The Best Marriage Apps To Build A Healthy Relationship*

 AD - This is a collaborative post

We are currently living in a modern-day age of enlightenment. It seems like everyday there's a new app out there. Over time, we've grown to love our smartphones for facilitating our everyday lives. Venmo allows us to send money, MyFitnessPal helps us stay healthy, and Instagram keeps us upto date with the latest memes. But, what if we were to tell you that there are some apps to help strengthen your marriage. Here are some of the best apps to help you build and maintain a healthy marriage:

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1. Raft
If you and your spouse are having a hard time remembering each other's schedules, you need to download Raft ASAP. Raft is a scheduling app that works as a social media platform. You can upload any upcoming medical appointments, birthdays, or work meetings, and it will notify your partner about them. This app is great because it creates harmony within your marriage. When you and your spouse are aware of each other's happenings, you are building trust and making space for each other.

2. Headspace
One of the biggest aspects of marriage is your mental health. When we are struggling emotionally, it affects our relationship. Headspace is a great app to help you reduce stress and improve your sleeping habits through mindful activities and guided meditation. Headspace is a single-user app, but that shouldn't keep you from exploring these assignments with your partner.

3. Mint
If you're looking to work through any financial issues with your spouse, we recommend Mint. With Mint, you and your spouse can track ALL of your finances. We know it sounds scary, but you should be aware of each other's spending habits to cut certain expenses out if needed. If one of you forgot to end a free trial or accidentally signed up for another Amazon Prime account, Mint is there to warn you. Money is a tricky subject to bring up to your spouse, but not doing it at all will strain your marriage.

4. Relish
Relish is an app that is specifically designed for couples. Through their coaching services, personalised lesson plans, and interactive tasks, Relish will help you and your spouse achieve all your marital goals. The app also gives you access to all kinds of content, including articles and quizzes. Relish is a great investment for your relationship, even if you and your spouse aren't going through a rough patch. Their main goal is to help you improve your communication and strengthen your connection with your partner.

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3 Reasons I Love Reading

I've always been a bit of a bookworm, right back to when I was young, I remember whizzing through books in primary school! There have definitely been times where I've gone an age without even thinking about reading as I've got older but a few years ago my love for it really came back and since then I've pretty much not stopped. As you'll see from all the book reviews I share and my reading challenge updates throughout the year, it's something I thoroughly enjoy and I thought today I'd share some of the reasons why it's something I love so much. 

It's An Escape

For me the main thing I love about reading is that it's just an escape from everyday life. Especially because of lockdown I've been finding real comfort in picking up a book this year and getting lost in the characters lives. If I couldn't leave the house, at least I could escape in some way through the books I was reading. When I've been going through a really hard time or struggling with my anxiety, books have been there and I know in times like that I can just pick up a book and for a little while at least I'll feel better. I don't have to stress about anything or hear my own thoughts going over and over the same things, it's just pure escapism.

It Helps Me Sleep

I don't know about anybody else, though I'm sure a lot of people can relate, if I spend time on my phone before bed, I struggle to switch off. My brain will be whirring for hours more often than not and I can find myself awake for hours longer than I would be otherwise because I've spent way too long scrolling endlessly on social media. I always find if I leave my phone to one side and read a little instead before bed then I get a much better sleep that night. It never fails to make my eyes sleepy and I always seem to drift off far quicker compared to the nights where I've not read at all. The danger with reading before bed that I've found a few times recently with books like Normal People and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is that I've ending up staying awake for hours just because I needed to finish the book! I'd rather have that problem though than be laid awake for ages.

It's Expanded My Vocabulary

When I read back my older posts, I see quite a lot that I repeat the same words again and again or I use the same phrases a lot and that's fine but I do really notice when I share blog posts after I've been reading a lot or if I've just finished a book. Subconsciously I think, reading really expands my vocabulary. Reading exposes you to new words and shows words in new context therefore increasing your 'mental dictionary'. It allows us more words to use in conversation and writing that we might not have done before and as a blogger, that's quite useful! Reading often can also help keep your brain healthy as you get older. Research has shown that reading books and writing may preserve memory which can only be a good thing.

So, that's 3 reasons I love reading so much. I could talk about books all day long which is why my content this year has been so book heavy but it's probably some of my favourite that I've shared so I hope you've all enjoyed reading it too!

'Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are' - Mason Cooley

Are you a big reader too?

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Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

We are big fans of Mexican food in our house. There isn't usually a week that goes by where we don't have fajitas at the weekend or a slow cooker chilli with tortilla chips but a recent firm favourite of ours is slow cooker enchiladas. 

I definitely haven't used our slow cooker much this year but as we're now fully into Autumn, it's the perfect time to bring it out again. The great thing about this enchilada recipe is that you can change it up however you wish. To save time and make life easier, I cook the chicken in a spicy sauce in the slow cooker but you could just do it in the oven if you'd prefer. If you wanted to you could add kidney beans or sweetcorn to the mix to bulk it out a little. You could fry up some Quorn chicken, add the sauce and simmer until thick if making it meat free. There's just so many ways to change this meal up and that's exactly what I like about it as I get bored easily! This specific recipe is for how I usually make these enchiladas but do with it what you wish.

