I rolled up a cheeseless wrap that included Italian sausage and sliced pears, figuring it wouldn’t taste so great.
Where's the Cheese?
Fortunately I was wrong! Even without melted cheese, this wrap was pretty darn good!
I enjoyed it alongside beets, fresh strawberries and a cup of 2 percent Chobani Greek yogurt that I sweetened with a packet of Stevia.
The Whole Shebang
And now buckle up, my friends, because we’ve got a lot to talk about! 😀
Moving in Together for the First Time
I recently received an email from a blog reader with a request to write a post about living with your significant other for the first time.
Ryan and I dated throughout college and lived separately the entire time. After I graduated in 2007, we had our own places for a year (though Ryan was always at my apartment and even had his own closet) and didn’t officially move in together until the spring of 2008, after more than four years of dating.
Just a Couple of College Kids!
To be completely honest, I never thought I would live with a boy until after we were married. I always joke with Ryan and tell him that he “dooped” me into living with him by looking at apartments that I couldn’t afford on my own. 😉
Our First Apartment
Though we both knew we were each other’s future and even had a dog together, I was nervous about officially living together since were weren’t married and living together can really complicate things.
Still, I had a good feeling about living with Ryan since we practically lived together for a year before we officially moved in together. Of course I knew I wanted to marry him, but he was also easy to get along with, not too messy and really valued communication, which I knew would be even more important once we bunked up together.
From a logistical standpoint, moving in together required us to consolidate our stuff and merge two separate apartments into one. We selected the better version of the duplicate furniture we both owned and separately purchased additional furniture like a coffee table, couch and new bed to avoid any confusion “just in case.” Though we obviously knew marriage was in the cards for us, I didn’t want to be presumptuous and buy things together, which may sound crazy, but I’m a little looney and it helped me still feel slightly independent and not worry about “custody battles” over furniture should the worst happen.
Our First Bed
Once we moved in together, I honestly didn’t feel like too much changed, which I think is a very good thing. Life felt easier and more natural (and fun!) once we were living together.
Looking back on the first year or two that we lived together, things trucked along pretty smoothly and we had a great time and genuinely enjoyed being both boyfriend and girlfriend and roommates.
Of course not everything was perfect and we did have some hiccups. My main tips for couples who want to move in together for the first time include:
- Remain a couple and don’t turn into just “roommates.” This was a big one for us. I remember breaking down on a walk with Ryan because we definitely fell into the trap of becoming simply roommates. Sure we were still affectionate and loved each other, but we fell into a routine and were constantly running errands for the apartment and doing things that seemed more like chores rather than spending quality time together or enjoying date-like activities. Once we recognized this pattern and talked about it, I can honestly say things changed completely. We planned dates, worked as a team and didn’t just cohabitate. I got my boyfriend back! 😀
Date Night
- Talk about your pet peeves. Ryan has every other Friday off of work and I would get really annoyed when I would return home from a day at the office to find that the dishes weren’t done. I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t do the dishes when he clearly had the time. I let this bother me week after week until eventually I got really snappy with him and totally overreacted. (Think crying on the kitchen floor. I’m a treat.) Ryan said he honestly had no idea that not touching the pile of unwashed dishes bothered me that much and he was more than willing to do dishes. He told me that if I would have simply asked him to do the dishes he would’ve been more than happy to do them. I explained that I felt like I was nagging when I ask him to do certain chores, but he said he didn’t see it that way at all. Now I make sure to come right out and tell him about the little things that bother me, just like he tells me what I do that annoys him (like being a total Swamp Beast).
- Discuss finances. When you live with your significant other, who pays for what can become a gray area since you’re likely making meals together, buying odds and ends for the apartment, purchasing furniture, etc. Talk about how you will handle paying for certain things. Ryan and I paid for our own groceries separately up until we were married (we split the cost of veggies and meats that we used for our dinners). This worked for us, but might not be the answer for you. Just make sure that you and you partner are on the same page with your finances and both feel comfortable with your financial plan.
