Engaged Marriage » Check This Out

The Story Behind Engaged Marriage

Dustin — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 10:00:14 +0000

I had the pleasure recently of being interviewed on the Coach Radio podcast, and I had an awesome time.

As I was listening to the show for the first time in the car last week, it occurred to me that several questions that I’ve been asked by readers are answered during the interview. For example, here are some of the topics we cover:

How and why I created Engaged Marriage
My background in marriage ministry and how I took it online
How we’ve built such a great community using our newsletter, Twitter, Facebook and other tools
Why the Love Everyday project was so successful
What’s going on with the new Fit Marriage site and why it’s so important
Lots of fun conversation!

If you’re interested in learning more about Engaged Marriage and these related topics, please visit Coach Radio and go listen to the interview now. While you’re there, you might consider subscribing to Justin’s blog and/or podcast so you can check out the variety of great interviews and posts he shares regularly.

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below…

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Check out the original post and leave a comment on the blog here: The Story Behind Engaged Marriage

It’s Alive! Check Out the New Fit Marriage!

Dustin — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 10:00:39 +0000

I am really excited to let our Engaged Marriage community know that a project I’ve been working on for several months with Tony DiLorenzo has hit a milestone this week. Please take a few minutes to click over and check out Fit Marriage for yourself!

Are you still here? Well, okay, let me tell you a bit about the site so you’ll be convinced to head over and become part of a new and very important community aimed at helping you improve your physical fitness as well as your relationship.

From the Fit Marriage About page, here are some questions that will let you know if this new project should interest you:

Are you a busy married person who struggles to find time for quality fitness?
Are you looking for real fitness solutions that allow you to workout and feel great about yourself without taking precious time away from your spouse and family?
Are you ready to support your spouse in living a healthy, thriving lifestyle?

If so, you’ll love what we’re doing at Fit Marriage!

Fit Marriage is here to empower you with the knowledge, tools and motivation to get fit and improve your relationship in the process. We invite you to join our community as we work together to meet our fitness goals and achieve new levels of success in our health and well-being.

What Makes Fit Marriage Different?

There are literally thousands of sites and products out there related to fitness. However, Fit Marriage is different because it’s here for you.

Our sole focus is on helping busy couples achieve their goals together.
Our workouts are designed to get you killer results without wasting any of your precious time.
Our nutrition plans are created to work with your crazy schedule and not in spite of it.
Our approach to training does not require you to be a gym rat or to plan your life around your workouts. In fact, if you follow our plans, you’ll stay out of the gym and spend less than 30 minutes per day exercising!
Fit Marriage is committed to getting you awesome results using a proven system that enhances your family life instead of competing with it!

In short, Fit Marriage wants to become the trusted source for real fitness solutions for real busy couples.

If you’re still here, I’ll give you a few examples of the posts we’ve added in our first week:

Now, I’m sure you’re ready to go learn more about our approach to Couples Fitness that works with your busy lifestyle. Be sure to check out the homepage video of yours truly and grab your free copy of our killer audio program called “7 Secrets to Look & Feel Awesome Without Wasting Your Precious Time…Together!”

Let us know your thoughts either below or on any of the posts over at Fit Marriage. Thanks for your support!

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Check out the original post and leave a comment on the blog here: It’s Alive! Check Out the New Fit Marriage!

Technorati Tags: Blog Progress, Exercise, Fitness, Product Review

Check This Out: Project Happily Ever After

Dustin — Sat, 29 May 2010 09:00:12 +0000

This post is the fourth in a series called “Check This Out.” The purpose of these posts is to introduce you to other great blogs and online resources that can help you achieve the extraordinary in your marriage and family life. Enjoy!

In this edition of “Check This Out,” I’m excited to introduce you to one of my favorite marriage blogs: Project: Happily Ever After. The site’s creator, Alisa Bowman, gives raw, helpful and oftentimes hilarious advice on the struggles we all face in marriage.

Alisa’s particular focus with Project: Happily Ever After is helping those that have experienced the “dark side” of marriage and are seeking some guidance in getting back to a relationship that they love and enjoy.

Why does she care so much about this topic, and what makes her an expert? Well, she’s lived it. Here’s a bit of Alisa’s story in her own words:

I started this site because I once regularly fantasized about my husband dropping dead. I spent so much time thinking and hoping for that car accident or heart attack that I had his entire funeral planned out—down to the food and beer I would serve the mourners.

I knew my husband would frustrate me if we tried marital counseling, so I instead started a project, one that involved reading every marital improvement book I could find. During the next year, I changed, and so did he. He did more around the house. He paid more attention to our daughter. He asked me about me, and he actually seemed interested as I answered. I fell back in love, and so did he.

I started Project Happily Ever After to help others. It’s my hope that my advice and stories on this site can provide you with a sense of hope that happiness is not only your right, but that it’s also within your grasp.

Now, that is a story, huh? Well, if you can’t exactly relate to Alisa’s experience and macabre thoughts, don’t be afraid.

The site is not just about the reconciliation process or planning funerals. It’s actually one of the funnier sites I read on a regular basis. Alisa does not mince words and she’s quite open, so you will find a wide variety of topics covered!

Here are a few examples to get you started:

How to Write Your Spouse a Love Haiku
Alisa’s Nether Grooming Guide (yes that “Nether”)
How to Get a Spouse to Fall Back in Love with You
What to Do When Your Spouse Gives You the Hand

Alisa is currently promoting her upcoming book, also called Project: Happily Ever After and pictured above, so she’s blogging like mad and posting everyday as part of a challenge. Check it out!

