I live in a very red state and thought it would be easier to find similar like minded people, but I’m near the metro area. I’m outside the city, but still in the suburbs. However, the suburbs I live in and the city is one big county and the county swings blue.

My 3 year old toddler is currently homeschooled. She does jiujitsu, music class, and swimming. Nobody really talks in swimming in the waiting room. I haven’t really sussed out the moms I’ve been talking to at jiujitsu yet or another mom in music class with her kids that my kid likes to play with. I really would like more mom friends just so my kid has more people to play and socialize with. But, it’s harder to make mom/couple friends that I vibe with and can have hanging around my husband and I when we have such dark humor that goes into the politically incorrect area.

We’re an Asian couple in our 30s. We both don’t believe in God/any form of religion. I sort of like archery and shooting at the gun range, but they’re not my absolute favorite activities. I’m more of a kayaker and hiking person. I’m also a cinephile so I love going to watch movies at the theater. I vote politically right, but I feel like most of my activities/interests are very liberal coded.

I’ve never really been desperate to make friends before. I had them in the form of co-workers who I still keep in touch with even after becoming a mom and leaving the workforce. I’ve never really connected with other women as easily as I do with men (which is a good thing that I was in a male dominated industry).
But, it’s like you have a kid and you sort of need to make friends with other women now so your kid doesn’t become a weird shut in and knows how to socialize with other kids.

I’m lost. Any help here guys? 😫

People also just tend to keep to themselves too now even if you have your kid play at a playground that many other people are at.

I've been married for just over a year now and it's been quite rough. I got pregnant immediately and we were in the midst of moving in to a new house and doing renovations so I never felt like we had much of a honeymoon period. My pregnancy was also quite rough, I wouldn't change anything about the timing because I'm so grateful for our daughter but the pregnancy definitely was hard for both of us. There have been a lot of hurts, resentments, and many many bad fights where one or both of us were screaming at eachother. There are many things I imagined would be different in marriage, and many things I'm really disappointed about. I'm Christian and wouldn't divorce unless there was something extreme going on, but I have to admit that I've definitely had moments when I felt regret for marrying my husband.

I've always been on the more conservative side and value more traditional gender roles. That being said I grew up in a feminist, secular culture and I'm realizing that I haven't necessarily been very good at practicing what I claim to believe. I don't want an unhappy marriage for the rest of my life so I decided to start reading books. I read 'The Empowered Wife' and 'The Queen's Code' and am trying to put the lessons in these books into practice. I feel like when I have the energy and remember to follow the precepts, I do see some good results, but I eventually slip back into my old ways.

Has anyone else read these books and seen positive changes since putting their teachings into practice? If so, can you give specific examples? I'd love some encouragement.