Ferocious Flirting: Making Marriage Wonderful

Before we talked about making S'Mores and how you don't need to be camping to enjoy these tasty treats. Of course, s'mores and camping go hand in hand. Everything seems to taste better cooked in the great outdoors, even marshmallows. Camping is a great way to bring some fire into a relationship. As much as I love the campfire and smelling like smoke, I'm talking about the other kind of fire, the romantic one. Going camping is a nice trip outside the comfort zone. Everything about life is changed. Even the most common and everyday tasks become a an adventure. This includes everything from sleeping, to cooking and even the outhouse. For a short while, nothing is boring because everything is different. Also, you end up with a lot of free time on your hands. Everything seems to take longer so you have more time to spend together doing tasks like cooking. Besides, there is no TV to interrupt your conversations. Even if you can't go camping, try sleeping outsi

Every so often we hear the phrase that loose lips sink ships . The phrase was used as the name of a poster campaign during World War II to emphasize national security. The message was that idle talk could endanger the soldiers fighting in the war. Of course, both sides were trying to gather information in order the defeat the other. Since you never really know who might hear a conversation, it was safer not to talk about anything to do with the military. Of course, the basic problem was one of trust. Maybe you trust your friend, but not the person overhearing the conversation. Besides, some people just don't know how to keep secrets either. They mean no harm but don't stop to look at the consequences of their idle talk. In a marriage, trust is so important. We need to feel that we can share deeply personal feelings, ideas and problems with our sweetheart. Likewise, your sweetie should trust you to listen as well. It is so important to hold these confidences between ju

The newspaper insert American Profile is having their fifth annual Acts of Kindness edition to celebrate the unsung heroes in the community. If someone you know has performed an unexpected act of kindness, compassion, generosity or humanity for no apparent reason in the past year, they want to hear about it. Send a brief description of the person and their good deed along with your full name, address and telephone number to Acts of Kindness c/o American Profile 341 Cool Springs Blvd. Suite 400 Franklin TN 37067 Deadline is August 1, 2005. What a great way to honor your sweetie! You can either submit your sweetheart or maybe a member of your sweetie's family, like a father or mother. We often do not get the opportunity to honor our sweetie's parents, this would be a great opportunity to do so.

Fireworks are great fun and can make for a cheap or even free date. Most cities have fireworks for free. Take some drinks and munchies, go early and find your spot, lay out a blanket or lawn chairs and wait for the show to start. Another fun idea is to make a double header of it. Go to a baseball game where they are having fireworks afterwards. It is a lot of fun to cheer on the home team and then share the fireworks with 20,000 of your closet friends. Of course the kids will like the fireworks as well.

Do your sweetie really like your cologne or perfume ? Did you know that the sense of smell is strongly associated with memories? Sometimes I am walking down the street and out of the blue a certain smell will trigger some long forgotten memories and their associated emotions. It is a very powerful trigger. If you are traveling without your sweetheart, take along your cologne or perfume. Send a love letter and put a few drops on the papers. Be sure to include SWAK on the outside of the envelope. The familiar fragrance will be a nice surprise. If your sweetie is traveling without you, sneak a small hankie or stuffed animal into your sweetheart's luggage. Put a few drops of perfume or cologne on it. Make sure it is sealed in a baggie or something so their entire luggage doesn't smell. It will make a nice surprise when they are missing you.

My sweetie and I don't see much of each other in the mornings. On the weekdays she gets up and goes for a walk. By the time she gets back, I have already left for work. To top it off, neither of us are morning people so even if we do see each other first thing in the morning, its not all that romantic. Just a grunt good morning. Although she would like to make my breaks fast, it just isn't possible and I am perfectly capable of feeding myself. Sundays are even worse. My responsibilities at church require me to be there by 6:30 am, while my wife doesn't even need to get up until I have been gone for a couple of hours. I do not begrudge her this extra sleep as she gets to wrangle the kids and get them ready for church. She deserves some extra rest. Again, I end up getting my own breakfast. On Father's Day my wife made me a very special breakfast. The food itself was standard breakfast fare. What made it special is that she got up at 5:45 am to get it ready for m

When you were courting and dating, you probably had some dates you still remember fondly. It may have been the night he proposed, or maybe she proposed. Maybe it was some other special time that was really meaningful in your relationship. Whatever it is, it will be unique to the two of you. Two couples can do the same thing, yet have very different experiences. Pick one special date from you own time courting. Now that you have one in mind, re-do that date. For example, if it was when he popped the question, go back to the same place and do the same things, except popping the question as it is a one time only thing. By being in the same environment you will be surprised at how much more you remember about that special date. If you have kids, take them along. Let them see how their goofy parents used to date and what you did for fun. Lots of things change, but people are still people. It will give your kids a positive example of what healthy dating should be.

Happy Flag Day! An essential part of keeping the fire going in a relationship is to see yourself as part of a larger whole. The notion of "what's in it for me" gives way to "what can I do for the marriage" and then "what's in it for us". The marriage should be fulfilling to both parties. We are all also part of a greater community, state and country. By flying the flag and taking a moment to ponder all the people who have worked and suffered and died, you can feel part of the greater whole. Look outside your own perspective.

Every now and again, my sweetie and I like to get away. Out most recent getaway was at home. The kids went to stay with grandma an grandpa for a few days.

I used to work at a job that required a lot of travel. I would be gone 2 weeks at a time and come home on Friday. Then on Monday was the flight out again. On occasion I had to be gone even longer than two weeks. Spending that much time apart can be very trying on the marriage and on the kids, as you can imagine. My sweetie is a real trooper and supported me in all this traveling, even when it was so hard for her to effectively be a single parent. For some reason women quit wearing makeup after being married for a while. The husbands don't seem to mind all that much. After all, you married your gal, not Mary Kay or Revlon. Makeup becomes a special occasion thing. The wife uses it when she wants to look extra nice or for that special evening out on the town. Once, when I had been on the road for quite a while, we had planned to go out and spend the evening with some people the even I got home. She greeted me in the usual way. That evening, my sweetie spent quite a bit of time gettin