Engaged Marriage » Romance

Sexy and Fun Date Ideas Made Easy (plus a giveaway!)

Dustin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:43:25 +0000

I am super excited to introduce you to a fun and innovative way to spice up your relationship. I actually gave Bethany a love coupon book from Datevitation for Christmas, and it was a total hit.

So, I asked the founder (Alex) to share a date idea here at Engaged Marriage – he not only did that in the video below but offered a great giveaway and discount to our community – details below!

A Starbucks Trick Guaranteed To Put A Smile On Your Spouse’s Face

Click here to view the embedded video.

Olga and I are so excited to be doing this guest post for the Engaged Marriage community. You see, our mission at Datevitation is much the same as Dustin’s stated goals for this site — that is, to provide tools and tips to help keep your marriage fun, exciting, and full of love and happiness.

We work to accomplish our mission in two ways. First, we’ve created the web’s first and only totally custom love coupon platform. With our user-friendly interface, you can choose to create an entire custom book (perfect for special occasions like anniversaries, birthdays, or holidays) or send individual love coupons electronically through email or Facebook.

Second, through our blog and video series, we offer free step-by-step guides to romantic gestures and fun date ideas that we hope will help take your marriage to a whole new level.

In the video above, we give you an example of a cute, romantic gesture that will surely put a smile on your sweetheart’s face. And it will literally take you just seconds to pull off.

As you’ll see in the video, Starbucks’ cups all have the following warning message: “Careful, the beverage you’re about to enjoy is extremely hot.” All you need to do is either bring a Sharpie with you to Starbucks or borrow one from the barista, and when your better-half steps away for a moment, take the Sharpie and cross out some of the language so that the warning simply reads: “Be careful. You’re extremely hot.” Then show the new warning to your spouse and enjoy the huge smile that follows.

Olga surprised me with this little trick at Starbucks, and I thought it was so simple yet so genius that I wanted to share with all of you. At Datevitation, we believe in the power of the “little things” and think that if spouses attempted to do the little things more often, it could work wonders for marriages.

As you can see, this literally took seconds for Olga to do, but had me beaming for the rest of the day (and had me bragging to all my friends about Olga’s simple, yet thoughtful gesture). Next time you go to Starbucks, give this a try and let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Also, we would love if you would join us on our video blog at Datevitation for some more how-to advice and date ideas!

Datevitation Giveaway – and FREE Shipping!

Alex has graciously agreed to provide a free coupon book to one lucky Engaged Marriage reader. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment below sharing one of your favorite dates that you’ve enjoyed with your spouse or significant other. I’ll select a random comment on Friday and get them set up with their free custom coupon book!

On top of that, Alex has set up a special coupon code to give everyone here FREE shipping this week. All you have to do is go to Datevitation and create your book – then use the coupon code emshipping at checkout. This coupon code expires Friday 1/20 at midnight. You could order it now and give it to your spouse as a great Valentine’s Day gift. Enjoy!

This is a guest post by Alex Karpman – founder of www.Datevitation.com – the only place where you can create a totally custom love coupon book or send custom love coupons via email or Facebook.

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Technorati Tags: Gifts, Guest Post, Romance

20 Awesome Date Ideas – For Free!

Dustin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:29:14 +0000

When you finally get the chance to enjoy a date night, or even a little break together during the day, how often do you look at each other and say:

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know, what do YOU want to do?”

Silence.

I know that we struggle to keep things fresh, and we pretty much always end up going out for dinner and a few drinks. While that’s fun, there are so many other great things to enjoy together.

Well, I’m really happy to share a fantastic resource with you from my friend Matthew from Adventure-Some. You may know Matthew from some of his great guest posts on marriage and self-improvement.

It’s called “Ready-to-go-Dates: The Cure for Dinner and a Movie” and he’s sharing it for free right now! Just click here to head over and grab it.

Here’s what you’ll find inside:

20 date ideas that you can do anywhere
4 tips to spice up the tried-and-true dinner & a movie
None will take longer than 20 minutes of planning and preparation
Many are free
Most are creative
All are fun

If you’re looking for your next date idea, go get your free copy of Ready-to-go Dates – I already did!