Ingredients: for 2 people

2 chicken breasts

1 pepper, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

500g passata

1 tsp mixed herbs

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp cumin powder

Sprinkle of chilli flakes

Salt & pepper

4 wraps

40g mozzarella

40g grated cheddar cheese

Jalapenos

Basmati rice

Method:

1. Add your chicken breasts, crushed garlic and diced pepper to your slow cooker

2. In a jug measure out 500g of passata then add your mixed herbs, chilli powder, cumin, chilli flakes and salt and pepper and give it a good stir until everything is combined

3. Pour 400g of the passata mix over the chicken and give it all a gentle stir

4. Pop the lid on and cook on high for 4 hours

5. After 4 hours, pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees (180 fan) and then remove your chicken breasts from the slow cooker and shred with two forks. This is also when you can start your rice cooking in a saucepan

6. Pop the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker. Combine with the peppers and sauce mix and then add in 40g of grated mozzarella. When your rice is cooked, add that to the mix and give it all one final stir

7. Spray a large dish with frylight then start filling your wraps with the enchilada mix. We tend to get at least 4 wraps out of this mix but usually more

8. Pop each filled wrap seal side down into the dish and then pour over the remaining 100g of spicy passata you made earlier

9. Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese and top with a few jalapeno slices if you wish

10. Bake in the oven for around 25 minutes then serve

So that's how to make slow cooker chicken enchiladas! I find doing the majority of this in the slow cooker just saves me time and gives me one less thing to think about so it's always a winning meal in my eyes. Mexican heaven on a plate that's barely taken any effort at all!

Are you a fan of Mexican food? If so, what's your favourite?

Recipes - Cheesy veggie filled conchiglioni // Garlic & herb flatbreads // Creamy chorizo pasta

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3 Photos I Loved In September & October

 Somehow we are in November already and whilst I can't deny I am loving the fact that Christmas is on the way, with the news we've been having over the last month or so, I'm not feeling that positive that 2021 will be much better than 2020 and I just kind of want everything to slow down a little again! There was never going to be a magic switch at the end of the year but the fact we seem to be going backwards as we head towards Christmas isn't doing a great deal for my anxiety. Autumn and Winter are always my favourite times of the year and I wait for them all year round but this year it's all just felt flat. Does that make sense? I think it's just the general underlying anxiety that never seems to go away because of what's going on. What should be the best time of year where we're all seeing family, going to Christmas markets, generally celebrating after the rough start to the year, isn't going to be and I'm struggling with that. I don't want to waste this time of year but it's so hard to feel positive at the moment. Like before though, we'll get on with it and one day this will be over. Whilst I can't say my mental health was at its best towards the end of September (or last month really), it wasn't all bad! I didn't end up taking loads of photos though so I thought I'd combine September and October so here are 3 of my favourite photos from the last few months instead.

Autumn Has Arrived

As soon as September arrived, I went into full on Autumnal mode. I know it technically wasn't Autumn until the 22nd but for me the 1st of September always signals the start of things to come and with how 2020 has been, why not celebrate a little early? I dread to think how early I'll get the Christmas tree out this year... Our flat isn't full of space so unfortunately I can't go as mad as I'd like with the Autumn decor but I did add in a few extra pieces compared to last year. I've got a beautiful glass pumpkin from Homesense which has pride of place on the coffee table and I also bought these lovely handmade knitted pumpkins from Rach & Nic on Etsy recently. There's loads of colours available in a variety of sizes for a really reasonable price so I know I'll be ordering more next year (hopefully when we've got a house to fill). I've also brought out allllll the autumnal candles and the fairy lights are back on. Just so ready for all the cosy nights in. Bear is thrilled as I'm sure you can tell.Radcliffe Camera, Oxford

Last month I shared a roundup of our few nights in Oxford and I've also shared quite a lot of photos of the trip over on Instagram so it feels like I've not shut up about it but I just really enjoyed myself. It's quickly become a city that I can see us going back to many times in the future and I really am missing it now we're home. Whilst it was SO hot when we we're there, there's no denying because the sun was shining, all of the sights looked even more beautiful than I could have imagined. It's such a picturesque city and every corner you turn you just find something else to be in awe of.

Selfies with Bear

Okay Bear definitely isn't looking at the camera but I LOVE this photo. I rarely take selfies as I always pick myself apart but even when I do, there's not many I choose to share. I got some really cute photos of Bear though just before we headed out one day last month and I thought I'd get in on the action and for some reason this is my fave out of them all. He's just the cutest and I love him so much.And that wraps up this post! The 3 photos I've loved the most over the last few months. How have you found the last few weeks? Are you looking forward to Christmas yet?

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