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The Super-Power of Affirmation
JULIE: I’m not a superhero. While I can’t fly faster than a speeding bullet, make myself invisible, or read people’s minds, I CAN harness the super-power of affirmation by telling John the numerous reasons he is special to me or the many traits I admire in him. Never underestimate the super-power of affirmation to build up your spouse and enhance your relationship.
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We Get By With a Little Help From Our Friends
Michelle: When Chris and I met, I had my friends and he had his friends. After we got married, some of my friends became our friends as did some of his. Now, in our more than twenty years together, we have made new friends, most of which we refer to as our friends. Some of our friends have been initiated by him and some have been initiated by me, however, recently, we were hanging out with one of OUR friends. These are friends we met at the same time and just instantly clicked. Chris: We were walking to dinner together, myself by the husband and Michelle standing behind us with…
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5 Reasons You Need a Getaway Without Kids
This post originally appeared on The Couples Post on Sept. 12, 2021. As we placed linen napkins on our laps for a fancy dinner, we realized life as we knew it was about to change. We were soon going to become parents. We’d enjoyed two wonderful years of marriage and wondered … would this be our last Getaway alone? Why get away without kids? 1. You and Your Marriage need Attention. Raising small humans takes constant attention. We can easily pour all our energy into them. We didn’t want to be strangers after the kids moved out, so we chose to intentionally invest time and energy into our relationship. Read…
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You Say Goodbye and I Say Hello
You say good-bye and I say hello (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblYSKz_VnI) is more than just an old Beatles song. Saying good-bye is rarely easy. Whether it be to a loved one in death, a move to a new city, a child going off to college, or changing jobs, good-byes are almost always painful. How we move through our good-byes can bring us closer to each other or pull us apart.
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Body Language
John It’s true – actions do speak louder than words. But body language can speak even louder. It’s easier to recognize how our spoken words and active behaviors affect our relationship. Body language is much more subtle than overt actions, but it does not lie. Body language, just like our verbal language, does need to be clarified, especially when it causes hurt. Things like posture, eye contact, and facial expressions can greatly affect the thermostat of our relationship. By being more conscious and intentional about how we express ourselves through our bodies, we can help that thermostat to stay on the warmer, more loving side rather than on the icy,…
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Removing the Invisibility Cloak
Chris: When we first moved to Arizona from Oklahoma, I went from an on-site job, to working from home. My being home meant that my “honey-do” list grew, because my wife thought my lack of travel to an office could afford me plenty of time to complete all kinds of projects. Michelle: After a couple of years of living in Arizona, less and less items were being checked off my list. Then, one evening, I came home to find none of my list accomplished. I was frustrated. I remember wondering how he could be home all day and not do any of the items on my list. That evening, we had a conversation that…
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Just. Do. It.
Julie We just got back from the trip of a lifetime – a safari in Africa. It was an unforgettable experience. The variety of animals we saw, the beautiful landscapes that were so different from ours, the people we encountered, and a taste of the history and culture was something that touched us deeply. But the trip was more than that… It was a celebration of friendship between John and his closest friends. They met on their first day of college years ago and have remained best friends. This was the 60th birthday year for the group and so the plan was hatched about a year and a half ago…
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Tip of the Iceberg
KEN: Some years ago, we noticed a small spot of rust on our car and decided to scrape it off and re-paint it. The more I scraped away at that small rust spot the more I found. That darn rust had grown like a cancer un-detected for who knows how long. Just a little crack… JANINE: A few months ago, I found some tiny cracks on the floorboard in our basement bedroom. As we looked more carefully, we found mold, and water damage that had likely been going on for a few years. Needless to say, this led to hours of work on ripping out moldy carpet, walls, landscaping, sealing cracks, and…
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$#*! My Spouse Says
Chris: Because Michelle and I frequently commute from Tucson to Phoenix, we try to find stand-up comedians or funny books to listen to, to help pass the time. Recently, on one of those commutes, we began listening to the book. Sh*t My Dad Says, by Justin Halpern. While, we both heard our own fathers in many of Justin’s examples, we almost simultaneously said, “Wow I bet we could write a post about the $#*! you say.” While we realized we actually had enough material for a book, we are going to limit it to two examples. Michelle: When we were first married, Chris and I liked to ride our bikes…
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Finding Joy Through Vulnerability
Julie Vulnerability can be scary. In her book, Daring Greatly, Brené Brown describes vulnerability as “uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.” Uncertainty? Risk? Emotional Exposure? Who wants to sign up for that? Well, actually, we all did when we said, “I do.” In promising to love each other and give ourselves completely to one another, we basically said, “ I will love you even when you are struggling, even when you are weak, even when you are hurting. You are safe with me.”