- Make sure you have alone time if you want it. I really need my alone time. I love being around my friends and Ryan, but I am someone who really needs time by myself. This can be time spent at the grocery store, running, walking Sadie, shopping, blogging or simply reading a book. Ryan, on the other hand, is fine with being together and talking all the time. Once we moved in together, I found that I had to explain to him that sometimes I like being by myself. I explained that this has absolutely nothing to do with my feelings for him. I’m the same way with my friends and family. Sometimes I need time just for me. You or your partner may be the same way, and discussing this with your partner in a way that lets them know that you love them and care for them can help them not take things personally if you say you want to be by yourself for a bit.
- Maintain your own hobbies and interests. Just because you live together doesn’t mean you become one person. When Ryan and I moved in together, we made sure to maintain our friendships and favorite activities, even if they were separate. Ryan is still very active in his men’s soccer league while I keep up with my blogging even though these activities may take time away from each other. They’re very important to both of us and we respect and support each other’s interests.
And now for advice from you guys (via Twitter):
- Don’t feel like you need to buy all new stuff to make it “our place.” (Marie)
- Make sure to set your expectations BEFORE moving in together. Set house rules. It sounds silly but it will help in the long run. (@Emmazi)
- Pick your battles (Nancy) and have “buttloads of patience.” (Natalie)
- Definitely be on the same page about finances… who will pay what and how you are going to split it! (Maria) (Jenny recommends getting a joint bank account so you don’t have to keep track of everything.)
- Don’t judge! We all have crazy things we do at home, so don’t be quick to snap at something you don’t like! (Amanda)
- Don’t go to bed angry. Give and take. Some things are too insignificant to fight about. (Caroline)
Thanks for weighing in! 😀
Question of the Afternoon
- Have you ever lived with a significant other?
- What advice do you have for couples who are thinking about moving in together?
P.S. The Fashion page was updated!
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Oh gosh! I didn’t realize it would get used! 😀
Also, DON’T sweat the small stuff. If him chewing loudly, or him being a stubborn, whiny male while he’s sick bothers you – chiilllll. It’s not going to be perfect 100% of the time!!
Such a great post!!! I didn’t live with my husband until we got married, but the last year has definitely been a learning experience. We definitely fall into the “roommate” trap sometimes, especially being a new couple with not a lot of extra cash to spend on going out. I also would get soo annoyed if I were to come home if he hadn’t been working that day to find the bed still unmade and dishes in the sink – I just didn’t get it. I explained it to him (after letting my anger fester for a while) and he shaped up! It’s all about communication!
Great post, Julie! I’ve never lived with my fiance, but we’re in the process of finding our first place together to move into after the wedding, and I can’t even tell you how excited I am! So, maybe one piece of advice I would give – from the other side of the fence – is that, if you’re able to wait to move in together, it’s just one more exciting thing to look forward to 🙂
Great post Julie!
Jason and I didn’t live together before we were married — but I will say that living together, whether married or not, has similar challenges! You need to figure out how to handle finances, food, chores, etc.
Due to some hinky things with my family, my Man and I just moved in together. We have been together through an AWFUL lot in the almost four years we have been together. This past year I had my own apartment and so did he. I had to move back in with family and he moved onto his own apartment with no roommate. The plan that we had was that we would wait another year before moving in together. We wanted to spend the year working on our relationship, getting to know each other’s families, and getting ducks in our lives in a row.
We went from planning on moving in together in a year’s time to living together in LESS than two weeks. We decided to move in together on Sunday (got our hands forced into it), meet with the landlord to get him to approve me on the lease (Saturday) and moved in (Friday).
We spent a LOT of time talking to each other about things such as cleaning, cooking, responsibilities in the apartment. I am currently not working and not in school. So the logical thing was that the domestic stuff would be my job. This comes really hard to me because I am not a domestically-minded person at all. However, he has been rather patient and understanding as I try to adapt to it.
