Material Things In Your LIfe

I am convinced that material things can contribute a lot to making one's life pleasant, but, basically, if you do not have very good friends and relatives who matter to you, life will be really empty and sad and material things cease to be important.
David Rockefeller 

Start a Change Jar!

As a couple it is hard sometimes to fit things into your budget. Especially those things that are not necessities of life. This is why you need to start a change jar. Simply find a jar that can hold lots of coins and start chucking all your loose change into the jar. Here is the important part, stay out of the jar. Don't get into it for change for the vending machine or for other little things that would deplete your new funds. This money is to be used for frivolous things. Things such as vacations, or date night for the two of you. The moment you give in and start extracting money your special times will go right out the door with it. Plus no one counts on the change that accumulates in your pockets so it seems like free and clear money. This way you won't be feeling guilty about taking that vacation or going to that fancy restaurant on only your change. Make sure you get a big enough jar to hold all the fund and set up a savings account to hold it if your jar gets to full. You have to be tough and refuse to dip into the jar but with a little self discipline you shouldn't have to much trouble and when you are on the beach somewhere you will be glad you didn't get into it.

Good things happen in bunches.

Have you ever heard the saying, "Bad things come in threes" Well I think that good things come in bunches like bananas. I have seen it happen far to often. When good things start happening the flood gates are open and the good things start flowing like a raging stream. Take heart when the bad things are happening because they only come in threes. Once the good starts happening you need to ride it like a wave and enjoy all the excitement. Bad things happen we understand that but the universe or powers above always balance it out so that you life is overall good. Enjoy your life, enjoy your love and share it with you partner.

Full of Anniversaries

Well today as I am writing it is my 8Th anniversary with my partner. I have been blessed with a wonderful person that I am spending my life with. Just like all couples we have our problems and it isn't always a bed of roses. However the wonderful times by far outweigh the not so good times. I think back to all those great times we have had like the day we were married, the birth of our son, and how we have overcome struggles. Yet, as I reminisce about our memories the ones that make me smile are the little things we do together. The times we act silly together, like when we stay up asking each other silly questions, or just touching each other as we sleep. Those things are so small but so important to me. I also love it when we watch a movie and then quote lines to each other during the following days, and we are the only ones that have a clue to what we are talking about. There are so many simple little things that make our relationship special that it would be impossible to list them all. My point to you is, don't over look the little things we you are evaluating your relationship. The simple little things sure to add up when you are in love. In closing I would just like to tell my partner that she is the most amazing woman, and I am more in love with her today then the day we were married. XOXOXOX

I also want to pat myself on the back because yesterday's post was our 500th. I hope we are helping to improve your relationship. To me a good relationship is the building block for not only your life together but everything that touches our lives.

Take inventory of your relationship.

If your like the normal couple you only talk about your partners faults instead of focusing on the good things that they do in your relationship. We dwell on the facts of what they didn't do instead of celebrating the things that they do to help out the household or your relationship. What you need to do is to take time and make a list of all the good things your partner does in your relationship. Write down all the little things like taking out the garbage, picking up the kids, or even fixing dinner. Then look for major things they do to make your relationship better, like making sure the two of you have a date night, or planning a great weekend getaway for the two of you. I am sure once you start writing down things you will be amazed at how many good things your partner does. Do they make the bed, mow the lawn, let you watch the shows you want, or even just kiss you good night. Then the next time you want to yell at them for leaving the lid off the toothpaste, pull out your list and read one of the good things they do. Maybe you can live without the lid on the toothpaste.

Great Date Idea : Retro Concert

Here is a great date idea for the couple that has been together for a while. Keep your eyes on the concert scene around your area and watch for bands that were popular when you started dating. Then when they come to town doing a retro concert don't waste time and pick up tickets as soon as they go on sale. This will be a great date and a great way to remember all the fun times you had during the start of your relationship. Heck even dress the part bringing out the old time clothes if they still fit and try to recreate the things you use to do in your youth. Make it as fun as you can and invite other friends if they are still around to join the party. This is one of those ways you can really relive the past without having to build a time machine.

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.

Skip Lunch Together if it nets you more time later.

One thing a couple can always use more of it time. We always want to try to have time to go to lunch with our spouse. It is usually a hurray up eat and get back to work situation. Well here is a novel idea. Why not skip lunch with each other and all together? Think about it this way if you brown bag it to work and eat while you are working and get off an hour earlier, wouldn't that be a better use of your time to spend with your honey. Instead of breaking your time together up into little tiny segments why not have an extra hour at home together during the night? You will also be saving money if you are not going out to eat all the time. Plus with an hour extra with each other you can do some of the things you seem to never have enough time to get accomplished. If your having trouble trying to fit your sex life into the picture now you have an extra hour! If you take the whole hour that is a great use of your extra hour.

Seriously though if you break it down at the most you are spending maybe a half hour to forty-five minutes together during you lunch. Plus you are spending time ordering and maybe talking to someone else that you know. Wouldn't that hour be much better spent alone with your family or partner? I think so.

Visualize the Good!

As a couple sometimes we forget to think about all the good things that are in our relationship. We focus or fight about things like bills, work or other problems in our relationship.

When is the last time you set down and talked about the good things in your relationship? What about how great the kids are or how special it was when he bought you flowers the other day?  Maybe she massaged your tense shoulders during the evening.

I am banking on the fact that your relationship has many things to be grateful for. Together you need to sit down and talk about or visualize all the great things the next time you have a fight. No, this won't make your problems go away, but it just might put them in the right perspective.

Always end your night visualizing things your partner does that you feel are wonderful and you will likely wake in the morning with a smile on your face.