Marriage Tips for Couples in a Long Distance Relationship

Some couples, especially those who have been in a long distance relationship, would dread the thought of being far from their spouses. They knew how difficult the situation is, and that's why they try to avoid such setup as much as possible. But there are times where we need to relocate to some faraway place due to some work commitments. Here are tips on how to survive a long distance relationship with your spouse.

Be Honest With Each Other

You must be honest with your partner at all times, not only during the times when you are together, but more especially if you are far from each other. Take time to talk to your spouse over the phone every day, and tell her everything that has happened in your day. This will assure your partner that you are being faithful to her, which could help to make your relationship work despite of the distance.

Do Not Be Judgmental

Just because your spouse was not able to answer your call does not mean that she is already having an affair with someone else. One of the reasons why long distance couples would fight a lot is because the other party is being judgmental to his partner. So if you want your relationship to work, be very open-minded and do not make judgments against your partner if you do not have any valid proofs.

Remember Special Occasions

Even if you are far from your loved one, make sure that you greet her during special occasions, such as wedding anniversaries and birthdays. Surprise her by sending out gifts, flowers, greeting cards or letters. If possible, send your presents in advance so it will arrive on time for the special occasion. This will surely make your partner feel loved and cherished.

Make Surprise Visits

If you can, try to go home and surprise your loved one as often as possible. If your schedule permits you to go home, then book a flight home and pay her a visit. And when you are with your spouse, make the best of your limited time by taking her to a romantic dinner or going on a short honeymoon trip. So instead of spending the weekend and holidays with friends, spend it with your loved one instead.

The tips above are all you need in order to make your marriage last even if you are far from your spouse. They might seem so easy for you to do, but when you are in the real situation, you will realize that long distance marriages are not really that easy to handle. However, if you are determined to make your relationship with your spouse to last forever, then perseverance and hard work is all you need, aside from following these tips.

Are you wondering if you can survive a long distance relationship? You can check out Why Men Leave Women and visit Mend A Broken Relationship to help you deal with this.

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Why A Romantic Kiss And Hug Should Matter Among Couples

What's in a kiss and a hug you might ask? The answer is a lot and for couples who are so busy attending to their daily tasks as parents or workers, these should never be taken for granted.

If you want to make your marriage last, giving your partner a romantic kiss and tight hug every day is very important. Marriage therapists recommend these two gestures to be incorporated in your daily lives to keep the romance alive. Oftentimes, couples have crazy schedules and are so engrossed with their work and their household chores that they forget to attend to each other's needs. When this happens, they find themselves a bit estranged and then become uncomfortable with each other.

But there's something you can do to avoid this issue. Keep in mind, however, that if both of you can't be consistent in taking the effort, at least one spouse should commit to giving the kiss and hug every day without fail. These gestures may be simple to do but when done often and with much love from each other, it can inspire, promote peace and love as well as keep your marred life happy.

Marriage counselors don't just recommend giving your partner a simple kiss. It has to be a kiss that will wow and inspire your spouse. This gesture is something that will make you breathless and is sure to release that energy you have meant for romance.

If you're not at ease doing this in front of your children, you can always steal a moment and hide behind the door or inside a closet. You can do this before your other half leaves for work and when he or she arrives home. It can be a minute or less but regardless it's something that you will always look forward to doing.

The hug, on the other hand, should be done with your full body. It's different from the one you give or get from a friend or parent. It's something that will remind you of home and a spouse or family you can live happily with throughout your lifetime. And again, this act of hugging is a very effective way of nurturing your romantic relationship.

Married couples should know that they can give these hugs and kisses even when not in their usual sexual encounter. While these gestures can lead to being sexually aroused, they can also be done in other instances.

These two acts of love are surefire ways to keep romance alive in your relationship. Therapists refer to them as vital in releasing the so called romantic energy in married couples. When this type of energy is present, there's a big chance that couples will always crave to be together and even go on sleepless nights just so they can savor each other's presence.

