Ferocious Flirting: Making Marriage Wonderful

Place an empty cornucopia somewhere conspicuous in the house. Maybe on the kitchen table as a centerpiece, maybe in the living room on a coffee table. If you have little ones, keep it out of their reach. Then get a pad of multi-colored paper that is convenient to the cornucopia. From now until Thanksgiving, pay attention to the things your sweetie does for you and your family. When you notice something, write it on a piece of the colored paper. Then fold the note over and place in the cornucopia. Then come Thanksgiving, read the notes of gratitude together as a family. A couple of rules: 1 - No fair peeking. 2 - Put at least one in everyday. 3 - Don't peek at the notes until Thanksgiving day. 4 - Make each note specific. BAD NOTE: laundry GOOD NOTE: On Nov 1 it was so nice to have an ironed shirt to wear to meet the boss. 5 - No peeking until Thanksgiving. This could be great to include the entire family. Everyone could participate by including n

Swimming is great for couples. It feels good and is wonderful exercise. If you don't have access to a private pool, most communities have a nice public facility for a small cost. Spend some time laughing, splashing, swimming and just having fun while getting your heart rate up. If you have kids, all but the littlest can participate.

People forget. Emotionally, everyone lives in the present. The past is gone and cannot be changed. The future is a long way off. The only real existence, at an emotional level, is now. Keep this in mind while considering romance with your sweetie. Billy Joel sings a song called "Tell Her About It". Mostly one would not seek advice from pop music on relationships, unless its bad advice you seek. The theme of this song goes right to the point though. Even if you have told your sweetie many, many times that you love them, they still need to hear it again and often. Emotionally we think "Sure, you said you loved me yesterday, but what about today?". Is it logically? No. Does it make sense? No. Unless you remember that emotions don't deal with the past very well. Its the higher areas of reasoning that understand the more abstract concepts of time. But, emotions tend to overrule reasons. So even though your sweetie "knows" you love them, they

Prepare a a bunch of small, fortune cookie size, strips of paper with sayings like: * Tell what you find most attractive about your sweetie. * Express gratitude for something your sweetie has done * If you could go on a vacation anywhere, where would it be? * You are going to be stranded an island together, what would you take? Be creative. The "fortunes" should be about hopes, dreams and aspirations. Also they need to include suggestions on giving a compliment and also to remember shared moments together. Then, for each "fortune", take a fortune cookie and wrap it in a damp paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds. Quickly and carefully open the softened cookie, remove the original fortune and replace it with your own fortune. Reshape and hold the cookie until it gets hard again. Now spend some time together as a couple taking turns opening the fortune cookies and doing as the fortune directs. This can be a lot of fun for just the couple or for the

For a fun evening at home, have a pretend blackout. Just don't use anything has to be plugged in to work. This includes: TV, computer, stereo, lights, oven, microwave, etc. Do leave the fridge running though. Use flash lights, lanterns, or whatever. Spend the time normally devoted to TV talking, telling stories and playing games. Note: be careful when using candles that they are not unattended. Also, do not use anything in the house that requires propane or kerosene. It can build up carbon monoxide.

Most people have hobbies. These of course include stamp collecting, bird watching, photography, fishing and so on. It might even be writing or following a particular football team. Whatever it is, your sweetie probably has one and you probably know what it is. If you don't know what your sweetie's hobby is, find out. Just as likely, your sweetie does not have time to pursue that hobby. With the demands of marriage, kids, career and everything else which fills our lives, most of us have precious little time to pursue our own interests. Often, we feel guilty about spending time on doing "my thing". The result being we put those things aside for a long time. Another common thing is that we don't have same hobby as our spouse. He's into football and she likes gardening or something like that. This is another reason people put hobbies aside. What little free time people have, most would rather spend it with their sweetie. It often ends up a decision of wh

Get a small recipe card box. Decorate and personalize it for your sweetie. Inside place a single index card that says something like, "This is an 'I Treasure You Chest' where you can store your 'treasure cards'. Each card tells how much I treasure you". Then, every so often leave an index card somewhere where your sweetie will find it. On the card write a little something. It could be the line from a song, a thank you for something your sweetie did, a verse from the Bible , a quote on love, line from a movie or just your own special thought. One fun idea is to spread a poem over several cards. Make some serious and some funny. Your sweetie can place all the cards in the "I Treasure You Chest" and can read over them whenever they feel a need for a boost. For a nice addition, you can get small stickers that say "I Love You" or are in the shape of a heart. Place a sticker on each card before hiding it or delivering