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Support for married couples, by married couples.

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  • About
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  • 20 Ways to Become a More Patient Spouse this Week
  • 25 Conversation Starter Questions on Sexuality
  • 50 Questions to ask your spouse besides “How was your day?”
  • 50 Ways to Engage Kids on a Budget
  • 50 Ways to Love Your Lover
  • About
  • At Home Dating
  • BAILEY’S TREE
  • Barriers to Forgiveness and Healing
  • Confronting for the Sake of Our Relationship
  • Conversation Starters
  • Date Night Ideas
  • Dialogue
  • Double Chocolate Brownies
  • Emotional Bank Account
  • Feelings Reflect Who I am as a Unique Individual
  • Four Basic Psychological Needs
  • How to Foster Teamwork – A Starter List
  • In Memory of Fr. Tom Ogg
  • Let’s Talk about Sex
  • Making Decisions as a Couple – 10 Steps
  • Marriage Check-up Exercise
  • Our Family Commandments
  • Phones at the Dinner Table Discussion Questions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Re-Evaluation
  • Stress vs. Burnout and Depression
  • The Power of Positive: Examples of Converting Negatives about our Relationship to Positives
  • There’s Always Something More to Talk About
  • Worldwide Marriage Encounter Experience
  • Children,  Parenting,  Romance,  Stress,  Time

    5 Reasons You Need a Getaway Without Kids

    September 12, 2021 / No Comments

    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?

    Read More
    Ken and Janine

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    5 Reasons You Need a Getaway Without Kids

    January 8, 2024

    50 Ways to Engage Kids

    January 13, 2020

    Holiday Traditions

    October 15, 2018
  • mother and daughter as confidants
    Children,  Communication,  Parenting,  Sex

    Beyond biology: Where Do Babies Come From?

    August 3, 2021 / No Comments

      The focus of our last post, “Sex — Naughty or Nice” was our learned attitudes about sex. We hope you ventured into exploring your own attitudes about sexuality. If not, there is not time like the present to dive in. As promised, we will focus this post on Beyond Biology: Where Do Babies Come From?

    Read More
    Tom and Mary Frances

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    A Toast

    July 31, 2023
    empty nest kids squabbling

    The Empty Nest Revisited

    November 28, 2022

    Empty Nest – Syndrome or Summit?

    February 17, 2020
  • Positive advice on a napkin
    Communication,  Parenting,  Passion,  Sex

    Sex — Naughty or Nice?

    June 27, 2021 / 2 Comments

    Sexual Expression is Everywhere Think: TV, Billboards and Music videos. So, why do we struggle to express our sexuality until the kids are asleep, and the bedrooms shades drawn? Answer: Perhaps, we were taught sex was taboo. This is sexual sabotage, likely unintentional. But unless we rid ourselves of these ghosts from the past, we will pass them on to our children.

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    Tom and Mary Frances

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    Choose Your Hard

    October 10, 2022

    The Rituals of Connection

    August 13, 2024

    We’re Not Perfect and That’s Normal

    May 18, 2020
  • Children,  Parenting,  Relatives

    KFC – It’s What’s for Mother’s Day!

    May 4, 2021 / No Comments

    JULIE: Dandelion bouquets.  Homemade breakfast in bed.  Handmade cards splashed with crayon hearts.  Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Wait, what? Let me explain…

    Read More
    John and Julie

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    Time for a Marriage Getaway? “Here’s Yer Sign”

    October 28, 2019
    tired couple

    Kudos To The Tired Dad

    March 24, 2025

    5 Reasons You Need a Getaway Without Kids

    September 12, 2021
  • Children,  Communication,  Decision to Love,  Parenting,  Romance

    Tell Her She’s Pretty and Let Him Go Golfing

    January 18, 2021 / No Comments

    Kids say the funniest things. But sometimes, the things they say can teach us a thing or two. Our friends Greg and Cecilia have five children between 1 and 11 years old. They asked their four oldest kids to answer some questions about marriage. Here’s what they had to say: Why do people get Married? Because they love each other. Because they kiss each other. How do you know Mom and Dad love each other?