In some ways, it seems like playing house since he always spent the weekend (Thurs night to Sun night) at my apartment. I am waiting for it to seem a bit more real.
I think it is difficult in our situation since we had very little time to plan and discuss in advance. However some advice I have gained is:
1. be comfortable talking about things, even the little mundane pieces
2. be aware of your partner needing space (This is VERY hard for me since I am home all day by myself, when the Man comes home- I want to sit and talk and cuddle and be near him. He usually wants to spend some time decompressing and relaxing)
3. Keep up with seperate interests ( I saw this in your post and can NOT agree with it more!!)
4. Do something that is just for you everyday. I need to have some time that is “mine”. It usually is my morning coffee and internet.
5. Be patient with each other. Remember, you love each other!!
I love this post!! My boyfriend and I have been together for about three years now, and we still lead very separate lives- we only stay at each other’s places maybe twice a week. It works for us at this point because we’re still young and have a lot to experience outside, but if things continue as they are I could see myself living with him a few years down the road. I used to be totally anti living with a significant other before marriage, but I think that as long as the intention of marriage is there and you are open and honest about where your relationship is going, it can be a really valuable thing. I’ve loved reading all the comments, too- I’ve definitely gotten a few good tips, as well as some food for thought!
Try to get a place together. I lived with a boyfriend. I moved into his new condo with him. it was his pride and joy and we struggled because it felt like his place in a lot of ways, not our place.
Awesome post Julie! Although my husband and I didn’t live together until after we got married, I was shaking my head to almost everything that you said above! The most important piece of advice I have (in marriage) is that you have to be unselfish. I am constantly thinking about what would be best for my hubby instead of what is best for me. When you have that philosophy, life is a lot easier because you are more chill about each others quirks and you can laugh about the small stuff. Laughter is the best medicine.
Great post!! My boyfriend and I have been dating for about 2 and a half years, we are both out of college, living in the same city but in separate apartments. I don’t think we will live together until we get married, but I still have fears about some of the stuff you talked about!! I’m like you, I love my alone time, and I feel like my bf is just like Ryan! There are going to be times when I just want to be alone and I think thats normal!! I honestly can’t wait to live together! I think it’s going to make certain things a lot easier, but i’m trying not to be blinded by the fact that some things will be a lot more challenging!
Thanks for posting about this! I’m going to refer back to this in the future 🙂
Love, love, love this post! My boyfriend and I did it very similarly to you and Ryan, only with less “dating” time. We started dating in September ’08, and I moved into my own studio in July ’09. He continued to live at his place for the next year, but since he was always at my place anyway, we moved into the 1-bedroom apartment across the hall from me in September ’10… putting two people in a 280 sq. ft. studio is asking just a liiiitle too much!
Honestly, like you said, it’s been better since we started living together (and got the space we needed for two people!). We’re both very conscious of one another’s “alone time” needs, and it’s not uncommon for me to hole up in our bed with a book while he veges on the couch with his Xbox for an hour after we both get home from work. Communication is KEY – we have the same problem with the dishes/resentment thing, so it’s really important for one of us to let the other know if something is bothering us!
Lastly, keep the private stuff private – I have friends who have no problem letting their significant other see them do things like floss, shave, etc…. but I don’t, because there are SOME things that should remain a mystery!
Haha, about the flossing/shaving/other personal things, my husband and I crossed those barriers a LONG time ago. Once we’d helped each other get through the flu (TMI ALERT: he held my hair back for me, while I had to bail his vom out of the bathroom sink when he couldn’t make it to the toilet), we figured we’ll probably be changing each other’s diapers in 60 years, too. I definitely see why some people prefer the “mystery” but I personally like having it all in the open 🙂 Plus, he works such long hours, sometimes the only time I can talk to him is while he’s getting ready in the morning!
i really do love the idea of keeping things private… but, like you, katie, ryan and i let it ALL out there. i think we had similar experiences with sickness where we were forced to get down and dirty realllll quick.