So if you're one of those who can relate to this and acknowledges the fact that you lack the romantic energy in your relationship, then it's time to make that move and shower your partner with a great kiss and hug every day moving onwards.

For information on marriage therapists, please visit The Family & Marriage Counseling Directory, one of the top directories for therapists in the US and Canada.

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Date Night Ideas For Married Couples

Being in love isn't supposed to be hard work, but that doesn't mean that a marriage doesn't require some effort in order to make sure it works. A big part of this is ensuring that you keep that "spark" alive, and one of the most common ways of doing this is to make sure you put aside time every week/month for a date night.

The question is, what do you do on a date with someone you're married to?

The answer is: make the other person feel special, and there are lots of ways to do this. Here are some of favourite ideas for making a date with your partner go well.

1) Book a night at the theatre, not the cinema. It doesn't have to be something high brow - there are plenty of fun contemporary comedies or musicals that you would both enjoy.

2) Find a sport you can play together, such as badminton, or joining a running club.

3) Rent a DVD, and hole up under a blanket together.

4) Stay in, but both of you make an effort. So the man must shave, find a shirt, wear shoes and turn off the TV, and the woman puts on some new lingerie and dresses up. Then cook yourselves a romantic "restaurant" dinner at home. Yes, with candles. Make the effort, is the key with this one.

5) Agree on a small sum of money, and each of you must turn up with a gift for the other one. The small sum will make you both think hard about what is most suitable for your partner. The idea is to show that you really "know" them.

6) Flowers, just because. So that means bringing her flowers for no reason, other than it being a Friday, or bringing him flowers, because nobody ever buys men flowers.

7) Every so often, get the grandparents to take the kids, book into a hotel (even if you live nearby) and enjoy yourselves. Someone else can cook, clean and wash up for one night.

8) Haven't got a whole night? Find a local spa that you can both go to, so you can sit in a whirlpool together and maybe get a bit pampered.

The most important thing with a married date night, is to make the effort. Do put on some nice lingerie. Do spruce up and put on perfume. The same is true for men - get a new pair of boxer shorts. Get that hair cut.

Make yourself look nice for each other, because you'll feel better looking in the mirror and the act of preparation will get in the mood for your romantic evening together.

One last hint - get any conversations about work, the house, the kids, etc out of the way before you both start to get ready, so that your evening can really be about romance, and not about whether the phone bill has been paid.

We all tend to put on a few pounds when we get married, but that doesn't mean that you can't still find great underwear. Bigsmalls specialises in plus size lingerie and has done since 2006. It's one of the UK's leading retailers of underwear in Sizes 18-36.

There are plenty of exciting lines of outsize underwear that can spice up married life, from corsets to stockings.

Original article

When Do Couples Need a Marriage Therapist

If two individuals decide to get married after knowing each other for only a short period, the strength of the love they have for each other can lessen over time. When this occurs, some of a person's simple gestures of caring like regular phone calls, and open display of affection become issues more than appreciated show of caring. When the signs of problems start building in a relationship, the couple will notice a change with the feelings they had when they were in love compared to where their relationship is going. It is at this stage of the partnership that it is best to seek the help of a marriage therapist.

A marriage therapist is a licensed and trained mental health professional who focuses on understanding a couple's issues and relationship issues within their surroundings. From a relationship view, the counselor provides couples marriage separation advice and substitute solutions to resolve their problems. A marriage therapist offers life coaching, premarital education, couples therapy, counseling for marriage and relationship, and ways to enrich a marriage. Problems dealt with may include marital and relationship issues, cases of unfaithfulness, incompatibility, lack of communication and even domestic violence.

Many couples who have sought marriage therapy have resolved their marriage problems. A partners should feel confident that a marriage therapist can be trusted that their sessions will be kept confidential. Their counseling time aims to find out how the problem started and how to solve it. A therapist may suggest couples retreats for a couple to go through self analysis. In cases where one partner has a mental illness, the therapy may include teaching the other partner to learn how to deal with the illness.

