-do list last year, we can help with that. Check out the MissNowMrs name change app or online service to save 13 hours of hassle!

Help Me Change My Name

Home Depot Gift Card Giveaway—For Your Mr. Fix-It

We have something for your Mr. Fix-it! Today kicks off our week long mini-giveaway For the Fellas—a $50 Home Depot gift card! It’s the perfect stocking stuffer and will arrive in time for the Christmas Holiday, leaving you with one less gift to worry about. Maybe you just moved into a fixer-upper and want to paint your kitchen or are thinking about converting your home office to a nursery? The possibilities are endless!

Most men love going to a home-improvement store to pick up the latest tools and gadgets for all their at-home projects, so enter to win this and your spouse will surely be grateful. Think about it ladies, what could be a better way to get your hubby to start tackling tasks on his To-Do-List than a FREE $50 gift card for Home Depot?

Simply post a comment below for your chance to win (and re-tweet this post to double your chances)! Remember, we will randomly select and announce a winner next Friday December 10, 2010. If we don’t hear back from the winner within 2 weeks, we will randomly select a new winner to make sure someone ends up with this great goodie.

Tell us why you (or your spouse) need to win the Home Depot gift card and what you plan to do with it, we’d love to hear about your projects!

Newlywed Love Is Art

We’ve all seen those inspirational art prints that have a great image and then an even better message. They were created to help people feel better and then gain perspective in their lives. Your newlywed and wedding photos have the same magic.

Looking at a picture that captured one of your happiest moments together as a couple can instantly transport you back to that day and all the emotions you were feeling: love, excitement, anticipation and even nerves. Filling your brain with a beautiful image and the emotions that go along with it is a great way to ensure that you carry positivity with you each day in your newlywed relationship. If you think about it, it is really hard to be mad at your spouse for forgetting to take out the trash when you look at them as the amazing person you walked down the aisle with!
Art.com is giving one of our newlywed blog readers the chance win an 18×24 printed canvas image (or 25×31 framed image) valued at $150 to hang in their home! Talk about an inspiring giveaway! The Photos to Art feature on Art.com will allow our winner to upload an image of her choice (be it wedding, honeymoon or even a favorite family photo) and translate it onto high-quality photographic paper or artist-grade stretched canvas. The result? A high-quality, large-scale, beautifully-finished and ready-to-hang wall art.
Ready to win our awesome November art giveaway? Leave a comment on this, or any of our Newlywed Art Posts on Mondays this month and you’ll be automatically entered to win. Tell us all about the photos from your wedding and honeymoon. We’d love to know what image you’d want to have printed and where you plan to hang it. The randomly selected contest winner will be announced on November 30th!! If we don’t hear back from the winner within 2 weeks, we will randomly select a new winner to make sure someone ends up with this great goodie!

**If you tweet this giveaway by clicking the green retweet button below, you’ll receive an additional contest entry!**

Easy Fall Newlywed Home Improvement Projects

Tis the season for newlywed home improvement. There are so many projects that need to be done around the house just as up-keep that you could probably do one-a-day for like a year, but where’s the fun in that?! Here are just a few (of the many) things that you and your beloved might consider doing this Fall to be sure that your home sweet home stays that way. We even split them up for you to make it even easier.

Spouse One Suggestions
Change Batteries: Check the smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, flashlights, remote controls, etc. They are all equally (ok maybe not equally) important, but are indeed a must check off the to-do-list! There’s nothing more annoying than having the power go out and your flashlight doesn’t work sending you and your spouse rummaging around in the dark trying to find candles, matches, batteries for the flashlight…I’m picturing tripping over the poor dog, stubbing my toe on the corner of the couch or worse, falling down the stairs!

Update Medicines: Be sure to toss out expired medication from your medicine cabinet and your First Aid Kit…and replace it! What good is an empty First Aid Kit or expired Cold and Sinus medicine when you feel like your head might explode?!

Spouse Two Suggestions
Check Your Windows/Doors: There’s a nifty little *self-test you can try to ensure that your windows are doing their job to keep the cold outside air from coming in, not to mention the heat (you’re paying for) from going out! Try inserting a dollar bill in the gaps around your windows and doors. Lets just say this is one test you want to fail otherwise your windows are not energy efficient. You may need new windows or may need to caulk the windows/doors or install window/door insulating strips or plastic to bring your heating costs down.

Paint: Now is the perfect time to fix a hole in the wall or the scratches from furniture when you moved in! Fall is a great time to paint as it’s not too hot or cold. When you’re done with the paint, be sure to store the extra paint away from your furnace (a huge fire hazard).

Tell us about your fall newlywed home improvement projects and your secret tricks to save money! Leave a comment today.