Craig and I were planning on waiting till marriage to move in, but we got a new little puppy so we changed our plans. I agree with you, the importance of planning dates and not just falling into the “roommate” mode. We have been pretty good about still going out for dinner and making time for other things outside of our apartment involving just us 🙂
I think the hardest thing for the both of us has been having to get rid of some of our own stuff so we have enough room.
Love this post!
My boyfriend and I have been living together for about 10 months now and have been dating for about 4 1/2 years. The decision to sign a lease together definitely took about a year of thinking through, talking about, and planning. He was ready for it much earlier than I was, but he was great about making sure I knew that he would be patient until whenever I was ready to live with him, even if that meant until after we were married…
When we did decide to live together, my family did not take it well. His family was fine with it, and his parents gave us some really good advice and questions to consider (which helped us be even more prepared for that ‘next step’), but my parents were not very approving. And plain and simple–that was really hard for me. After making sure they knew that we had spent really more than a year just thinking through things and talking about what was best for us, they were a little bit more okay with it, and now they seem to be alright with it but never talk to me about it.
My advice?
1. Make sure that finances are discussed. I’m just like you, Julie, and agree that finances should be split/separate until we get married. It seems more appropriate that way, and we’re really just more comfortable doing it the “fair” way.
2. Set specific times for dates and “couple time.” The hardest thing I dealt with when moving in together was finding the difference between being home together and actually spending quality time “working on” our relationship. Once we talked about that balance and made some distinctions, it’s really worked perfectly because we focus on and value the romantic/fun time we have together!
i LOVE this. i moved in with my (now husband) pretty shortly after dating and people were quick to give us their ‘opinion’. if you feel like it’s time and you are ready, go for it. not everyone has to like it as long as you and the person you live with are on the same page!
love this post! i think you got everything covered. i found myself nodding, agreeing w/everything you said. especially the roomate rut….i feel like i’ve been stuck in that for awhile! i’m gonna go get my date nights back! (seriously time together has been spent apartment shopping and grocery shopping. it’s time to bring back the romance!)
I absolutely loved this post!! I am not moving in til we get married but this is AWESOME advice none the less!
I’ve only ever lived with my hubby since we were married but I would say every one of these tips helps in any situation! Especially communicating…but thats always the best tip!
My BF and I don’t live together, but would say by far our biggest issue has been learning to communicate. We just got back together after a tough break-up, and I feel like I understand him so much better now–the hardest thing was realizing that I am just plain chattier than he is! For a while there, if we weren’t talking every second, I just felt like he didn’t care about me. If we were sitting on the couch not talking (on our laptops or something), I felt like something was wrong. Once I voiced my concerns, I began to realize how much he does love me, and how silence can be comfortable and companionable.
I moved in with the BF only once I knew we were going to get married. It wasn’t a vague idea-we had dates and real plans. Only after that-did I feel comfortable.
I’m a lucky girl-he pays all the rent, utilities, groceries, supplies..etc. He is better off than I am financially and he wants me to focus on paying off my student loan. He’s investing in out future.
You know when I knew it was right to move in? When I come home from work and I see the lights are on because he got home before me. My heart literally leaps because I’m so excited to see him.
I loved this post! Paul and I have been discussing what steps we’ll be taking after I graduate. Although we both see marriage in our future, we’re not ready to be engaged yet. I don’t think I’d live with him before we were engaged, but you never know where life leads you! These tips are so helpful, thanks for posting 🙂
My boyfriend and I actually lived together BEFORE we started officially dating. He has been my cousin’s long-time roommate and I desperately wanted to move from NJ to VA beach. When my cousin offered me a room in his home to rent I jumped at the chance…and fell crazy in love with his roommate…oops 😉 We’ve been living together for 8 months now and are moving into our own place May 1st. It’s wacky and sounds.. FAST..but it works for us and we are honestly so happy and would do anything for each other.