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Technorati Tags: Date Night, Romance

The Joy of Sweat

Dustin — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:27:12 +0000

How can getting physical be a memorable and enjoyable experience shared with your spouse?

Well yeah, there’s that, but I’m talking about something different this time.

I’m talking about completing a fitness event together as husband and wife.

Sure, there are extreme examples like Andrew and Sue O’Brien who ran 8 marathons in 8 weeks in 8 different countries or husband and wife teams that complete a summit of Mt. Everest.

But you can experience the “joys of sweat” with your spouse close to home and with much less physical ability.

Crossing the Line

There’s no question that keeping yourself fit, healthy and happy has a direct impact on your marriage and family life. We’ve talked a lot in the past about the role of fitness in your marriage and what that means to the Engaged Marriage community.

Living an active lifestyle day-to-day is fantastic, and it sets a wonderful example for our children. It reduces stress, feeds our energy levels, builds our self-confidence and enhances that other physical activity that we enjoy with our spouse.

As good as regular exercise is for your marriage, I would like to challenge you to do something special that will build lasting memories and a special bond with your husband or wife. I would love for you to commit to participating in a fitness event together this summer.

For most couples, a very attainable and incredibly rewarding event is running a local 5K race (3.1 miles). Bethany and I ran our first 5K as a couple for a charity last fall, and I still smile when I think about it. I’m not much of a runner, so I had to train to keep pace with lovely wife (who had just had our third child a few months prior – yeah, she’s that girl).

Our race day ended up being cold, windy and hilly – sounds like fun, huh? The funny thing is that made the memories all the sweeter because we overcame a challenge together and pushed ourselves to finish strong on behalf of the other. You can read about our experiences running a 5K as a couple in a post a wrote following that day.

A Free 5K Training Plan for You

In our quest to support couples getting fit and sharing fitness experiences together, we just released a totally free 5K Training Blueprint at Fit Marriage. This training program was developed with a professional endurance coach, and it will take a relative novice runner from walking to running a great 5K in 6 weeks.

It’s a fully-body training routine as well, so you will shed some pounds and improve your overall fitness while you get your running legs under you. This is a great way to shape up for summer!

Grab Your FREE Ready, Set, Go! 5K Training Blueprint by clicking here!

You can grab the plan by clicking here, and you’ll get access to our growing library of free fitness resources for busy couples.

After you look it over, get with your spouse and pick a local event around 6 weeks from now. Put it on your calendars and look forward to forging some lasting memories and building your intimacy by lacing up your running shoes together.

Do you have any favorite memories from a fitness pursuit with your spouse?

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Technorati Tags: Exercise, Gifts, Individual Fulfillment, Romance, Sex

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74 Simple Things You Can Do to Brighten Your Spouse’s Day

Dustin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:07:27 +0000

In a recent giveaway we had for Marriage Time newsletter subscribers (sign up here for free so you don’t miss the next one), I asked this question:

What is one simple thing I can do to brighten my spouse’s day today?

I received dozens of responses back, and I was really touched and impressed by some of the ideas. So, I filtered through all of the duplicates, and I would like to share these unedited responses for everyone to see.

Which of these simple acts can you use today to show some thoughtfulness toward your husband or wife?

