Survey Results - Things I enjoy doing with my partner.

Results are in from the survey on what I enjoy doing with my partner. I was happily surprised to see that most all of our readers really seem to enjoy doing things with their partner. Hopefully that is showing that gone are the days when couples end up doing things separately. Maybe this way couples will stay together longer. Well enough chit chat here are the findings.

78% enjoy making out or having sex with their partner.

71% Think long walks are great with the one you love.

64% Crave snuggle time.

64% Enjoy Entertainment and Dinner out with their partner.

64% Love to experience outdoor activities with their mate

64% Can't wait to have a vacation together.

57% Love to spend hours talking with their special person.

50% Like to get their hearts pumping together thru exercise.

42% Love making memories with their partner over the holidays

35% Enjoy learning with their mate by taking classes together.

28% Love watching their Children's Activities together.

Can't get to the Islands how about an Island Drink?

It is starting to turn cold outside and almost everyone wishes they were someplace in the tropics about now. Except maybe those people in the tropics! Most of us can't just stop everything and hop on a plane and be basking in the sun by this evening. How about bringing a little of the tropics home for you and your partner. Go out and get some ingredients to make up some great island drinks. Some suggestions might be daiquiris, pina coloda or even margaritas. If you don't know how to make the drink don't worry your local liquor store will most likely have a pre-mixed version or you can look the recipe up on the Internet. Surprise you partner and create a island setting in your home. Turn the heat up a little spread some beach blankets on the floor, heck even put on your swim suit and sunglasses. Find some island music with steel drums and maybe you could even spend the evening browsing through your last vacation photos and remembering how special your trip was. Top off the evening with a luau, cook some island food and spend the night making out on the beach (towel). This is just what you need to break the start of cold and flu season.

Relationship Ruts

Have you hit a relationship rut? Well if you haven't you most likely will at some point in time. A Relationship rut is when you are in a space where it seems like you are doing the same things over and over. You feel like your life is on a cycle. You get up go to work come home go to bed, and your weekends feel similar. You get up take the kids to baseball games, eat lunch, come home, watch a movie, go to sleep. When you feel yourself getting into this positions, is the time you need to break out and find something new to do. Either by yourself or with the family, you need some thing new to stimulate your relationship. Grab your partner and find something you have never done before and spend a day doing that. Take a photography class, or go white water rafting. Maybe you want to include the kids too. If that is the case go on a all day hike, or visit an amusement park, go bowling, or geocaching. The possibilities are endless, so you really don't have a reason to get in a rut. Make sure what ever you decide to do sounds like fun to your partner or family and then head out. Don't think about your decisions to much and don't use chores as an excuse. The lawn and laundry will still be there when you get home and you can do them later if you like

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Lube Jobs - A Woman's Guide to Great Maintenance Sex

Want to get a handle on the differences in your libido? Well this book is a great starting point for that concern. Debra and Don Macleod really help the understanding of the importance of sex in a relationship for men. They also help show that it can be just as wonderful for the woman in the relationship. Below is the description of the book offered at many site. You can pick up the book at a very good price by clicking on my Amazon page link in the side bar. The book is also listed on my favorites list. Click on it to go straight to the book.

Book: Lube Jobs: A Woman's Guide To Great Maintenance Sex
A straight-talking women's guide to tending to a partner's unrequited libido and reigniting the sexual sparks in a long-term relationship. Part saucy sex manual, part relationship survival guide, this book also features stories of couples struggling to find their own balance in the bedroom.

A straight-talking women's guide to tending to a partner's unrequited libido and reigniting the sexual sparks in a long-term relationship. Many couples are all too familiar with the classic bedroom balancing act-managing His and Her sex drives. As men clamor for more action and women grumble for more sleep, the topic of "maintenance sex"-those dutiful two minutes to "get it over with"-invariably arises to divide and conquer a couple's sex life. Yet as Don and Debra Macleod reveal in "Lube Jobs," maintenance sex can be an exciting and loving way to jump-start a stalled sex life. And if it's done right, it can be fun for "both" parties. Indeed, just as the sleekest luxury car requires routine tune-ups for smooth performance, a long-term relationship requires regular lube jobs for a friction-free love life. Part saucy sex manual, part relationship survival guide, "Lube Jobs" includes a provocative menu of twenty ready-made "lube jobs" consisting of naughty sex scenarios, bedroom-toy tips, sexual techniques, and erotica. Each lube job inspires a woman to embrace maintenance sex as a critical aspect of her committed relationship, and shows her how to infuse it with spontaneity and affection. Throughout are poignant, sometimes hilarious, stories of couples struggling to find their own balance in the bedroom.