With 2 kids, a husband, & a dog, I have no idea what alone time is! But it sure sounds nice!! I am 28 and have been married for 5 years, & I loved your post! I think we have almost fallen into the roomates thing. By the time my husband gets home from work, I am too exhausted from the kids, errands, appointments, & dinner to even talk with him!! I love your idea of a monthly date night & communicated better.
I can’t wait until you have kids, so that you can give advice on how to balance it all! I love all your wisdom & advice!!!
My boyfriend and I have been living together for a little over a year now, after dating for about 3 years. We lived a mile apart and were ready to take the next step! It’s been so nice to know that I will see him every day because he works late and it used to take a lot of planning to mesh our schedules! Of course, it has not always been easy as I’m Type-A and he goes with the flow. On one hand, he totally balances me out, for which I am thankful! On the other hand, I have had to coax (i.e., nag) him to do chores sometimes. All in all, we love each other and it’s definitely strengthened our bond 🙂
Corey and I moved in together during our senior year of college, but we also lived with two of his football teammates (PHEW! kept that one a secret for a LONG time! lol) He proposed before we moved into our own place.
I actually LOLed at the dishes part you wrote- I literally had the exact same kitchen-floor meltdown just a few weeks ago, due to the dishes in the sink. The funniest part is he had the exact same response as Ryan- I have to “tell him” when I want these things done. Must be a male thing!
yes! i felt like he should have just KNOWN… but i guess not. now, on his off fridays, he always says “is there anything you’d like me to do today?” we always laugh b/c i never have anything to say, but he ALWAYS does the dishes now. 🙂
‘is there anything youd like me to do today’ – aww!
I agree about the chores and not becoming roommates. I regularly complain about not doing anything fun together. We used to be better about date nights until it felt we were never home. We have a lot more date nights at home.
My boyfriend and I have been together for over two years. He graduated last year, and moved back home. I will graduate in May. We have been discussing the topic of marriage seriously, but we are not going to move in together until we’re married. We both have student loan debt, and it just makes more sense to live at home and save for the future. We have both lost friends because, once moving in with their significant others, they decided to ignore the rest of the world. We want to make sure that won’t happen, and I appreciate the fact that we love each other enough to know that we both need our independence!
Wow this post hit home for me! My boyfriend and I moved in together at the beginning of our last year of law school, mostly to save money. It ended up being a bad choice…we totally became roommates! We literally did EVERYTHING together: gym, class, study, going out with friends. Not good! Around January my boyfriend ended up getting his own place again and things couldn’t be better. Neither of us are opposed to cohabitation in the future but not while we are still in school. We still spend plenty of time together but now we both have room to breath!
I didn’t move in with husband until we were married, because it was something he really believed in. I honestly have zero advice since moving in with him was such an easy transition. We had spent so many years on the road traveling together for months at a time because we were competitive cyclists (he being a pro) that it felt like we had been living together for years! I do agree to date nights big time, or else it does feel like having a room mate.
Hi Julie,
Awesome post! My boyfriend and I have been living together for a year this month (and together 2 years), and I can honestly say it’s been such a learning curve for me…
So glad you mentioned this, Julie! As a classic introvert in a relationship with an extrovert, I’ve had to fight many small battles to get to a point of comfortably treasuring my alone time within a relationship. This is the one thing that changed a lot once we moved in together- I no longer had a place to go “home” to when I needed time alone.
What worked was designating my alone time at our apartment for times when my boyfriend is out regularly, like for basketball games or work events. That way I know I have that time! Also, if we have a group event/outing, I’ve explained to him that I am always willing to go, but may want to leave on the early side (explaining that this will be better for all involved because I’ll be able to give all my social effort, then go home to rest before I get cranky/tired.) Win-win 🙂
I lived with my ex for a year and a half, and we were engaged for the last four months. It was actually pretty ugly, because even though he was several years older than me, I ended up taking responsibility for nearly everything, especially financially, because he was just so immature. And then, when we broke up, he stayed there and I moved out, but I wasn’t able to move all of my stuff at once, and then he changed the locks (even though he never bothered to lock the doors while we lived together) so that I couldn’t get my stuff without him being there. I ended up having to have the police there when I got the rest of my belongings because he was so prone to angry and violent outbursts.
