My wedding day: Daddy, mommy, daughterAccording to the National Marriage Project, 58 percent of first births in lower-middle-class households and 40 percent of all U.S. births are to unwed mothers. A recent article in the Atlantic looks beyond those statistics; the author makes the case that no one is asking women how they feel about being unwed mothers -- a good question, and one that I can answer on my own behalf.

For the first three years of my daughter’s life, I was an unwed mother, and I didn’t like it, AT ALL. Ten years later, it turns out I was merely ahead of the celebrity trend (first baby, then engagement!), but at the time, not having that “piece of paper” made me feel vulnerable and not quite rooted.

Aww. How cute. Bachelor Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici are "playing house" out in L.A. while he's taking part in Dancing With the Stars, so it seems as though they're already living like husband and wife even though they aren't married yet.

I mean, married people typically cook each other dinner, and since Sean tweeted out a photo of Catherine wearing an apron to let the world know his lady love was whipping up something delicious in the kitchen, they're obviously enjoying a "normal" life without any cameras following them around.

I've been a vegetarian pretty much all of my life. Even as a kid, I cried if anyone tried to make me eat meat. By the time I was 12, my family gave up and I was allowed to drop meat from my menu -- though I still ate chicken occasionally, turkey on Thanksgiving Day, and fish. By the time I was 21, I dropped the turkey and chicken entirely. Now, I still eat fish once in a while but rarely (mostly sushi). That doesn't mean, however, that I've exclusively dated vegetarians. In fact, I've dated some meat lovers. Here are five ways I've made it work.

I still remember the day my mom took me to the bank, filled out some forms, and set up a bank account in my name. It was a pretty big deal, even if her name was on the account as well.

When I eventually got married a couple of decades later, I didn't even give a second thought to having a separate bank account from my wife. We were getting married after all, so half of my stuff was her's and vice versa, right?

Neither of us are crazy risk takers in the finance department, nor are we penny-pinching sticklers who balance their checkbooks to the penny each and every day. We spend money on fun things, but are responsible enough to make sure we have all the bills and major expenses covered.

I can relate to wanting to avoid unpleasant relationship conversations, but this really takes the cake. Rahmell Pettway, 36 (and therefore old enough to know better), went AWOL from his Brooklyn home for TWO WEEKS -- and then came up with a genius mastermind plan to avoid facing his girlfriend’s wrath: he faked his own kidnapping! Seriously, aren't you wondering why you never come up with these great ideas?

Pettway managed to slap duct tape over his eyes and mouth and get himself hogtied, which I must say is rather impressive if he acted alone, and left himself between two parked cars to be "discovered" at 1 a.m. Thursday. Police who came to the scene were somewhat suspicious when they noticed he still had the roll of duct tape dangling from his wrist, but Pettway ended up at the hospital anyway.

I've never lived alone before.

No, stop staring at me like that -- I swear, I have good reasons. I got pregnant and waddled from an apartment I shared with my ex back to the house I lived in with my parents so that I could go to nursing school and get a job that pays more than "do you want fries with that?"

Then, I met and married my husband shortly after graduation, when we bought a condo together. So in all those years, I was always living with someone.

But July, we decided to divorce after nearly 10 years of marriage and I moved into my own place. Which means that I'm in the process of learning how to live on my own. I couldn't be happier, but it's hard to get used to sometimes. Here's how I'm learning to live alone after my divorce.

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone. And whether you go all out with the flowers, candy and ginormous teddy bears or you simply think it's a huge load of bunk, well, it doesn't really matter now. The day has passed. But the feelings shouldn't.

Know what? Screw Valentine's Day. Cupid can go shove it where the sun don't shine. No, you want to be romantic? You want to get those butterfly feelings in your stomach just like you had on your first date long ago? Good. Then every single day should be your Valentine's Day. Spread the love 365 times a year.

To help you keep that flame burning, here's a list of 8 things couples need to do every single day! This may be one of the cheesiest things I've ever written, but hey, other than lactose-intolerant folks, who doesn't love cheese?

When is the honeymoon officially over? Ah, the perennial question. For some, it never ends. For some, it never starts. But what about the rest of us? A new poll claims that the "honeymoon period" is over after three and a half years. Sheesh. Not a very long honeymoon, eh? After this amount of time, couples apparently start showing some very worrying signs -- preferring sleep over sex, going to bed at different times, eating in different rooms, and gazing adoringly at the television screen instead of at their spouse.