@Tink112011,
I love it when my hubs does the dishes. It makes me so happy! But to the OP, yes, I know quite a few. More so since moving to the Bay Area. We were stationed in the south a lot as a kid, and I don't recall a lot of happy marriages. I'm generalizing, but out here people get married later. I think, and again a sweeping generalization, people know themselves a bit better. Or it could be we just know cool people.
The hubs and I keep things fun by spicing it up now and then. Just hit 5 years a few months ago. Oh he still drives me nuts sometimes, more so when we sleep deprived or have a sick kid, but 95% I'm a happy camper in our tent.
We've only been married 4 years, so I have nothing to say there.
But I can easily think of half a dozen or more truly happy and physically-charged 10+ marriages. Trying to think of common denominators from the outside, they all have both separate interests and as-a-couple activities, and I do think it's important to have both. They meet different needs. And I do know a lot of unhappy couples who either only socialize together or only socialize apart.
The only marriage I know that's super romantic after 10+ years is my mom and step dad. DH and I have been together for 7 years and married for almost 4 and I am starting to get concerned. We are having a lot of problems and I'm not sure we're going to make it.
Re: Frightening Marriage Thought
my read shelf: