my simple secret for a happy marriage...

as you know, my hubby and i recently celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary.  i feel pretty lucky to have found such a true friend.  sure, we have our ups and downs, but our love is still going strong.  we support each others dreams.  we still talk and laugh.  and we really like each other.  recently we realized something that has helped our marriage.  you probably think i'm going to tell you he buys me flowers every week or serves me up a candlelit dinner every night.  while those things would be nice, it's really much simpler than that.  our secret is...that we only have one car.  it doesn't sound like the kind of thing that would improve a marriage, but somehow, for us, it does.  you probably know that i have four kids and of course, they are all involved in various activities.  hubby has a demanding job and i have a work at home job.  and only one car for all of that driving around.  this involves some serious planning.  every week, we sit down together and talk about what we have going on and plan out our schedule.  some days, i don't take the car at all (those really are my favorite days, because it means i get to play work in my studio all day).  other days, i need the car to pick up kids or run errands.  and then there are days when we both need the car.  so, once the kids are off to school, i will drive hubby to work, do whatever i need to do and pick him up when he's done with work or sometimes we have to make a midday switch.  which means, we get a lot of time together.  it's mostly in the car, but often it is just hubby and me, as the kids almost always opt to stay home.  it's kind of like a date.  a really cheap date.  for the price of gasoline, we get hours of alone time every week.  precious moments where we can talk about anything and everything.  and though sometimes having one car is a bit of a challenge, for the most part, it's good.  and good for us.  and i wouldn't have it any other way.