Simply tell her one thing that makes her special to me!
I could surprise my husband by taking him to the Irish Festival this afternoon.
Texting him at work and keeping him from getting bored in the minutiae of the day.
Declutter the bedroom
Take the kids to the park while they are on Spring Break and let her have a nap.
Tell her how much I’m glad I married her (married 20 years).
I could have the house clean and dinner ready when he comes home after his long day at work
Give him an encouraging note or email during the day.
Compliment her via text every hour on the hour all day!
I took the kids because she was sick. That way she could rest.
One thing I could do to brighten my spouse’s day is to buy her some flowers.
Dinner. Then dishes. She loves that!
A simple thing I could do (and actually just did!) to brighten his day is give him a call, unexpectedly, just to tell him I love him & wish him a great day
One simple thing I can do? Compliment her sincerely on something specific with her appearance.
One simple thing I could do to brighten her day is let her sleep in and get the kids ready for school.
I could call him and tell him I love and miss him while he’s at work.
My husband is easy. Smile at him and say, “I appreciate you, honey!” makes his day. I know I look grumpy much of the time with stress, pain and worries. I don’t smile enough. So when I do, it makes a difference!!
A simple thing I can do to brighten my husband’s day is a phone call to simply remind him that I love and appreciate him.
One thing I can do to brighten my husband’s day is to watch the BYU basketball game with him! Go Cougs!
Send him a text message telling him what I’m looking forward to about our night tonight (especially if physical!)
A three-minute hug.
Give her flowers for no special reason at all – apart, of course, from saying she’s the love of my life.
I could send him a text message letting him know I’m thinking of him & offer support as he prepares for his final exam tomorrow!
I could bring him coffee in the morning, pack his lunch and make his favorite dish for dinner.
Empty the dishwasher before I leave for work.
Call him and leave him a special voice mail!
Greet him by dropping my work bag and showering him with hugs and kisses…for the rest of the evening!
A quick 5-10 minute back rub can turn my wife around if she has had a bad day (or make her day great if she is having a good day already).
To brighten my wife’s day, I can clean the bathroom. She hates to do it!
Sending him a daily email while he is deployed with thoughts and moments from my day and letting him know I love him and I am proud of him.
I will give him a massage tonight, just because, without him having to ask.
Tell my wife how much I appreciate all she does for me, the kids and our home and that I pray for her constantly.
Send a text message of the kids saying Hi and that we love him!
Clean the toilets. Sexy, huh? Depends what I’m wearing while I do it – like a smile, for instance.
I could draw funny faces on the eggs in the refrigerator. =)
One simple thing I could do to brighten my husband’s day TODAY is locate a copy of Boondock Saints for us to watch!
I can have dinner ready and a cheerful disposition when he comes home from work.
I could get out of bed on time so we can get the kids ready more quickly and not make him late for work (being late is his pet peeve and I push the limits every day).
To brighten my wife’s day I make her coffee in the morning.
Practical: Put away the laundry. Fun: Make out session.
I can tell him that I appreciate him and everything he does for us. Sometimes I get in the habit of complaining about what he’s not doing, and I forget that telling him what he is doing is 10 times more important!
To brighten my spouse’s day I will wake up cheery, not grumpy and tell him how much I love him and how much he means to me.
Have dinner waiting for him when he gets home.
Drop by his office with a cupcake from the shop across the street on my lunch break. Just so he knows I’m thinking of him.
Make Rice Krispie treats
My husband works night shift, so I buy a Red Bull (his fave pick me up) and put it in the fridge for him when I get in.
Do his laundry while I’m working from home today!
I can thank him for his awesome management of our finances and his hard work to pay off our student loans so that we can start a family!
Put a Love note (post it) on his computer screen.
When he came out of the bedroom to head to work (we were running late coming back from crew practice) – I had his toast ready, hot water in his tea thermos, and the tea was almost completed….
One thing I can do is let her know that I love through notes left around the house, emails, or flowers.
Say “I love you”.
Thank him for his support as I face challenges.
I will look at my wife’s eyes, give her a kiss and say I LOVE YOU.
One simple thing I sometimes do is pre-toothpaste his toothbrush. It saves him just like 4 seconds in his morning routine but when I do it I always hear him say “awww” from the bathroom. Haha. It’s silly, but it’s something.
I had to work today at our church office, and he has been away since Monday. He’ll get home before me – so I have some delicious corned beef and cabbage cooking in the crockpot, so we he walks in the door he’ll be greeted with love cooking in the kitchen!
I can make him a cup of coffee. I love it when he does it for me.
Make him his favorite brown bread… and have it come out of the oven as he comes in the door.
Make him his lunch before he goes to work
Be sure that your eyes light up when you see her.
Let him sleep in!
I could give my husband a back massage. I think I will.
Today, I will keep my three year old awake in the afternoon, when he would normally want to nap. This means an earlier, easier bed time for him, and more time in the evening alone for my husband and I. I know he’ll really appreciate that, especially on a Friday.
To brighten my spouse’s day, I could write him a love letter telling him why I married him, and why I love him!
All I did was ask him if there was anything I could do for him today. I have never done this before, but I wanted to let him know that I am here for him and I want to help him if he needs something.
I make my husband his favorite dinner and make sure to have warm water in his glass (his preference) when he gets home from work.
Wash the dishes…Naked!!!
Pray with him in the morning.
Clean the house
I do my best to write a quick love note on a sticky note and hide it somewhere that my wife will find it each day.
Write an encouraging sticky note for him to find when he gets in his truck to go to work!
Something unexpected that she usually does, like perhaps cleaning a bathroom?
Drive her to the training the morning and pick her up at the end of the day. It’s always exciting to see her get off the train and come home with me.
The one thing I can do is set his slippers out by the couch when he comes home from working all night so he doesn’t have to go into the bedroom to get them before he relaxes for a while.

