Trisha Yearwood reveals the secret to her long-lasting marriage to Garth Brooks

Country superstars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood credit a mantra for keeping their 13-year marriage (his second, her third) a happy one. “It should have been in our vows,” jokes Yearwood. “We didn’t want to be together to be apart.” That means they do “most everything” as a twosome, she says, from playing old-school Nintendo (Mario Kart!), to touring, to building houses for Habitat for Humanity — which they’ve done since 2007.

“You get to see your wife in ways you never thought you would,” says 56-year-old Brooks of the experience. “I gotta tell you, there’s not a build that we leave that I’m not more in love with her than when we got there!”

Other shared passions include playing sports and working on their farm. Brooks calls his wife “one hell of an athlete,” and says the pair enjoy shooting hoops and hitting the ice. “Talk about being in love with somebody,” gushes the “Friends in Low Places” crooner. “When you look great in full hockey gear, that’ll fill your heart right there.”

When they do have to spend time away from each other, 53-year-old Yearwood says, “We plan our days if we’re gonna be apart so that we can get back together as soon as possible.”

Though their love story sounds like a fairy-tale, Yearwood notes that they’ve put in a lot of hard work over the years. “People thought well, two celebrities who are in the same business, they won’t last,” she shares. Now, the “She’s in Love With the Boy” singer counts Brooks’ three daughters from his previous marriage as her “bonus daughters,” and says, “I’m invested in this family, this is what I want for myself and no offense to anything else in my past, but I get it, I get it now and this is what I want. So we just earn it. Day by day.”

For more on Yearwood and Brooks’ marriage, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands now.