My friend recalls the first time she saw Eric and me together. Apparently, I was giddy and noticeably crazed with excitement. A couple of days after Eric and I became an official couple, one of my young middle school-aged friends at church commented that I was glowing. It didn’t take a detective to deduce that I was a love-sick twenty-something who could not believe she was living her dream. I could finally understand the Westside Story lyrics, “I feel pretty. Oh, so pretty. I feel pretty, and witty, and gay. And I pitty any girl who isn’t me today... I feel stunning, and entrancing. Feel … [Read more...]

Dating is an important part of relationships, both before and after marriage. Couples need to have some fun together. Just as we all need a vacation from work to recharge, couples need a vacation from the tough parts of marriage (finances, raising children, keeping a home up, resolving reoccurring conflicts, etc.) to recharge and reconnect. While you are still in the dating phase of your relationship, create a quality date habit that you can bring with you into your future marriage. What do I mean by quality date? Quality dating is when you look past the obvious (dinner and a movie), avoid … [Read more...]

Are you a go-getter or are you a laid back, go with the flow individual? Eric wants to grab life by the horns and make something happen. I want to ease in and out of situations and move cautiously from one involvement to the next.  If left to his own devices, Eric would work until he crashed (and sometimes does). If left to my own devices, I would relax until I felt like a ball of mush. Goals Are For Everyone! Regardless of personalities and preferences, we all need goals. We all need something we are going after in life. We all need a reason to get up and keep going. When people stop … [Read more...]

Are you sentimental? Do you save ticket stubs, letters, and small gifts for years? I used to be that way. I have a box with letters from twenty years ago, along with a few other mementos. However, I’ve become less sentimental as I’ve aged. When I empty my pockets after going to a movie, I stop, look at the stub, hesitate for a moment, and then throw it away. I think, “There’s already enough clutter in this house!” Save Some Items Once we age and settle down with that one special person, sentiment can fade from our priority list. After all, we see this person every day. We talk about … [Read more...]

On Eric’s last birthday, we hopped in the car and headed over to All Fired Up – a paint-your-own-pottery studio in our town. We went on a Thursday, so we basically had the place to ourselves. We had talked about doing pottery painting for years, but had not gotten around to it. My hard-working man actually took off a few days from work for his birthday, so it seemed like the perfect time! My synopsis? It was awesome! It was a lot of fun and it really does not matter if you have artistic skill or not. It’s a relatively inexpensive experience ($5-$100 depending on the piece you choose to … [Read more...]