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Planning The Wedding, Like Marriage, Is A Job For Two
Whether you knew it was coming or have been waiting for it for years, it has finally happened. You’re engaged. Congratulations! Now, the fun begins. But maybe the fun actually hasn’t been so much fun. Wedding planning often brings out the worst parts of ourselves and our partners (ever heard the terms Bridezilla or Groom Kong?). For some, our inner critic, controller, or fixer comes out to run the show; clearing every obstacle in our path and making sure every decision is exactly as we want it to be come hell or high water. This is, after all, the wedding that has been dreamt of for months (or years, or…
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How Much Do ‘Normal’ Married Couples Have Sex?
Okay, we’ve probably all asked ourselves this question before. Whether you’re talking with your friends or you overhear someone else’s stats, it probably got you thinking and wondering what a normal number for a husband and wife when it comes to knocking boots. Well, the folks over at EverydayFamily were kind enough to run a study that gives us the answers. At some point in life, many couples wonder and ask themselves, “What is the average amount of sex that other couples are having?” And though the answer is not perfectly clear, sex therapists have said many things about this very topic. Here is what they say, as well as…
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10 Things Every Couple Argues About—and How to Avoid Them
Money Expenses are the most common cause of squabbles among couples, according to research. Which is no surprise, especially considering the fact that so many more people are living—and fusing their incomes—with their significant others today than ever before. “We all come from different financial backgrounds,” says Nikki Martinez, PsyD, psychologist and clinical professional counselor. “We may have had money, we may have always struggled, but with either situation, people have very strong ideals about how finances are managed.” To squash salary and spending scuffles, she suggests discussing how you each handle money and deciding who will take care of what expenses and how mutual funds will be managed.…
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5 Ways Modern Men Are Trained to Hate Women
If you’re not the type to keep up with ugly, soul-killing political controversies, let me catch you up: A while back, hugely popular political commentator Rush Limbaugh lost a bunch of advertisers because he publicly called a college girl a slut and a prostitute after she suggested that health insurance plans should cover birth control. But he’s paid to say outrageous things. If you really want to feel all dead inside, you need to listen to what the regular folk were saying. For instance, on crazy political message board FreeRepublic.com, posters referred to the girl in the above-referenced story (Sandra Fluke) as a “Nasty, disease-ridden plodding uterus, an utter skank…
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5 Cynical Marriage Tips Every Couple Needs to Learn
At age 20, I married my very first boyfriend after dating him for 14 months. Seventeen years, three kids, and zero separations later, we’re still married and we still like each other, despite the fact that 20-year-olds are crappy judges of character, and we could have been marrying psychopaths for all we knew. My husband and I didn’t know it at the time, but we were permanently sealing the deal while the morphine of new love was still flowing through our veins, which is kind of like signing a mortgage while high on heroin. At age 20, I would have said, “Of course we’ll make it! We love each other…
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The 5 Reasons Marriage Scares Men (Aren’t What You Think)
After a couple years of sending my girlfriend a clear message of, “We’re never getting married,” I proposed. There are reasons it took me so long to come around, but none of them fell into those magazine/sitcom stereotypes (which can be summed up as, “He’s having too much fun screwing around and doesn’t want to commit”). In fact, I’m pretty sure that the people who write sitcoms and jewelry commercials and movies about bachelor parties don’t have any goddamned idea how actual human relationships work. So for the women who have been conditioned to believe that we men are afraid of commitment because we don’t want to give up our…
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10 Ways You Are Being Unfaithful To Your Spouse — And You Don’t Even Know It
Having an affair is not even on your radar. Never gonna happen. You love your spouse and you’d never be unfaithful to her or him. However, you may be unaware of other ways you are being unfaithful. If these actions continue, you may find yourself on the slippery slope that leads to that never-intended affair and a sorrow you never wanted in your life. Unfaithfulness usually creeps in through the back door, disguising itself as harmless fun or innocent behavior. If you want your marriage to endure and be filled with happiness you may need to check this list to see if you have fallen prey to any of these…
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Attention, Men: Women Are More Attracted to You If You Eat These Foods
Men everywhere, take note: Nature is the best cologne. A recent study found that women preferred the body odor of men who ate plenty of fruits and vegetables. Meanwhile, men who preferred a diet full of refined carbohydrates such as bread and pasta smelled less appealing. And no, this isn’t some scam dreamed up by your mother to convince you to eat more fruits and veggies. According to scientists, our sweat could be an evolutionary signal of our health and might determine whom we attract when it comes to sexual partners. “We’ve known for a while that odor is an important component of attractiveness, especially for women,” lead author Ian Stephen, from Macquarie University in…
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Yes, You Can Make It through Your Home Renovation without Divorcing Your Partner
Caution: Remodeling can be hazardous to your marriage One divorce lawyer says he’s seen more divorces over remodeling projects than from extramarital affairs. On a scale of 1 to 10, family therapists rate remodeling projects at about a six in terms of stress on a relationship. Paint color is one of the greatest sources of DIY disagreements for couples. Get the family involved “My wife decides all the details about how something should look, and I retain veto power if I DISLIKE anything.” – David Hawkins “Get the whole family involved. A remodel that doesn’t meet everyone’s needs will lead to more arguments and more stress as soon as the…
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8 No No’s for Relating to your Wife
They say women are the mysterious sex, that women are hard to understand and emotional creatures. In past decades even called the “weaker“ sex. This is not true, but there are hardwired biological and psychological differences between men and women. Spouses relate differently to each other, and there are some behaviors and ways of communicating with your dearly beloved that you should avoid. Don’t Be a Problem Solver When your wife comes home from work and has had a long and difficult day she may share her frustrations and feelings with you. Perhaps you hear her moans on a regular basis. Perhaps you’ve even suggested she find a different…
