You've had your champagne, exchanged kisses at midnight and promised that 2012 would be the best year yet. Now, how do you make that happen?

"We need to come off the romantic notion that marriage is all about romance and passion," said Dr. Jacqueline Del Rosario. 

In other words, she believes your spouse should not complete you.  

"You should come to the marriage complete already," she said.

Del Rosario said more important than passion is compatibility.

"Suzy Straight-Lace needs to find Mr. Straight-Lace," she said.

But if you're different and already married, she said you must learn the art of negotiation.

Laura Berger and her husband, Glen Tibaldeo, figured that out when they ditched their high-paying corporate jobs for a yearlong adventure in the jungles of Costa Rica.

"We come from corporate backgrounds, so we did things with stickies and boards," said Tibaldeo.

The couple thrived on a method called "write, read, relate." They picked a topic each day and wrote in a journal about it for 10 minutes. Then, they'd exchange notebooks.

"It's reading your spouse's personal journal," said Berger.

The couple and the councilor agreed that in 2012, families should get organized and move toward marital bliss.

For more helpful hints, head to the Best Marriage Keys website and the Write Read And Relate website.