When you've been dating someone for a few years you have a best friend, partner in crime, and someone who loves you no matter what. Like fine wine, it only gets better, or something like that. However, no relationship is perfect, and as you grow with your significant other, there are some bumps in the road:
1. The end of the honeymoon phase.
The honeymoon phase is different for every couple. For some, it lasts a few weeks. For others, it can last for a few years. Although some aspects of the honeymoon phase never truly die, like getting butterflies when you see them after you've been apart for a while, when the honeymoon phase ends it can seem like your relationship has gotten boring, but trust me—you're just about to get into the good stuff that makes a real, lasting, sturdy relationship.
2. Running out of things to talk about.
When you've spent the last several years doing life with another person, you know pretty much everything about them. You're on the same page. You're used to either experiencing things together or giving them live updates throughout your day. When life slows down, you're already all caught up and don't have many new things to say. This might seem boring, but it's also so nice to have someone know you inside and out.
3. Splitting up holidays.
When Thanksgiving and the holiday season roll around, there's the dreaded planning of whose family gets you on the actual holiday. There's also the option of party hopping, if your families live a reasonable distance away from each other, and even still that's a pain.
However, let's not forget the blessing of more food, presents, and family to share the holidays with!
4. You lose some motivation to look good.
Your significant other loves your face/hair/body no matter what. Since that first time you got sick and they didn't run for the hills, you realized that they're here to stay even when you don't look your best (which, let's be honest, is 99% of the time).
Since you definitely don't need to try to impress members of the opposite sex anymore, you don't feel the need to look great every time you walk out the door, because hey, you've got someone who loves the ~real you~. This is great, because who wants to spend all that extra time getting ready when you could be sleeping in?
It's also great because even though you look like a 4 most of the time, you've got a 10 who loves you unconditionally.
5. You've probably gained a few pounds.
Going off #4, your significant other worships your body, so you don't really feel the need to spend time sweaty and sore at the gym when you can be snuggling and eating pizza while watching Netflix together. You and your significant other have probably made pacts to work out together and motivate each other so you can both look your hottest, but usually, you end up deciding that you love each other with the bodies you currently have, and not going to the gym is way more fun than going to the gym.
6. Cute surprises are pretty much impossible to pull off.
New couples are out there being cute surprising each other with flowers and surprise dates to cool places, etc. When you've been dating for a while, you realize it is impossible to surprise your significant other. You know their daily routines and if something is off, you know. You have them on Find My Friends, so if they're on their way to surprise you at work, you know. Not to mention you know them so well that if they're planning something, you know they're up to something.
At this point you're wondering how on earth a proposal is going to work without you finding out.
7. You still haven't perfected cute couple pics.
Honestly, you'd think you'd have this down by now, but it still takes about 8,000 tries to get that perfect picture. Why is it so hard??