When did our relationship slip to being the last thing we care about?

Life is a wonderful thing and living is so important, why then do we let the hustle and bustle of everyday life get the best of us. Thing about this how different is your relationship now that you have been with your partner for some time? Remember back to the early part of your relationship where the most important thing was getting to be together. The other stuff just got in the way, you would count the hours until work was over or you couldn't wait for the time when you date would arrive. Remember the feelings you first had when you made love? That calm feeling of just being in bed together, passion was the focus and the rest of the world was on the outside looking in. Now if you have been together for a while are all those feelings still the same. Do you look forward to coming home to your partner so you can really spend time with them. It seems sad to me that the longer we are together the farther apart we drift. If you in that roommate stage of relationship where it seems like you are just meeting at the end of the day to sleep, you need to stop. This is the point in which love goes into hibernation. Sure you still love your partner but the passion and romance are sleeping. Time to wake them up. Make an effort to get back to that state when you loved doing things with your partner. Make time for the two of you to have fun. Yes even if you have kids that is what babysitters are for. You owe it to yourselves to get reconnected. My suggestion is to make sex a priority also, take turns planning romantic evenings even if they are in your own home and stick to it. It is easy to say I'm too tired or I don't feel like it, but now if you think about it doesn't your relationship deserve it. If you can bring the passion back into your relationship your whole world will seem a little brighter again. Think about how great life seemed when you were only worried about the romance and love. You can have that again all you need to do is try a little.

Picture by the Talantbek Chekirov you can find purchase it on http://www.art.com

Money in your Relationship

One thing that can bring a fight on is the topic of money. Usually one person takes control of the finances in a realtionship and the other partner has no clue as to where they stand. This is very dangerous for both partners. You should always have an idea and discuss your finanaces with each other no matter which person you are. Both partners should have access to some amount of money they can spend on their personal likes. Don't call it an allowance just say it is your portion of the household income to spend. Even if the person can't manage money worth a hoot they still need to be in control of some of it. If one of you is very bad a managing money I suggest setting up a special account for the person to use as their spending money. This way your basic budget stays in tact and you don't have to worry about little surprises throughing off the household income. If you want your relationship to stay healthy you need to discuss most of your purchases, going to the store and paying the bills need not be discussed unless you are deciding which ones you can't pay this month. If a partner does something outside the norm to make some money, make sure they get their fair share of the amount. Bottom line is your well bing comes first but everyone need to just blow some money from time to time. Work together on your budget and it will be easier for both of your to stick to. Last thing if you do get in trouble financially don't be afraid to ask for help right now banks and companies are tring as hard as they can to keep the economy from a total break down.

His or Her stress? In a relationship you both share the stress.

Does your partner seem to get stressed rather easily? How does it effect your relationship, are you unable to do things because your partner is to stressed, does it effect their mood and or their demeanor. Does the stress level your partner feels mirror into your relationship? Well simply put their is no way to avoid the stress of your significant other, you are the person that will get the brunt of it. Hopefully you understand this even though it is tough to stomach at times.

When people are stressed they tend to dwell on the object or situation that causes them the stress. As their partner anything that you can do to help them avoid thinking out this item the better. There are several web sites out there with suggestions on how to combat stress and I would suggest you reading up on it. If you are the partner that seems to handle stress better then you might be able to help them out by diverting their attention away from the stress. Things such as taking walks, getting outside on beautiful days are great ideas. Find some activities to enjoy and make sure they participate. Starting an exercise program is not only beneficial in the reduction of stress but it is also great for your health. Looking at what you eat can also help in the battle with stress. Massages are a wonderful way to help the person you love cope with their issues. Sex is another great option as it brings you closer and burns stress away quickly. Many people say that they get to stressed for sex and yet sex is a great way to let go of stress, so fight through that initial urge to pass and realize that it might just be the best way for your partner to help you battle the stress monster.

Making the stress disappear completely is most likely not an option in most cases. We can only do so much and usually the stress isn't something you can just defuse quickly. Helping them cope with the problems and getting it out of their minds is the next best thing you can do if you love them. Help them breath in the fresh air, and see that all this will pass.

Click on the title of this post to view a list of stress reducers.