I hate to admit it but I’ve watched a few episodes of The Marriage Ref. (What? There was nothing else on TV!)  While it’s not exactly great television (or even remotely good television), it did get me thinking about the whole idea of having a relationship referee. Those guys in the black and white stripes keep sporting events fair, so imagine what they could do for a couple.

OK, so maybe not an actual ref, but a friend or some other unbiased third party (who looks less creepy than that guy on TV) would be nice.

It’s no secret that fights between a boyfriend and a girlfriend can get really heated really fast. There are just so many feelings to deal with. What starts out as a simple comment soon blows up into name calling, door slamming and silent treatmenting. (It’s a word, OK?)  Both parties are yelling but no one is really listening, anxious to get their feelings off their chest. Sometimes you can work it out, but sometimes it gets to the point where you’re both just too tired to try anymore and someone just gives up. Until the next time when all these old feelings come barreling out.

Wouldn’t it be awesome to have someone else there to keep things fair? To bust out a gavel and make a final ruling? To make sure everyone leaves feeling validated?

Sounds pretty good to me. Read More »

Back when Matt and I were first dating freshman year, it came time for us to register for our next semester’s classes. He and I both wanted to take Japanese as our foreign language, but agreed that it’d be better off if we took it at different times. He thought I’d be a distraction, and I didn’t want to compete with him over grades.

This past semester however, for our third semester of Japanese (seriously, why FOUR semesters of a foreign language? excessive, no?), we both had such weird and limiting schedules that we ended up in the same class. I was prepared for the worst, since less than a year before Matt said he hated the idea of us with a class together. To my surprise, he was actually looking forward to it. We did survive, but now, for our final semester, we are back to different professors at different time. Like most relationship happenings, having class with my significant other was full of ups and downs:

Up:
The convenience factor. We only had to buy one book (which, let’s be honest, saves a giant chunk of change). We also got to ride the bus to school together and if I was home sick (thanks, flu season ’09), Matt could turn in my work for me.

Down:
Distraction. You try not talking to your boyfriend when you’re sitting next to him in class three days a week. Read More »

"Why can't you just let me watch The Hills in peace?!"

One of the things I love about my boyfriend is that we have a lot in common. We both like football, video games, movies, and music. However, we have a few differences as to what exactly we like.

Over the summer we went out to go see Funny People because we both like Judd Apatow movies and we thought it’d be really good. I thought it was really funny and that while, yeah it dragged a little bit, I enjoyed it. Matt on the other hand, HATED IT. And he felt the need to list every. single. reason why. All I heard for the rest of the night was Matt trashing the movie that I actually liked. Naturally, I was annoyed. Read More »

Well ladies, since our lovely Dannia has been sharing her tales of the single life, I’m here to bring you the other half; the committed life. That’s right. I, Sarabeth, have a serious boyfriend while in college. Some may call me stupid, others crazy, but I like to think that I’m lucky.

Trust me, I’m not here to glamorize having a boyfriend or to make the single ladies feel bad. And believe me, I did NOT come to college for my MRS. degree. Quite the opposite, actually. I just feel that us long-term girlfriends seem to be a minority in college, and I’m here to give them a voice.

For one thing, having a college relationship is far from easy. My boyfriend, Matt, and I have been together for almost 2 years. There have been fights, sex droughts, upset friends, and jealous exes. But we’ve gone through a lot and I’m proud to say that he’s the one for me.

Sometimes I feel like I’m too young for this; like when I find out he’s been calling his mom to try to get his grandmother’s engagement ring and I’m on my couch watching reruns of Run’s House. Other times, I feel a million times older than my friends when I say I’m staying in to bake a casserole. But putting all that aside, what keeps me happy is knowing that we’re going to get through the tough stuff of our 20s together. Read More »