Life can get a little mundane after awhile. Monday turns into Tuesday, Wednesday looked exactly like Tuesday, Thursday’s routine was identical to Wednesday’s and the cycle continues. Every once in awhile I find myself in a rut where I have a deep yearning for change. The older I get and the longer we have been married, the more I realize that we have to be intentional about adding a little pizzazz into our lives. Sometimes that means acting on a bigger item like booking that vacation we have been dreaming about for months or sometimes it’s something as simple as trying a new drink with our dinner. They say that variety is the spice of life and I am a huge advocate of spicing things right on up. Here’s 5 simple ways that we do just that in our household – all of which don’t take a lot of effort but can have a big impact on breaking up the routine of things.

1. Cook together. This is something we didn’t really do together for the first 8-9 years of marriage, however recently Shawn has gotten a little more involved in the kitchen around dinner time and it has been so much fun to have him by my side cutting up veggies, frying up the chicken on the stove or trying to prevent me from burning the house down [that’s a full time job in itself]. We’ve been able to create some delicious dishes together and it’s so much more enjoyable to have each other to thank when eating rather than a fast food worker.

a recent creation – grilled red peppers, salad and lemon chicken with rice, scallions, roasted pistachios and feta cheese – yes please.

2. Go for a walk, sit outside around a fire, or do anything WITHOUT your phones or any other form of technology for a period of time. We have to be intentional about being fully present with each other in the evenings or else we fall victim to being that couple who is around each other often yet never actually together. I have a hard time of not checking in on things socially often, however it drives Shawn absolutely nuts when he is telling me a story and I am looking down at Instagram only half listening. And by half I mean actually not at all. Our favorite thing to do during the summer is to take Maggie on a walk and that has been a really good opportunity for us to catch up on each other’s days while getting a little bit of exercise in.

3. Try something new together. This can be something major like jumping out of an airplane [umm, no thank you] to buying a drink for dinner that neither of you have had before. On a recent trip to my local grocery store I spotted these IZZE Sparkling Juices and because I am sucker for cute packaging and delicious sounding flavors I grabbed both the Sparkling Clementine [for him] and Sparkling Pomegranate [for me]. I set the outdoor table up all cutely and whipped out our fun tasting IZZE juices to make the occasion feel a little more special than normal.

The IZZE Sparking Juices are made from 70% fruit juice and a splash of sparkling water to give them a fresh tasting better for you beverage. Add in the fun bright bold colors and you’ve got yourself a party in your mouth. One of my favorite way to enjoy these juices? With a little bit of vodka mixed in of course 😉 These were definitely a fun treat for us to enjoy and made our dinner feel that much more enjoyable.

4. Indulge in each other’s favorite things from time to time. For Shawn this is a royal cheesecake blizzard from Dairy Queen. Sometimes after we are done eating dinner I will bolt over to DQ to pick up his favorite treat and come home to either enjoy it out on the boat together or in the comfort of our sweatpants on the couch. He knows I am a huge fan of the Bachelor [or Bachelorette] so every once in awhile he will agree to sit next to me on the couch and try not to make fun of the people [or me] too bad while I sit there with tears falling from my eyes.

5. Find things that make you laugh and then do those things. Have you ever went to a comedy show together? Watched a hilarious YouTube video in each other’s presence? Sat down on the couch and turned on a classic comedy? Shared funny stories from your day? Laughing is the best medicine and more than a kiss [in my opinion] has the power to make you feel more connected than ever before. If laughing isn’t your thing, the kisses should do 😉