So besides my clearly poor taste in guys… 😉 I would still be willing to live with a guy before marriage. BUT there definitely be some ground rules laid out beforehand…
My fiance and I never planned on living together until after marriage and so, he’s living in his own apartment and I’m with my family! 😀 I’m the same way with alone time and I know that communicating that to ANYONE is really important. I love being with people and all, but I need time alone to talk to God, read, walk, anything! 😉
This is a really great post, thank you so much for sharing your story! I really enjoyed the “don’t become roommates” point, even though my boyfriend and I don’t live together I can see how easy that would be for it to happen! Thank you for the tips 🙂
Great tips! I can definitely relate to all of these! Our boys sound alike. 🙂
This is perfect! I’m moving in with my boyfriend next year even though we practically already live together. Thanks for all the great advice!
You hit the nail on the head with the first item on the list. It’s one I’m working through currently. Thanks for sharing all these and being so honest. I think everyone has given great advice!!!
This post came at such a perfect time – I am actually moving in with my boyfriend tomorrow!!!!!!
We have been dating for 7 years now – since high school – and he practically lived at my place for the past year anyway since he was here over half of the week, but it is still going to be a change. We made sure to find a two bedroom so we can have more space, the second room is going to be an office/man cave where his tv and stuff like that are going. I am definitely going to steal your idea and make sure we have date nights, because I really don’t want to just become roommates!
Thanks for the awesome post! I loved reading through all the comments too. My boyfriend & I have been together for almost 2 years, and we’re about to sign a lease for July next week. I stay at his apartment practically all the time anyways, and we sometimes fall into the roommate trap, but having our own time separate definitely helps.
eeeep Sadie is SO cute on the bed!
It sounds like you both were really level headed and realistic before you moved together and I liked your advice of not falling into “roommates”. It’s easy to take each other for granted when they’re always there.
My husband and I didn’t move in together until after we got married, but we spend the majority of our time at his apartment. I still need my alone time and my time with my friends which helps us to appreciate each other when we are together. My advice? Get ready to have lots of patience (on both sides) at times!!
I have lived with my partner for almost 4 years and I totally agree with you on all counts! Great post, Julie 🙂
My best advice: don’t freak out about chores. Chances are your man probably doesn’t know the correct way to wash your fancy girly clothes and will shrink your favorite skinny jeans, so put on your “big girl pants” and do the laundry yourself (unless it’s something like towels that he could handle). Same goes for dishes – he probably had a mom in his home doing the dishes for him, so he’ll probably think it’s OK to put grimey pots and pans on the top shelf and cups on the bottom… either tell him you’ll do all the dishes from now on or learn to live with his way of doing dishes – even though it is TOTALLY incorrect, it’s hard to change a lifetime of chore habits! But you take the good with the bad – the bad being that now you become that super betty crocker homemaker who has to do double chores on most days, and the good being you have a big strong man around to open the pickle jar, mow the grass, kill spiders and keep you warm at night =)
Great post. I have been living with my boyfriend for about 2 years now. It’s exciting and stressful thing but I honestly believe that the best way to make it work is to constanlt communicate with each other. (Finances, personal, house related..it doesn’t matter the topic…if something needs to be discussed ….discuss it.
well this post came at a perfect time! my boyfriend and i have been together for over 4 years. 2 of those years we didn’t live in the same state, and we still don’t live in the same city but are only an hour away and see each other often. We’ve spent weeks at a time “living” together, but we have never had a place of our own. i am finishing up grad school in june, and we have begun the apartment search together! I am nervous, but all these tips are great!
I haven’t read all the comments yet, so perhaps something like this has already been shared, but here’s my story.