You can also find Alisa (@AlisaBowman) on Twitter, and Facebook!

Let Us Know What You Think!

After you’ve had a chance to check it out, I’d love to hear your thoughts on Project: Happily Ever After and all of the great work that Alisa is doing for marriages!

Please give a shout out in the comments!

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Technorati Tags: Conflict Resolution, Link Round Up

Check This Out: Past Due Radio

Dustin — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:34:45 +0000

This post is the third in a series called “Check This Out.” The purpose of these posts is to introduce you to other great blogs and online resources that can help you achieve the extraordinary in your marriage and family life. Enjoy!

In this edition of “Check This Out,” I’m genuinely thrilled to introduce you to my favorite new podcast and an excellent source of wise advice on finances and many other aspects of life. If you haven’t checked out Past Due Radio, you really owe it to yourself to give host Derek Sisterhen a listen and a look.

You may recognize Derek’s name because he is one of the most regular and insightful commenters here on Engaged Marriage. He really “gets it” and shares many of my thoughts and convictions on the subjects of marriage, family, money and communication.

So, why did Derek leave a corporate gig to become a financial coach and start an online radio show? Here are his own words from his About page:

If you told me ten years ago that I’d be a radio show host, author, and helping others turn dreams into reality, I would’ve laughed pretty hard. And yet, here I am: the host Past Due Radio and author of Get Naked: Stripping Down to Money & Marriage.

Ever since I climbed down the corporate ladder, I find myself going home to my wife Elisa with a positive attitude at the end of each work day. God blessed me with an opportunity to do what I love and I’m having a blast.

If you’ve read Engaged Marriage for very long, you’ll know that I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey and his radio show (and podcast). However, after listening to several of Derek’s shows, I honestly have to say that I prefer his genuine, deeper approach to all of the issues that surround personal finance. Yes, I like listening to Derek better than Dave Ramsey, and that’s really saying something!

Like I said, Past Due Radio also includes blog posts for your reading pleasure. I’d encourage you to check out these recent posts and podcast episodes for starters:

Podcast Edisode 102: Of Contentment and Credit Scores

Video Post: Save Your Marriage, Spend Some Money

One Roast Beef Sandwich, Hold the Kids, Hold the Parents

You can also find Derek (@DJSisterhen) on Twitter, and his company Lukas Coaching on Facebook.

Engaged Marriage Interview at Past Due Radio!

In support of our community, Derek graciously invited me for an interview on Episode 104 at Past Due Radio!

We spent nearly an hour talking about making the best use of time in our marriages, the importance of being proactive in life and a lot of other fun stuff, including the story behind Engaged Marriage. Please head over now to listen to or download our interview, and I’d encourage you to subscribe to the Past Due Radio podcast while you’re there.

You’ll find it all right here: Episode 104: Don’t Waste Your Marriage

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Technorati Tags: Career, Finances, Link Round Up, Time Management

Check This Out: Better Parenting

Dustin — Sat, 01 May 2010 03:54:38 +0000

This post is the second in a series called “Check This Out.” The purpose of these posts is to introduce you to other great blogs and online resources that can help you achieve the extraordinary in your marriage and family life. Enjoy!

In this edition of “Check This Out,” I’m really privileged to introduce you to a fairly new site that I feel is going to be highly successful. The site is called Better Parenting and, as the name suggests, it focuses on helping you become a better parent.

Better Parenting is headed up by a great guy with a cool name: Eppie Vojt. Although Eppie certainly contributes, it is a multi-author site, so a variety of perspectives are provided on a wide range of topics, including marriage, family finances, pregnancy and of course parenting itself.

There are a lot of great parenting sites out there, but Better Parenting caught my eye with its great-looking design and the depth of content that’s been provided there in a relatively short time. I am also a big fan of the site’s mission and approach to giving real-world, practical advice from those that are living the experiences they write about (sound familiar? )

In Eppie’s words:

Better Parenting was founded on the belief that you don’t need a PhD to be an amazing parent, and that we can all benefit from the shared knowledge of regular, everyday moms and dads. You’ll find practical tips to help you parent better as well as inspirational stories to pick you up when the task seems tough.

In fact, I believe so strongly in what Eppie’s doing with Better Parenting that he has recently joined our blog network at the Extraordinary Life Network. We are excited to add such a great site to our mix of high-quality resources, and I personally look forward to working with Better Parenting extensively in the future.

If you’d like a sample of the great articles featured at Better Parenting, I’d encourage you to check these out for starters:

You can also find Better Parenting (@BetterParenting) on Twitter, and they invite writing contributions in you’re interested in spreading your own parenting knowledge!

Let Us Know What You Think!

After you’ve had a chance to check it out, I’d love to hear your thoughts on Better Parenting and our expanded Extraordinary Life Network.

Please give a shout out in the comments!

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Technorati Tags: Children, Discipline, family fun, Link Round Up

Engaged Marriage » Check This Out

The Story Behind Engaged Marriage

It’s Alive! Check Out the New Fit Marriage!

Are you a busy married person who struggles to find time for quality fitness?

Are you looking for real fitness solutions that allow you to workout and feel great about yourself without taking precious time away from your spouse and family?

Are you ready to support your spouse in living a healthy, thriving lifestyle?

What Makes Fit Marriage Different?

3 Keys to Running With (and Not Away From) Your Spouse

Physical Fitness and Physical Intimacy

3 Keys to Staying Motivated for Fitness

Check This Out: Project Happily Ever After

Let Us Know What You Think!

Check This Out: Past Due Radio

Engaged Marriage Interview at Past Due Radio!

Check This Out: Better Parenting

Let Us Know What You Think!