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    Ken and Janine

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    5 Reasons You Need a Getaway Without Kids

    January 8, 2024
    Boomerang baby

    Boomerang Baby

    June 20, 2022

    Ugh, Mom and Dad, no PDA!

    September 23, 2019
  • Children,  Decision to Love,  Making Decisions,  Parenting,  Perseverance

    Happy Holidays? In 2020? Yes!

    December 14, 2020 / No Comments

    “It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought,  doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”    ― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Whether our holiday family traditions have been around for generations or started in our own marriage, one thing is for certain – 2020 has upended them all.

    Read More
    John and Julie

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    Ugh, Mom and Dad, no PDA!

    September 23, 2019

    Parenting as a Team

    March 16, 2020
    Boomerang baby

    Boomerang Baby

    June 20, 2022
  • Children,  Communication,  Conflict,  Differences,  Parenting,  Stress

    Rule #1 for Resolving Conflict

    November 15, 2020 / No Comments

    Paul: With our child rearing days behind us, I figured any potential conflict surrounding child rearing was over too. Boy was I mistaken. We took our 3 year old granddaughter with us to the beach for two weeks so she wouldn’t have to be in day care. While we were both looking forward to some quality time with her, I cringed when Stephanie suggested that we run point on potty training her. That’s when the trouble began. My attitude was, “Why do we have do this?” But instead of speaking up, I kept silent.

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    Paul and Stephanie

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    Radical non-Parenting

    November 9, 2020
    Newly married couple holding hands tidbit of advice for married couples

    30 for 30! A Tidbit of Advice for Each Year of Marriage

    May 31, 2021

    The Happiest Place on Earth – NOT (this time)

    October 7, 2019
  • Children,  Communication,  Decision to Love,  Parenting

    Radical non-Parenting

    November 9, 2020 / No Comments

    One of the hardest challenges of staying in relationship with married children is to cease parenting and to simply be a parent.  When children marry we do not simply welcome a new member into the family.  The marriage of a child radically changes family dynamics and relationships.  Tying the knot in marriage is as profound as cutting the cord at birth.

    Read More
    Tom and Mary Frances

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    3 Tips to Make Your Marriage Thrive

    August 20, 2019

    Don’t Forget to Laugh

    January 13, 2025
    mother and daughter as confidants

    Beyond biology: Where Do Babies Come From?

    August 3, 2021
  • Children,  Communication,  Parenting,  Time

    The Empty Nest Repopulated – 4 Ways to make it Great!

    October 26, 2020 / No Comments

    Julie: When our kids were small, it was easy to keep peace in the nest. Mama and Daddy bird had the final say and that was it. Ah, little kids, little problems. Things got a little trickier as those baby birds grew into fledglings. As our kids grew and stretched their wings, they asserted their increasing independence and often challenged our rules and  decisions. As young adults who have left the nest, they are more respectful when they return home, but things can still get a little tense as we are still their parents and they are still our kids.

    Read More
    John and Julie

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    Rule #1 for Resolving Conflict

    November 15, 2020

    Time for a Marriage Getaway? “Here’s Yer Sign”

    October 28, 2019

    Heart Cards

    February 7, 2022
  • Children,  Communication,  Forgiveness,  Parenting,  Relatives,  Stress

    Can We Have Some Pickles with That Sandwich?

    September 15, 2020 / No Comments

      JULIE:  It is 7 a.m. and I’m awake before the alarm, mind racing as I go over the mental checklist of what  needs to be done today. John is out cold. He is exhausted from the physical and mental demands of the past week of caring for his parents while helping them sort through and pack up a lifetime’s worth of belongings.  Now it is moving day, the day they will start their final chapter together in assisted living.  The melancholy in the air is stifling.

    Read More
    John and Julie

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    Heart Cards

    February 7, 2022

    Was it Bad Parenting or Making Memories?

    October 31, 2022

    Don’t Forget to Laugh

    January 13, 2025
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