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When you invest your time, energy and financial resources into your marriage, mountains move, legacies change, generational wounds heal.

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Have you ever wondered what makes the difference between those couples who absolutely love to be together and the ones who merely tolerate each other in their old age?

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Hi, I'm Monica Tanner, wife to a super hunky man, mom to four kids, relationship coach and intimacy expert.

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My goal with this podcast is to help you and your partner swap resentment for romance, escape the roommate rut and nurture a bond built on trust, communication and unconditional love.

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Each week, I'm sharing the secret strategies that keep couples madly in love, dedicated and downright giddy about each other, from the honeymoon phase to the golden years.

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I'm on a mission to craft the code of happily ever after, and I'm sharing those juicy secrets right here, because an awesome marriage makes life so much sweeter.

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Let's get to it. Hello and welcome to the secrets of happily ever after podcast.

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I'm your host, monica Tanner, and I'm so excited to just record a quick episode for you guys today.

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I know we're just a few days away from Christmas, and so I wanted to record a quick, easy to the point, but powerful and valuable episode for you, with a shot of how to keep the intimacy alive even during the absolute busiest week of the year.

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So as you're celebrating this magical time of year, I want you to remember to think specifically about your spouse, your sweetheart and your marriage relationship.

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I know if you have children and grandchildren.

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This holiday is about creating magic and making everybody's dreams come true, but in the hustle and bustle, it's easy to forget our partner.

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It's easy to get short-tempered and frustrated.

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There are a lot of emotions that are associated with the holidays.

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Some of us have really difficult things like losing a loved one or remembering somebody who is really important to us and maybe no longer is with us.

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There's lots of old family of origin wounds that come up during the holidays.

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I get a lot of emergency calls from my clients during this time of year, so I know that it can be tough, but one of the ways in which we can really build trust with our partners and make this holiday time special and connecting is to A give our spouse a little bit of grace during this time of year, give them the benefit of the doubt, as well as make a concerted effort to find times to connect.

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So I want to give you a list of quick and easy things that you can do to keep the intimacy high in your relationship this next week.

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So I want you to make sure that you're still going on date night and it doesn't have to be away from the house.

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But if you do want to go out, do something fun for the holidays, like take a drive and look at Christmas lights, take some hot cocoa with you.

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You could even do some last minute Christmas shopping.

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Or you can just stay home and have a hot cup of cocoa by the fire or watch a Hallmark movie together.

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There are so many meaningful ways that you can spend time just with your sweetheart and show them that they are your number one priority.

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I also want you to think of a few other things that you can do to show your spouse how much they mean to you.

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This could be anything from writing them a letter at the end of the year talking about how much you appreciate spending this past year with them, or things that you're looking forward to the next year.

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You could write them a encouraging note on their mirror letting them know that you are thinking about them.

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Plan a busy morning to bring them breakfast in bed so that they can sleep in.

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They're stocking full of goodies that you know that they love but maybe they don't think about throughout the year.

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But you know that on special occasions these things mean a lot to them.

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Make sure that, no matter how busy you are during this time of year, that you're planning in a little bit of sexy time, because I guarantee, when emotions run high and there's a lot going on, taking a little bit of extra time to ensure that your strengthening your intimate connection will help you get through all of the challenges and the chaos that this season often brings.

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How you taking the intimacy level quiz?

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Yet If not, you absolutely should.

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All you have to do is go to Monica Tanner dot com backslash quiz and take a three minute quiz.

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At the end I'll tell you what level of intimacy you and your spouse are at and I'll give you next steps to be able to increase your intimacy.

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Regardless of what level you're at, you can always make improvements.

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So do yourself a favor and go to Monica Tanner dot com backslash quiz and learn about your level of intimacy and how to improve it.

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And, last but not least, and certainly most importantly, I want you to think about how you will prioritize your marriage by investing time, energy and financial resources into your relationship in the coming year.

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I guarantee that the most powerful and meaningful gift you can give each other is the gift of your commitment, a commitment to work on strengthening your relationship.

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There is no better gift that you could give to your children or your partner or yourself, than your commitment to learn greater relational skills, to go out on date nights, to continue your daily connection traditions and to be the very best version of you for your partner that you possibly can be.

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Now you can do this through subscriptions to podcasts, getting a course you want to go through together, joining something like the passionate marriage club, or purchasing a date night journal so you can keep track of the dates you're going on in 2024.

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You could even sign up for couples coaching.

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I guarantee it's worth whatever investment that you make to make 2024 your best year ever.

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I've seen it time and time again you invest your time, energy and financial resources into your marriage.

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Mountains move, legacies change, generational wounds heal.

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Do it for yourself, do it for your sweetheart and do it for those beautiful children From my heart to yours.

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Happy holidays and we'll see you same time, same place next week.

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And until then, happy marriage.

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Check out my website, monica Tanner dot com to find out more ways you can work with me and, as always, thank you so much for spending this time with me.