The process of looking for a marriage therapist does not also have to be difficult. Oftentimes, when a couple decides to talk to a therapist, there is enough stress between the couple that there is no need to add more stress. Stress should not be added to an already tense situation between a couple needing therapy. The process of finding a therapist should be simple. Some people may misrepresent themselves that the couple must be careful in choosing a qualified professional for them. The spouses in search of a therapist should not be fooled by good speakers who may claim to have the right skills. Time should be spent to search and ask as many questions before deciding on a marriage therapist to hire.

For marriage therapy to be effective, it is important that the couple is open to going through therapy sessions. The earlier the couple faces their problems, the better are the chances of marriage therapy working. Willingness to learn and effort to resolve conflicts is important for counseling to work. It would be harder to solve problems if any of the partners do not want to go through therapy. If the couple takes their time to solve an issue it may be harder to find an answer. The role of a marriage therapist is more effective if the partners feel they are still in love and are open to improve their relationship.

Tina is a professional blogger and has written a lot about relationships. Visit her blog to learn how couples retreats can help you improve love and intimacy. You can also get marriage separation advice.

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Free Couples Couseling - Learning How to Communicate Effectively!

Free Couples Counseling is something that my husband offer to the members or our church and any one in the community that really needs help. We want to see marriages succeed and by sharing our stories we believe that couples can make it if they implement what we teach.

A free couples counseling tip I would like to share today is in the area of communication. Boy I tell you I don't care how long you have been married you can never let up or get slack in this area. A few weeks ago my husband and I had an episode where I was offended by his tone and we really didn't communicate about it for a few days. When I think about it, it was absolutely ridiculous. We were at church and I walked by his office and there was this hug trash can, (I am not exaggerating) outside of his door. His office door is not far from the foyer where guests come in and I am very conscious about first impressions. So I said, "Who put this big ol' ugly trash can up here?" Lol! Yep that's me. Well I didn't know my husband had done it and he didn't like my tone and answered me rather abruptly. I didn't like how he answered me so I decided to speak to him only as necessary. Notice I said I decided. My foolishness was a decision.

Well after I had cooled off, I tried to converse with my husband but by now he was frustrated and didn't want to speak to me. Well this went on for about 2 1/2 days. We answered one another with just one word answers. Crazy right? I will answer for you. YEP! Lol.

Well anyway, I called him on day 2 1/2 and our conversation didn't go well. He was still heated and so was I.

When we finally settled down later that evening, we were able to get to the bottom of the situation. He didn't like the way I addressed him and I didn't like the way he just does things without consulting me. I explained to him that I am his partner and somethings I feel as though I am just a side kick. Petty? Maybe but it was my truth and I needed to communicate that to him.

He explained to me that he didn't like my tone. The bottom line was he felt that I disrespected him. We both apologized, Acknowledged one another's feelings and worked to make sure that both of our issues were addressed and we discussed ways to make sure there was mutual respect, appreciation, and proper communication.

So to recap: Here is what you can learn from this episode:

1. Communicate how you really feel.
2. Don't wait so long to share what's really going on.
3. Watch your tone. It can take you down a road you don't want to travel
4. Mutual respect is always an ingredient that never loses its flavor.

Here's to a better relationship with you and your spouse.

For more information and free couples counseling and tips get your copy of Make It Last Forever- How to Get Married & Stay Married! Visit the resource box below.

To discover how to make your marriage strong and virtually bullet proof visit http://www.makeitlast4ever.info/ and get free couples counseling and other valuable tips from Pastor Tracie Davis. Married for over 22 years her new book "Make It Last Forever- How To Get Married & Stay Married is just what the Doctor ordered. Pastor Tracie candidly shows you how to have a wonderful and fulfilling marriage.

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