When I think about marriage, and the impact you and this Club are having on changing the conversation surrounding it, my heart immediately jumps for joy.
Rarely does a day go by that I don’t receive an email or note from someone grateful for the encouragement this club provides by simply showing that happy marriages do, in fact, exist. And giving them hope theirs can be one of them.
Next Sunday, the New York Times® will print their weekly Best Sellers list and you’ll notice a familiar name somewhere around the top.
A week after releasing my first book, Happy Wives Club, my publisher received word that the book would debut at #3 on the New York Times Best Sellers list – only behind The Wolf of Wall Street and Lone Survivor. Around the same time, it was also named a USA Today® Best Seller.
How amazing is that? What astonishes me most is the realization that this book, as well as this club, could reach millions more around the world.
The possibility of a new conversation about marriage -one that puts a spotlight on the positive side of it- warms every corner of my heart and sends my soul into jubilation.
During the launch week of the book, 200 wonderful bloggers joined me in talking about love and marriage on their own blogs.
I wish you could read all the posts as so many of them were simply amazing. But my guess is you barely have time to fold your own socks let alone read a ton of blog posts. So I’ll do my best in the coming days to showcase several I think you’ll love.
Today’s post by Christine St. Vil’s is one of a few I’ve selected so far: 5 Reasons Why I Still Believe in Marriage. I’d love to hear your answer to the same question in the comments section below. Why do you still believe in marriage?
Until tomorrow…make it a great day!
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If I actually listened to what statistics say about marriage, I’d be in big trouble. There are so many scary statistics out there like “In America, there is one divorce every 13 seconds. That’s 6,646 divorces per day, and 46,523 divorce per week“. And then (from the same source) there’s: “The average length of a marriage that ends in divorce is eight years”. Scary right?
Well, I’m choosing to throw all of that out of the window because despite what people are saying, despite what statistics say, I still believe in marriage.
I always talk about the importance of guarding your heart against any outside threat to your marriage, and this would include all of the depressing info that’s out there on divorce. As in anything in life that you want, it all starts with what you allow yourself to truly believe in your mind and heart.
It starts with what you feed to your soul. If you want a happy marriage, you can’t feed it negativity, hate, jealousy, or mistrust. If you want to have a long-lasting marriage, it starts with what you feed it.
So despite what reports and critics are saying I still believe it marriage.
“Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate” Mark 10:9. Before my husband and I got married, I always knew he was the one I wanted to grow old with. Marriage was never something that scared me.
I was never nervous on my wedding day, just excited to finally start living with the man I had fallen in love with six-and-a-half years prior. When we went through pre-marriage counseling, we focused on things we were going to do to ensure that we didn’t end up as a divorce statistic.
Yes, it’s true that I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself. Yes it’s true that I don’t “need” a man. But I want a man, and I love having a husband. I love being taken care of. I love having someone to share my deepest insecurities with. I love having a husband because I love seeing the sunshine that he puts in our kids’ lives every day.
I love having a husband because with him by my side, I don’t feel like there’s anything I can’t do or accomplish. He’s my biggest supporter and encourager, and I wouldn’t want to live my life without him in it.
I truly believe that having children has strengthened our marriage in more ways than one. We learned right away that we had to be the example that we wanted our children to have of a happy and healthy marriage. I want my children to know that regardless of what they may see and hear as they get older, marriage is still real, and a good marriage is still possible.
Marriage has allowed my husband and I to grow in communication, love and support for one another. It’s strengthened our union so that we don’t just say we’re a team, but we truly are.
There is no other union as divine as the union created by marriage. I would marry my husband 1,000 times over if I could. Is everything peachy perfect? No, it never is. But I’ll choose imperfection in marriage any day. No matter what stress or overwhelm I’m going through, he’s there to hold me up and see me through.
Sites like Happy Wives Club and Black and Married with Kids breathe life and optimism into marriages all over the world. Sites like these, perfectly contradict what the statistics are saying and the negative messaging that certain reality shows are putting out there. The truth is, there is no real reason NOT to believe in marriage. It’s a choice. And the choice is yours.
Question: What are some of the reasons you still believe in marriage?
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JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
This past week, I was honored to be joined by nearly 200 bloggers in support of the release of my debut book.
As I began reading each of their posts, I became more and more inspired by their love, passion for life, and what so many are learning along this beautiful journey called marriage.
I knew I wanted you to read them, as well, but couldn’t quite figure out how to get all of you to read all of them. So, I decided to share with you some of the most popular posts I’ve read so far.
If you’re a blogger and would like to join the blog tour, I would love that! You can get more details here.
Today’s post is by a blogger who has made a career out of following her passion. Caz @MojitoMother.com and her husband, Craig, are co-founders of Australia’s largest travel blog.
When you work, live and play together – you learn alot about one another and what it takes to create the marriage you most desire.
Until Monday…make it a great weekend!
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I’m not sure how Fawn and I first connected, I think it was via a comment on a blog post on Mojito Mother. Her positive, bubbly nature spoke of authenticity, wisdom, and connection.
The website URL in her comment certainly grabbed my attention- HappyWivesClub.com.
When does one ever hear that? It’s usually about divorce rates, marital affairs, and husbands who annoy the crap out of their wives, let alone make them happy!
A comment I’d often heard from a wide variety of people in relation to Craig’s and my marriage has been, “Don’t you ever get sick of each other? I could not ever spend that much time with my partner.”
