One of the great joys of marriage is the time that you, as a couple, spend laughing together and enjoying your sense of humor. Here are the benefits of laughter and humor, and ways to increase laughter in your marriage.

Laughter is a marvelous gift. It releases chemicals in your brain which can enhance your day and reduce your stress.

Additionally, laughter and humor are vital to good health. Laughter is healthy for a marriage, both emotionally and physically.

Benefits of Laughter

• Reduction of stress and tension.
• Stimulation of your immune system.
• An increase of natural painkillers in your blood.
• A decrease in systemic inflammation.

To read on please click here

Have more fun with your spouse

Though Bruce and I definitely advocate spending time working on relationships (i.e., investing time to make them as fulfilling as possible), we think that sometimes work should be the last thing on your list. Many couples, including us, need to find ways to bring more PLAY into our partnerships.

Play nourishes you both physically and emotionally. . . . In addition to nourishing you physically and emotionally, couple play directly and intensely adds zest to your relationship. It strengthens your bonds with each other. . . . it gives you an important tool for coping with various challenges and problems.

~ Drs. Jeanette & Robert Lauer

As children, we all knew how to play. We knew how to have fun, laugh, be silly, create, enjoy, savor, relax. We were experts at living in the moment and doing what we wanted to do (instead of what we “should” do). As “responsible adults,” however, we may have forgotten how to play, or simply don’t think of play as important. Here are three factors that Jeanette and Robert Lauer, authors of The Play Solution: How to put the fun and excitement back into your relationship, say keep couples from being playful:

• “The ‘act your age’ trap” — Many of us think play is for kids and let the belief that we’ll been seen as childish, immature, or silly keep us from playing or having fun.
• “The tyranny of schedules” — We live in a busy world where we’re go, go, go from early morning until late at night and our schedules are bursting with meetings, appointments, chores, and other responsibilities that leave us little time for play.
• “The long arm of work” — If we’re not busy because of our own desires, we’re often occupied with professional pursuits and demands of our jobs, so play gets pushed even further down our list of priorities.

To read on please click here

40 fun questions to ask your partner

by Louella Vaz

• Romantic ideas

As you embark on a new relationship, there are many things you’d like to know about your partner. Some things come up in the course of conversation. But there are many things that don’t just crop up in idle conversation. Or at other times you just want to have some fun with your lover and are curious to know what he’ll say in response to something.
Sometimes the questions may or may not have anything to do with your relationship, but they may still provide valuable insights into your partner’s psyche and personality. It can be a fun way to discover more about each other. You could decide to target two questions a week and both of you write down your answers to them on paper or email them to each other. Or simply share the answers verbally with each other, which has the added advantage of being able to laugh together at the responses you get. It can be especially fun if you’re just getting to know each other.

TIP: Try Tell Me Honey…2000 questions for Couples and get inside the mind of your partner with them.

1. What was your first impression of me?
2. How accurate do you now think it was? On which counts do you think you were totally wrong and on which were you right?
3. What is your idea of a truly romantic evening?

To read on please click here

Having fun with your spouse, how it improves your marriage

• When you are having fun together you are learning more about each other. Many people let their guard down when they are having, so they are being themselves. This gives you a chance to see your spouse in their good true colors, because sometimes after marriage “true colors” seem to always be the bad side that is hidden.
• Spending fun time together can help you both relax. Sometimes between all of the obligations that are pulling you both in different directions, it can be hard to find time together. And sometimes it seems that the time you do have together is crammed with things, so fun is hard to come across. Sit down together and find a time when you can take a break from your routine and schedule some fun time, with no other obligations. You will be surprised how much better you feel after some fun time with your spouse.

To read on please click here

Dealing with Infidelity

by Louella Vaz

• Affairs and infidelity

Share

When infidelity occurs, it is one of the most painful experiences a relationship will probably ever experience. When one partner is unfaithful, it can shatter a relationship and leave the other person wondering whether it is worth salvaging. Dealing with infidelity in a relationship requires tremendous resolve on the part of the betrayed party. How do you let go of the past? How do you justify or understand why your spouse felt the need to cheat on you? Knowing where to start is often the most difficult thing.

TIP: Download the Dealing with Infidelity in your Relationship Guide

Once the affair is out in the open, either because your partner has come clean, or you have found out, how will you go about resolving it? How you deal with infidelity in your relationship has a lot to do with your feelings about your partner and your marriage.

To read on please click here

Domestic Violence – Topic Overview

What is domestic violence?

Domestic violence is abuse that happens in a personal relationship. It can happen between past or current partners, spouses, or boyfriends and girlfriends.

Domestic violence affects men and women of any ethnic group, race, or religion; gay or straight; rich or poor; teen, adult, or elderly. But most of its victims are women. In fact, 1 in 4 women will be a victim at some point.¹

The abuser may use fear, bullying, and threats to gain power and control over the other person. He or she may act jealous, controlling, or possessive. These early signs of abuse may happen soon after the start of the relationship and might be hard to notice at first.

To read on please click here

What is domestic violence?

What is Domestic Violence?

Domestic Violence is a violent confrontation between family or household members involving physical harm, sexual assault, or fear of physical harm. Family or household members include spouses / former spouses, those in (or formerly in) a dating relationship, adults related by blood or marriage, and those who have a biological or legal parent-child relationship.

To read on please click here

Communicating With Your Spouse

Respect, Love, and Good Communication in Marriage

Sep 17, 2007 Jean Marie Lockwood

How to Keep Wedding Day Communication – Katie Ozog

When a couple is planning a wedding, the excitement and busyness that surrounds them may drown out any potential problems, such as lack of communication. When the honeymoon is over and normal daily life together begins is when problems may be noticed- but are not taken seriously because it is all new.

Communication is the main factor in a successful marriage. If a couple is able to talk to each other about everything that concerns them, they will get through just about anything.

Here are some tips to enable you to successfully communicate as a couple.

• Respect each other in your communication. Agree on things such as no name calling, even while arguing. Don’t talk down to each other.
• Don’t use terms such as “you always”, and “I never”.

Read more at Suite101: Communicating With Your Spouse: Respect, Love, and Good Communication in Marriage http://www.suite101.com/content/communicating-effectively-a31384#ixzz1CFVaubxd

100 Ways You Can Love Your Husband HIS Way

241 Comments

Discuss this list with your husband. Ask him to check the ones most meaningful to him and then arrange them in order of importance to him. Use this list as a basis for learning his views. Your relationship can be greatly strengthened as you use these suggestions.

1. Respectfully communicate with him.
2. Let him know he’s important to you.
3. Purposefully try to understand his feelings—even when you disagree with him.
4. Show interest in his friends giving him some time with them if they’re trust-worthy.
5. Let go of the small stuff. We all have annoying habits and preferences that are different from our spouse’s. (Dave Ramsey)
6. Tell him you both love him AND like him.

To read on please click here