How great are these ideas!?!

Keep this post handy, and you’ll always have a way to make your spouse feel special. After all, that’s the key to simple, everyday romance!

Do you have more ideas to add to this list? Please share them in the comments below.

Ready to Take Your Relationship to the Next Level?

Click here to learn how you can refresh your marriage and rock your communication, romance, sex life and finances in just 15 minutes a day…

(photo source)

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Technorati Tags: Ask the Community, Romance

Play!

Dustin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:00:56 +0000

Today’s post is adapted from the new e-book 15 Minute Marriage Makeover – Refresh Your Relationship, Add Sizzle to Your Sex Life & Be Happier in Just Minutes a Day. If you think this and other Couple Time exercises would be great for your marriage, be sure to check it out today before the 40% off sale ends tonight.

When was the last time you played?

If you have children, you probably spend some playtime with them most days. You might play golf with your friends or play Angry Birds on your iPhone. If you’re lucky, maybe you have occasional game nights with other couples where you can keep your Trivial Pursuit or Scene It! skills sharp.

But how often do you spend “playtime” with your husband or do something with your wife just because it’s fun?

Today’s Lesson

Life is so busy that we can start to push the time for play out of our closest relationship. Playtime with the kids is mandatory and recreational time with our friends is usually retained. However, when it comes to our spouse, it is so easy to lose the simple, pure time for fun together in favor of “more important” duties.

The truth is that few things can feed your marriage and refuel your romance better than a little time spent playing together.

And like most of the best things in life, playtime with your spouse is simple, cheap and easy!

Today’s Couple Time Task

Our Couple Time today will be spent simply having some fun together. Please take a look at the list below to get some ideas for a playful activity that you can do together. Pick one that suits you, do it and smile.

Play a board game
Go roller skating
Play a video game
Dance
Play a card game
Go to the park and play
Play Guitar Hero (one of our favorites)
Have a water gun fight
Play miniature golf
Visit an arcade
Wrestle
Create an art project together
Play 21 questions
Go bowling
Race go-carts
Play Truth or Dare
Play some Nintendo Wii (clothing optional)

When it comes to having simple fun with your best friend, the possibilities are really endless. So, what will you do today to enjoy a little playtime together?

Today’s Tips

This is not a time for competition or trash talking! Trust me on this one.
If you can’t decide what to do, then today is the husband’s turn to Take the Lead and choose for you both.
You can definitely include your kids or friends in many of these activities (though clothing is recommended for those Wii games), but be sure to spend playtime alone as a couple on a regular basis.

This post is adapted from one of 28 powerful daily exercises that will take your marriage from good to extraordinary in just 15 minutes per day. The price increases tonight, so please go check out all the details about 15 Minute Marriage Makeover by clicking here now.

(photo source)

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Technorati Tags: 15 Minute Marriage Makeover, Communication, Date Night, family fun, Romance, Time Management