Quantity + Quality = a Fab-YOU-lous Relationship

846f76_589675cecdaa405ba57aa2b05343e2d1Today, as I type this post I am feeling especially lovey dovey and nostalgic but I suppose that should be expected since today is my wedding anniversary. Superman and I have been married for four wonderful years today and I am feeling so blessed to have him to share my life with.

As I think back over the four years that we have been married and the seven years that we have been a couple, I can’t help but feel like I’ve hit some kind of cosmic lottery in the relationship realm. This is especially true considering the fact that my first marriage was so difficult and that because of my first marriage, I honestly wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to be married again.

Family Matters

Four Tips for Strengthening Family Bonds

familyAs a child, I was blessed to have grown up in a very close knit family. My mom and dad loved my brother and I and they loved each other. Additionally, I grew up with the tremendous blessing of having all four of my grandparents nearby and very involved in my upbringing. Despite some craziness during my teenage years (for which I will now and forever blame *Buddy Kittle–I’m pretty sure he won’t ever read this, so it’s safe to blame him–ha!) I grew up blissfully unaware of the difficult challenges that many families faced. Oh sure, I’m sure that mom and dad had their moments of wanting to strangle each other (as all married couples experience from time to time) and lord knows that they had plenty of moments of wanting to strangle me–but overall, we were a happy and for the most part functional family.

As a child and teenager, I took my nice, stable, loving family life for granted. As an adult however; I now have a much greater appreciation for the sacrifices and efforts that my parents made on a daily basis to ensure that my brother and I grew up in a secure and loving environment. A supportive family unit is so crucial to the emotional well being of every member of the family. If there is strife between members, every individual in that family suffers as a result.

If you are feeling as though your family isn’t as close as you’d like or maybe you’re just a little out of sync these days, keep the following points in mind to help strengthen that all important familial bond…

It’s a Teen Thing

846f76_a0aaf14d3d0440a0ab509b1b1b2bd19eOkay–I’ll confess…I originally wanted to title this article “I love them, but sometimes I want to kill them” but I was a little concerned that someone would take me too seriously and I’d have Child Protective Services showing up on my doorstep.

Please don’t call the authorities…I really do love my teenagers (with all of my heart!) and would never ever want any harm to come to them.  My boys are the absolute joys of my life and are by far my proudest accomplishment.  They are however, teens and with that comes a whole new set of rules for an entirely different ballgame.

As a mom to two teenage sons, of course there are times when I get nostalgic and miss the days when I could just scoop up my babies and smother them with kisses while they giggled and wriggled in my arms.  I get a lump in my throat every time I browse through their baby pics and see their pudgy little baby bellies and cherubic toddler grins.  I miss the days when I, as their mama, was the center of their universe and they delighted in my love and affection.

Whisper these 10 Sweet Somethings to Keep Your Love Alive

heart girl Sure…roses, diamond rings and sappy love songs all convey unmistakable messages of undying love; but who has the time and energy to go to those kinds of lengths on a daily basis?  Not me–that’s for sure.  Fortunately, there are far easier (and yet still very effective) ways to keep the love and romance alive in our relationships–all we need to do is use our voice and utter a few simple phrases that will communicate just how much we care. Try out a few of these loving phrases the next time you want to make sure that your honey is feeling the love.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

846f76_b172831720294de5b5308c71f5d52bd5

I am a planner by nature. I have several months of FabYOUlous Life posts planned in advance because I like to have plenty of time to do my research and gather my thoughts.  

This post is not one of those planned posts. In fact, I had pretty much planned to not write this post…like ever.

However; I was recently contacted by one of my FabYOUlous readers and I simply cannot ignore the question that she asked me and frankly, even though this post wasn’t planned–it is one for which I have done plenty of research…we’re talking years of research.

My sweet reader had read my About Me page and wanted to know how I knew that it was time for me to leave my first marriage. Her question wasn’t cloaked in any judgement or condescension–in fact, I could sense the genuine struggle in her email as she told me that her own marriage has been on rocky ground for a while now but she just can’t decide whether or not she should stay or leave.