Top 6 Tips for Women to Have a Happier, Healthier Marriage

6. Don't Nag! That's right, you heard me ladies. No nagging, whining, complaining, moaning and groaning. And no yelling!! You don't want the kids to do it, so you shouldn't either. Yes, I know the garbage is spilling on the floor for the past two weeks, and he still hasn't taken it out. Nagging will not help that, and in the end, nagging often (if not always) hurts the relationship. Just trust me on this. Try no nagging and no yelling for a month and see what happens. If you need your husband to do something, gently ask or remind him once, and then let it go. He is a big boy; he does not need you to be constantly telling him what to do and when to do it. He married you to be his wife, not his mother. Married to his mom is not sexy.

5. Pretend to be a girl. Oh, what? You are a girl? Well, that's good. That's a start. Remember, like it or not, that men are visual creatures. So slopping around in a potato sack all day isn't totally fetching, know what I mean? Now, I know what you're going to say: you're too busy, too tired, or too mad at the world to comb your hair. I totally understand. However, a shower, a blow dryer, and a little makeup can go a long way in rekindling the fire in your relationship (if you get really crazy, you could try shaving your legs, wearing a dress, etc. but I didn't say that out loud). If you want your marriage to get better, then you need to make it a priority and make time for making yourself presentable. It doesn't have to be an extreme makeover ladies; wiping the eye goo off your face is a good starting place. Take baby steps with this.

4. Say would instead of could. I don't know why this matters or why it works, but it does. It is stupid and crazy, but hey, if it works, don't knock it. Here's the scoop -- when you need your husband to do something, ask using the word would or will, not could or can.

Example 1: Could you take the garbage out? Translates into his brain - uh, yeah, I suppose that's feasible, and he goes back to whatever he's doing, perhaps wondering why his wife had to ask such a dumb question. Garbage goes no where. Wife angry.

Example 2: Would you take the garbage out? Translates into his brain - hmm, she wants me to take out the garbage now. OK. Garbage gone. Wife happy. Yay.

I have tried this technique faithfully, and my success rate at getting garbage taken out has gone from 0% to 100%. I'm not kidding. I think I read in some "women are from Pluto, men from planet Zoltan" book that when men hear "could" or "can" it just means, is it feasible? When they hear "would" or "will", they have to stop and make a decision. It's just their Zoltan language. On the rare occasion my hubby couldn't take it out, he said no not right now, but he agreed to doing it later and did.

3. Get a life. Your honey loves you, but that doesn't mean he wants a parasitic twin growing out his shoulder. Go do your own thing every once in a while -- get a hobby, take a class, see your own friends, be busy with your own interests. This works for a happier, healthier marriage, because it allows the husband to pursue his own interests (guys' night out, sports, video games, etc.) while at the same time the wife is happy and busy worrying about her own interests instead of nagging him for not spending more time with her. That's not to say together time isn't important, it is very important, but too much together time leads to co-dependency issues and back to that old nagging problem.

2. Remember men cannot read your mind. I think this is like the most important advice I can give. So many of us women assume that our husbands should just know what we want without us verbalizing it; or by interpreting our cryptic conversations or yoga poses, hoping he'll figure it out without us really saying it out loud. For example, when I say, "What do you think about sardines for dinner?" while making a peace sign and doing my best squatting sparrow tai chi stance, I really mean "Will you get some pizza?" For some reason, the husband just doesn't get pizza out of sardines and wonders why I'm squatting like that.... Seriously, girls, while we are great at understanding subtle hints, context clues, and body language, men are not good at this. Just tell them in plain, basic terms what you want. Be direct. Say it out loud.

1. Have Sex. Just do it. You and the husband will be much happier for it.