Tips That Will Save Your Marriage

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Dax Shepard must be some kind of relationship genius.

The actor (Idiocracy, This Is Where I Leave You) has married, and somehow continues to be married to, one of the most beautiful, talented and wildly successful actresses working today, Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Frozen). It’s been exactly one year since their nuptials, and not only are they still very much together, Bell appears to be more smitten than ever.

“I’m under his spell,” she admits of her husband. “Or maybe I’ve got Stockholm Syndrome, I don’t know. He’s winning at this marriage thing, I’ll tell you that much.”

How did Shepard ace his first year of marriage? Bell shares some of his secrets.

1. SPOIL HER

For Bell’s 31st birthday, Shepard surprised his then fiancée by bringing a sloth, her favorite animal, to their house for her birthday party. (Her reaction, an emotional meltdown of unadulterated happiness, became a viral hit online.) And he’s upped his game every year.

For her last birthday, in July, he announced that the celebration would be literally never-ending. “On my birthday, I call all the shots,” she says. “Everything we do, it’s up to me.”

This year, he extended it through the weekend, and then into the next week. “When I asked him how much longer he was gonna spoil me like this, he said, ‘Until you’re sick of it.'”

As of this writing, it continues to be Bell’s birthday.

2. YOU DON’T HAVE TO SPEND A FORTUNE

Shepard spent a grand total of $142 for their wedding, which took place at the Beverly Hills courthouse. But he made it a special day with small details, none of which cost him a dime.

“He wanted to pick out my outfit, which I thought was completely romantic,” says Bell. “Guys aren’t supposed to care about stuff like that. He also made me a playlist of all my favorite songs for the ride over to the courthouse. That, to me, was better than any big, fancy wedding.”

Bell is more impressed by creativity than gifts. “It’s never about flowers and chocolate,” she says. “The creative stuff is what keeps me interested and on my toes.”

3. RESPECT (SOME OF) HER CRAZY REQUESTS

Bell has some odd idiosyncrasies. She won’t allow bugs to be killed in her house, for instance.

“I don’t want anything squashed or walked on,” she says. “It makes me feel like my house has less love in it.” So she requests that all trespassing insects be escorted out, a policy that Shepard abides by, even though “I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m nuts.”

But Bell says that doesn’t mean Shepard blindly agrees to her every whim. “I can’t stress this enough, he’s not a doormat,” she insists. “He has no fear of pointing out a character defect or telling me if I’ve lost my marbles momentarily. He respects me and tries to accommodate me, but he will not let me railroad him.”

4. ADMIT WHEN YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE

Like any married couple, Bell and Shepard have plenty of fights. And during those fights, they can occasionally be jerks to each other. But the important difference, she says, is that Shepard is well aware when he’s being an asshole, and is usually the first to admit it.

“We have a perfect relationship because we both aren’t afraid to admit that we’re not perfect,” she says. “Once you can admit that you’re not perfect and you mess up all the time, it’s so incredibly freeing.”

5. FIND WHAT MAKES HER LAUGH

Humor is a subjective thing. Not everybody laughs at the same thing. But if you find out what tickles her funny bone, you’ll never have to tip-toe around a bad mood again. For Bell, she can’t resist what she calls “his Frito voice.” Frito is a slow-witted imbecile that Shepard played in Idiocracy, the 2006 Mike Judge cult comedy. “Maybe I’ll come home frustrated from work, or I’m just PMSing,” says Bell. “He’ll be Frito for a half hour and speak to me only in that voice.” It may take some time, she says, but he’ll wear her down soon enough. “I can’t stay sad or bitchy when I’m laughing that hard.”

6. HAVE MAN-CRUSHES

Shepard loves Brad Pitt, so much that Ellen DeGeneres once gave him a painting of him and Pitt dressed like cowboys.

It ended up in their bedroom, “hanging above our marital bed,” says Bell. (It eventually moved to the garage.)

Bell isn’t threatened by Shepard’s obsession with Brad Pitt. “It’s adorable,” she says. When they watch the summer Olympics together, Shepard is especially interested in the male swimmers “and whether he can see everyone’s dick and balls. Or whether their shoulder blades are as big as Hugh Jackman’s.”

Most straight guys would be hesitant to show so much enthusiasm for male bodies, but Shepard is far from shy. “It take a lot of self-confidence about your own sexuality to admit that other men can be gorgeous,” Bell says. “I think that’s very attractive.”

 

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Tips That Will Save Your Marriage