WORKING WITH MY SPOUSE

Being Newlyweds and working together full-time, Neal and I spend a lot of time together. Many people ask us how we make it work, living and working side by side. The truth is, it takes a lot of patience, forgiveness, grace, respect and gratitude. One of our favourite books we read before getting married was The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller. I’d recommend it to all couples and even singles who are planning to get married one day. That book provided a really good foundation for our relationship and starting out in our marriage. One of the things we try to instill is a cut off time when we finish work and put it away for the evening. There is a time to get stuff done and hustle, but in the evenings we try to shut it all off and just enjoy each other, whether it’s cooking together or going out on a date night. It’s really important to still make time for each other in a non-work related way, since our work is a huge part of our lives. Admittedly, this can be hard for us, as our work never stops running two businesses (I also have a print shop)Â while maintaining a social life, family and friends. You have to take breaks for your sanity and for your health!

When we start our days we don’t dive right in to work immediately (with exception to a few times). We love to make our morning coffee (I love my lattes) with our Nespresso Vertuoline machine and snuggle up on the couch to talk about our plan of attack for the day. It eases us into work, but it’s still a sweet ritualÂ I really love when starting the day together.

Â Another thing we both try to do is encourage and thank one another. If Neal is tidying up something while I’m on a work call, I make a note of it to thank him and show appreciation (vice versa). It’s so easy to get in the habitÂ to forget little things like that, but it really makes all the difference. I have loved having my husband on my team. We definitely have long days of work (fuelled by our trusty Nespresso), but I wouldn’t trade it for anything!