Tag Archives: love

Advice to a Bride on Keeping Her Marriage Alive

I went to a lingerie shower over the weekend for one of my favorite people. She is getting married this summer and all of her home girls gathered together for a little spa and bra kind of day. One of our “assignments” was to write her our best piece of advice and read it to her as she opened her presents.

Here are some of the pieces of advice that were given (see if you can guess which one was mine *grin*)

  1. Always give your husband a passionate kiss as he walks out the door for work in the morning. It reminds him what he’s coming home to that night.
  2. Don’t quit having kinky sex!
  3. Love your life.
  4. If you’re having a disagreement or argument, hold each others hands and look into each others eyes. It’s amazing how hard it is to say things you can never take back when you’re doing that.
  5. Don’t go to bed angry.
  6. Record the great memories of your first few years of marriage. There are days in the future when you’ll need the reminders.
  7. Take the time to tell each other what you love about the other person.
  8. The best gift you can give your guy is a great steak dinner followed by a blow job.
  9. Know that when you have kids, you’ll be too tired to have sex. So have lots of it now.
  10. Have fun together!

Do you have any tips to add for the engaged couples out there?

Guest Post: House Flipper… Relationship Fixer

Thanks to one of my fellow bloggers for this guest post. It’s a good thing to learn… that dating to change someone thing… no bueno. Enjoy!

I’m a flipper. A house flipper that is. It’s what I do. I see a diamond in the rough and imagine it with a little spit and polish. Perhaps some new tiles and nice stainless steel appliances. A new roof and trimming up the trees. Ripping out carpet and refinishing some old wood floors.

Yes, I love the process. Making all the decisions to really create a new home for a young family or perhaps a newly married couple. It can really be fun. But to be honest, I like the smaller flips in up and coming neighborhoods. You know why? Well, typically I can get the best bang for my buck on the re-sale. I fix the cosmetic, look for houses that don’t need structural fixes and get really really excited about selling the house and cashing in. Then, I move on to the next.

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, last year, I realized that I’ve been flipping relationships. Sound familiar? Continue reading

Guest Post For the Guys: How To Rise Above the Rest

Let Her Know That She Is Special: By J.D.

My boyfriend and I had been dating for a few months and he was coming to town so we could go to a New Year’s Eve party together.  I knew this was the make it or break it date. I was wildly sliding between not telling people we were dating (my thinking was that if history is any indication of the future, then we’d be breaking up soon) and trying to figure out how to work his name into every single conversation (I was crazy about him!)

It wasn’t the dinner or the flowers or the fact that he had traveled halfway across the world to see me.  New Year’s Eve turned into my Let’s Make This Work night when I realized that I loved being me when he was there.  Continue reading

Guest Post: Why We Choose Love

Last week, my wife (who is universally regarded as a hard act to follow) used this space and provided an insightful, touching, and thoughtful portrait of the last part of our first year of marriage. We’ve had some hurdles already – I’m not sure I’ve ever had as much asked of me emotionally, physically and mentally as I did for four weeks in March and April.

She wrote that our marriage is successful in part because I am kind, generous and loving. It’s true – I am ;) Or at least I try very hard to be. But she is too – to an extent that I could probably never be, and she makes me a better person because of it. A person better able Continue reading

Guest Post: I Knew He Was “The One” When…

Sometimes life just throws you some curve balls, so I called in a few relief pitchers for your enjoyment over the next few weeks. A beautiful gift in my inbox, today’s post reminded me of how truly inspiring my friends are. I hope you enjoy this post by Courtney C. as much as I did…

How I knew he was the one:

My dad always used to tell me he wouldn’t pass judgment on the men I chose, because “when you think you’re in love, you’re in love.”  So true, but you can absolutely be “in love” with someone who doesn’t make a good partner for you.  And no matter how much you love that person, or even how much they love you back, it still doesn’t make it a good, healthy relationship.

I knew J was “the one” when … Continue reading

How to Know If You’re The “Other” Woman/Man

Opinions are all over the map when it comes to how much responsibility the “other woman” (or man) has for being in an affair. For essentially providing the outlet for the cheater to cheat. I’ll go on record as saying that I think the “other” woman or man has just as much responsibility as the cheater. There are always reasons and excuses and it’s easy to attempt a dodge in responsibility, but the fact of the matter is… if you know the person you are with is cheating on their significant other, then you are choosing to be with a cheater and essentially give them permission to do the exact same thing to you.

That being said, let’s assume that you are beginning to suspect that you may be the “other” and that is NOT ok with you… here are some rules of thumb for spotting a cheater: Continue reading

Failure To Launch

I posted this topic in 2008 in a little different light, but it seems to be an even more current issue today. So I’ve edited and reposted and am curious as to what you think. Is it better to get out on your own as quickly as you can, or find a way to keep your financial responsibilities as low as possible for as long as possible?

From the original post:

I was reading along on a news story the other day and saw a stat saying something like 1/3 of American men are still living at home. With their parents. Wait…back up…AMERICAN men? In a nation of independent, over-achieving capitalists, 1/3 of those capitalists between 22-34 are living at home?

I thought the movie “Failure To Launch” with McConaughey and SJP was a cute story about an improbability, but now I wonder. Combine that with the amount of women I know saying they won’t date someone who still lives with their parents, it really made me start to wonder if this is contributing to the marry later in life stats we see creeping into American life. It’s a little chicken and the egg. Are guys staying at home longer because they aren’t wanting to get married or are they not wanting to get married because they live at home and have a lot of those needs provided for? (And can get the sex pretty easily.)

Of course some people, like this blogger, think living with your parents is a great way to save money and keep your responsibilities low. Granted, with the current economy, any way to save money can bee seen as a good way to save money. But I’m not sure that seeing your parents as a free ride is the best way handle the economic crisis (especially considering you are chewing into the only cushion they have for retirement.) If you’re contributing while living at a lower rent level, well, then maybe you are helping the family as a whole. But probably at the expense of your dating life.

Continue reading

Top 10 Online Dating Lessons from “The Princess Bride”

Lesson #1: You don’t have to start out as a prince or princess to find true love.

Lesson #2: That being said, true love doesn’t happen everyday so be ready for it when you do find it!

Lesson #3: It’s easier to be ready for true love when you know what you want. So, like Inigo Montoya… Continue reading

Why Too Much Choice In Dating Can Make Us Miserable

I came across an interesting TED talk today. In it, “Paradox of Choice” author Barry Schwartz talks about why our multitudinous plethora of choice is making us miserable. Of course, I immediately applied the concept to dating. Is it possible that we’ve raised our level of choice to the point that there is no way to be truly satisfied with the person we choose? Continue reading

Getting Rid of a Toxic Ex

Let’s say you are in a happy relationship. Everything is going along swimmingly. Well, everything except for one little issue. There is an ex that just won’t go away. They’ve been asked politely. They’ve been asked not so politely. You’ve heard promises and threats that they never EVER want to talk to you or hear your name again… but you don’t hold your breath because they call… text… email and IM time and time again. It’s a become a problem. An embarrassment. Something you passionately wish would just go away.

And just to be clear right up front, I don’t believe that ALL exes are a problem. I know that some of you do believe that exes aren’t meant to be friends while others of you are friends with all of your exes and take pride in that. Either way, whatever works for you. But this article IS about dealing with the ex that becomes toxic and how to save your relationship from the potential fall out. Continue reading