My third year of college, I was dating a guy who I thought I’d marry (I was 20, about to turn 21, he was 26) who lived two hours away. We’d been dating for a year, and I decided I wanted to spend the summer living with him and find a job in his town. My parents were NOT happy because I was so young, but there wasn’t a lot they could really do, so off I went. Living together turned out to be the best mistake I ever made. All kinds of issues that would not have come up so quickly since were were long-distance reared their ugly head (he went out and drank several nights a week, invited friends over for loud drinking parties every weekend, and I found out later he was CHEATING on me- and ended up marrying one of the girls he cheated with, too). After that summer, I went back to school and broke up with him. I am so, so grateful that we didn’t end up marrying each other because I would have had to divorce him. For me, it exposed me to a whole other side of his personality that just did NOT mesh with mine. It was also nice because we had an “out” in terms of timing- I was obviously just living with him for the summer since I had to go back to school. It was a really terrible time for me, but so, so worth it.
A few months after I got back to school, I started dating my now-husband. We had been friends for a couple years, and suddenly it became more. We began dating February of our fourth year, and moved in together after we graduated. When we moved in, we had a clear timeline of when we would be engaged and married. Even though it was just one year after moving in with my ex, it was an entirely different experience. My husband and I had no adjustment issues to living together, he proposed as “scheduled” before the end of the first year, and we were married a year later. We actually combined finances when we were engaged, because to live in married student housing in Manhattan, where I was in grad school, we either needed to be married or have domestic partnership. Because we didn’t want to bump up the wedding, we filed for the DP and the joint bank accounts were proof of that.
I suppose all this to say that it IS possible that you will make a mistake by living with a boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean you won’t still have a happy ending 🙂
Thanks for sharing! My boyfriend and I just moved across the country together in January after dating for two years. It’s funny the little things that you bicker about while getting used to it – dishes, laundry, groceries – but I’m so glad that we did it. I never thought I’d live with someone I wasn’t engaged to, but things don’t always work out as planned and sometimes this is for the better. It has definitely forced both of us to become better at communicating and problem solving as a team.
I loved the “roommates” part! It’s definitely easy to forget about romance when you’re sharing a bathroom with your significant other 🙂
Remain a couple and don’t turn into just “roommates.” – This is exactly what happend to my relationship. Unfortunatley it resulted in me moving out and we currently have this awkward half way together relationship now. It’s definitely a good eye opener to live with your boyfriend and I don’t regret it at all. It’s a good test that will either make ya or break ya that’s for sure!
I never would have married my husband if we would have lived together first. Our first year of marriage was AWFUL–not too mention HIS CRAZY family. I know that is how our first year of living together would have been and I would have hit the road! He is a slob and stubborn—-the things you learn. That being said, I am SO glad we didn’t live together bc he has made me one happy woman/momma 10 years later! Yes, 10 years and 3 wonderful children– E
I love this post! Such great advice from your point of view and other readers too ; )
I never lived with a boy until Michael , my fiance, it was the best thing I ever did though for us to move in together before we even got engaged, I have to admit , it was hard at first, we had struggles, I was so used to being so independent and being on my own, that it was very difficult, but we grew together as a couple and it worked ; )
We have communication which is key, our alone time, where he will do his own thing like watch a movie downstairs and I will read or watch a movie in our room, and we respect each other! I have to admit, I kind of can;t wait to get a big house and have a huge master bathroom with two sinks ; ) lol! It can be annoying to share! I grew up with 4 sisters so it will be a day of joy when I can have my own space in a bathroom! Oh the little things! lol!
I am so glad you made this post! My boyfriend of 3 years and I will be graduating college in a couple of months. We both know we eventually (in a few more years) want to move in together; although I was just like you by thinking that I would never consider it until marriage! So it’s great to hear all your input! Great post!!
Wonderful post. My husband and I had only been in each other’s physical presence for 3 weeks total (and not consecutively) before we got married and moved in together. It can be really interesting living with someone, as you see a lot more of a person’s quirks. However, like you said, communication is key to a happy household!
You should go on House Hunters when you decide to buy a house. I’d watch it. Actually I’d watch anything on HGTV so that’s not saying much….