Tag Archives: passion

The Expectations of Valentine’s Day

I don’t know if my husband and I are the only ones but despite being married nearly 20 years we don’t really go all out and celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s not that we don’t acknowledge the day because we do. After all, I did buy my husband a card and a box of chocolates that are in the shape of a heart but look like a baseball, one of his favorite sports. I received from my husband a poem he wrote all on his own and although it was beautiful, we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day in the sense that we … Continue reading →

Romance and the Homeschool Mom and Dad

How does your day run? Chances are if you are a homeschooling family your focus is completely on your children throughout the day. A homeschooling mom can make a lesson out of anything and usually does all day long. A homeschooling house often looks more like a classroom than a home. If you enter a homeschooler’s house, and please do not do so without ample warning, you are likely to find an array of textbooks, school supplies, art projects all nestled in with laundry, lunch dishes, and mail that has yet to be opened. What does this atmosphere say? It … Continue reading →

Are Dating Sites A Good Place To Find True Love?

By the time I got divorced, my oldest daughter was in her late teens and my youngest was 10. Although I wasn’t ready to run to the altar any time soon, I did find that I wanted to date, and perhaps find my true “Mr. Right.” Flying solo on yet another Valentin’s Day wasn’t something I looked forward to. Not wanting to leave things in the hands of fate, I signed up on a few respected online dating sites. I didn’t go crazy with the dating thing, and I always tried to be very careful about who I talked to. … Continue reading →

Something Wonderful

Have you ever noticed in the movies how the guy always knows the right thing to say? You know what I mean, the romantic words, the flowery speeches you wish your husband would say and doesn’t. Why is that? The reason is because life is not a movie. In a script the character is saying lines the scriptwriter or scriptwriters have spent a long time carefully crafting to get the words just right. The actor and director have spent time making sure the words sound natural. Real life doesn’t work as neatly as movies or as it does for the … Continue reading →

3 Rs in Marriage

Yes, I’m back with the alphabetical marriage blogs. Today it’s Rs turn. And I’ve got three critical Rs. Aretha got it right when she sang about it and it should be a key ingredient in marriage – respect. Respect This is as an even more important ingredient in a marriage than the one which follows it, though that one is necessary too. Wives need to respect their husbands. But it’s not all one way. Husbands also need to respect their wives. In each case this means not putting them down, not treating them like they are inferior or second class … Continue reading →

Taking Chances – Teaching Beyond the Text

One of the strange things about being a full-time graduate student and a part-time college instructor is that you’re really not hired to “create” content as much as follow a set of guidelines already laid out before your time… lessons passed down from generations of other student/teachers that you mildly modify to suit your teaching taste, particular students, etc… Something strange happens, though, when you feel like deviating from this design. There is a fear. There is a danger. There is (gasp!) no extra pay or assurance of future employment. There’s also a lot of extra work. The most difficult … Continue reading →

Not Your Average Honeymoon

How’s this for a different idea of a honeymoon? This couple chose to forgo the traditional honeymoon idea of a trip to some lovely beach resort or exotic place. Instead they have gone to Kabul. No, that is not a misprint. They are honeymooning in the war-torn Afghan capital. It’s certainly a far cry from the traditional romantic honeymoon idea. Of course, this is not your average younger couple – all starry eyed either. The newlyweds, Maggie Heartsch and Jean-Paul Bell are middle aged. She is a nurse while he is a clown-doctor. Don’t know what a clown doctor is? … Continue reading →

12 Creative Date Night Ideas That Won’t Break the Budget

Is your marriage feeling stale? It’s easy to get so caught up with the everyday that we forget to make time for each other and to make each other feel special. To bring the romance back, here are some suggestions for date nights that won’t break the budget. 1. Turn off the lights and light candles. Turn off the TV and put on some romantic music. Curl up on the sofa with perhaps a glass of wine and listen to music. 2. Pack a picnic dinner and head for a favorite beach. Watch the moon rise over the water. After … Continue reading →

Want to Know How to Decrease Stress?

Want to know how to ease stress in your life and that of your spouse? Scientists have come up with the answer – to kiss stress goodbye, literally. Displays of affection ease stress levels. That’s the conclusion that scientists have come to, after conducting a week long study with a number of mostly married couples. The act of kissing, ‘unleashes chemicals that ease stress hormones in both sexes.’ Scientists dicovered that the couples that engaged in more physical contact, ranging from holding hands to sexual intercourse, had lower levels of cortisol, in their saliva. Cortisol is often referred to as … Continue reading →

Love is In the Air

‘Love is the air,’ with TVs, stores, magazines etc all gearing up for Valentine’s Day. Everywhere you turn hearts and flowers dominate the displays. But love is more than just a romantic notion written about by songwriters, poets, novelists and movie script writers. Love can mean different things to different people, but I read a couple of good descriptions of love in a novel I’ve been reading. One was, ‘Allowances must be made for the people we love.’ That’s what Mary Ann was talking about too in her blog about unconditional love. It doesn’t depend on what they do but … Continue reading →