Come as You Are

Marry someone you love exactly as they are, and be sure they feel the same. That way, you'll never expect more of each other than you are each happy to give. I didn't realize this until my second marriage. Another secret? Don't get married until you're sure of who you are.
Lisa Noll
Martinsburg, West Virginia

The Fun House

Tickle fights! Several times a week, my husband and I engage in a spontaneous tickle-battle royale. I almost always lose, but writhing in giggles is a great way to end the evening.
Karla Perrin
London, Ohio

My husband and I have a strict rule: Never argue with your clothes on. If we are out and about to fight, we know that we have to wait until we're home and undressed. By then we've usually forgotten what the trouble was about.
Amy Hadsall
Cameron, North Carolina

Playfulness. We snap wet dish towels at each other and joke around. I thank my husband for teaching me to have fun. We are the parents of an autistic son, and much of the last nine years has been rough―however, my husband has always taken the time to play with me.
Susan Garcia
La Verne, California

My husband shows he's thinking of me by buying me unusual gifts. My favorite is the pair of giant clown shoes he had handmade for me. I wore them with a dress to the formal Christmas dinner at his family's home.
Kristen Frame
Newark, Ohio

Friday-night dates. We might eat at a nice restaurant, go bowling, or just sit at home with a freshly purchased gallon of ice cream and (to my husband's dismay) the latest chick flick.
Anjanette Paul
Las Vegas, Nevada

Rules of the Game

We choose to stay in love. We have traversed parenting, careers, finances, the loss of a pregnancy and loved ones, and fussing over whose turn it is to cook breakfast. He watches Pride and Prejudice for me, and I watch Ultimate Fighting Championship for him. We've changed, but we still choose each other.
Leah Moon
Toledo, Ohio

My husband and I always make sure that the bedroom is our private place. Not just for physical intimacy, but for having a space to talk and be together.
Carol Czerniawski
Palatine, Illinois

Knowing the grass isn't greener on the other side. My husband and I married a bit later than the average couple, and by then we had both had plenty of time to "sow our oats." We truly love one another and never wonder "what if," mainly because we've been there and done that. We know we want to be together, without question.
Amy Dodson
Richmond, Virginia

My father asked me this same question when I was in college. Full of know-it-all, psychology-major cockiness, I answered, "Love and trust." "Wrong," he said. Stumped, I followed up with "Communication." Wrong again. His answer: sex and money. If a couple can't get those two things right, then they're not going to be happy. After eight years of marriage, my husband still chases me around the house, and courting expenses are built into the budget.
Joneis Thomas
Colonial Beach, Virginia