Craig and I have had a very atypical marriage. 3 days after our wedding we left for a honeymoon that lasted 5 years. If living out of each other’s pocket in trying circumstances like that ain’t going to break you, then pretty much nothing will.
All we had was each other; we made friends along the way, but they were our friends, so when we hung out we hung out together. And now we run our own travel business together. So not only do I travel 24/7 with Craig, I work 24/7 with him too.
Yep. It’s hard and we drive each other nuts at times, but it works for many reasons. We’ve made it work with children, and we survived and recovered from a major financial disaster; something the statistics will tell you most won’t recover from.
In keeping with the spirit of Fawn’s book and mission, I thought I would share my thoughts on how to be a happy wife through it all.
Marriage is not the wedding. Once you accept the bliss won’t be there all the time, you stop fighting against the bad times and continue moving forward.
True happiness is learning to accept and live with the unhappy moments as well the good. And when the unhappy moments come, you can follow my next point to work through it.
I would say this has always been our motto and the one thing that keeps us moving forward. We’ve never felt separate, our purpose has always been to work together to reach our goals. Perhaps it’s our mad love for sports and all things Jerry Maguire that cements that for us!!
When you work on a team, you are there for each other, win or lose.
When you are 24/7 with someone, you will annoy each other. It’s either going to end up in an explosion of hurtful words and emotions, or lots of giggles.
Sometimes we have the explosions, but mostly we just laugh and tease each other about them. And ladies, you have to laugh at their incredibly silly jokes. We still find a lot to laugh together over.
Fortunately for Craig and I, we have always had the same dream so this one is pretty easy for us. I think it’s important that no person sacrifices their dream for the other.
Even if you don’t have the same dream to work towards, you can make it your own by helping the other make it happen. If you are both happy living the life you really love, you’ll be a happy wife. (+ husband)
It always amazed me how so many married couples I know don’t play together. They rarely hang out and profess how much they don’t want to!
Craig and I enjoy hanging out together. We exercise together, attend concerts and sporting events, and party to the wee hours—(not always a good thing!) Just this evening, we were play wrestling with each other, which our girls felt was hilarious.
I see the forests, Craig sees the trees. When he was working in construction, I once helped him build a deck for a friend. I lasted a day. Everything had to be done so perfectly, and I just wanted him to bang in the nail so we could have the finished vision.
“Caroline, you have to perfect it, if you are 1mm out the deck falls apart.” So now in our business, I do the dreaming, get a feel for the final products, punch out the vision and then pass it to him to scrutinize with his amazing eyes that sees things I never will.
Things are so much happier when we play to our strengths. This also includes learning how to live with each other. You need to adjust to sharing forever space with another person. Discover what works well and play to that.
I’m driving Craig a little crazy at the moment with my new fascination with angel oracle readings. “Don’t you just have to do them once? Why do you keep consulting them?”
He’s not the greatest fan of my woo woo ness, but I am. I’m not the greatest fan of some of his sporting infatuations, but he is.
Not only will you create amazing memories that will carry you through the challenging times, you are also working together through challenges on the road.
It’s the best way to get to know your partner and cement the bond between the two of you. Once again, we are finding with our current road trip, just how strong our marriage is. The joy of living our dreams is together a part of what keeps us together.
I learned a lot from reading Fawn’s book and I admire her mission in life- to prove that happy marriages do exist.
She traveled around the world to talk with happily married couples to find their secrets. She shares their wisdom, plus what she learns about her own marriage along the way.
It’s a great book for anyone needing a little spark re-ignition in their marriage, or for any person about to jump into this exciting time of their life. No need to listen to all those who tell you marriage changes your life in a bad way, it can enrich your life with much happiness.
Things I need to work on that I got from the book
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JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
As you’ve probably read, this past week has been nothing short of a whirlwind for my family.
First, Keith and I went to New York to launch my debut book, Happy Wives Club. And while there, some pretty amazing things happened here, there and around the world.
Beginning Friday, I’ll be sharing with you some of my favorite blog posts on love and marriage from the Happy Wives Club blog tour this past week.
It will be tough but I’m going to do my best to choose a handful of my favorites from nearly 200 bloggers that have already joined me on the tour. I’ve been so inspired by their writings and want you to experience a similar jolt of inspiration.
Today, however, I’m writing at Huffington Post and invite you to join me there!
An excerpt of my article, 7 Things I Know For Sure About Happy Marriages, is below and you can find the full article here.
(Advance warning for the grammar police. I had two versions of this article: unedited and edited. Unfortunately, the version I sent was unedited. Don’t worry…nothing too major. But if you see a minor typo here and there, please don’t email me about it, okay? Someone already did. )
Hope your week is off to a beautiful start. Looking forward to connecting with you here on Friday.
Until tomorrow…make it a great day!
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ARTICLE EXCERPT:
Are you living in a sexless marriage? Frustrated by a spouse who never gives you exactly what it is you need? Do you often wonder if you’d be better off starting over from scratch?
You’re not alone. As a matter of fact, it is quite likely your marriage falls within the majority. But that’s why I absolutely love what I do. Why I wake up each morning bouncing off the walls with excitement to share this with married couples each day:
Your marriage can be great one. It can be a happy one. And it is 100 percent your choice.
After traveling the world and interviewing happily married couples in 12 countries on six continents in search of the universal secrets of a happy marriage for my book, Happy Wives Club, there are seven things I know for sure about happy marriages.
1. Happiness is a moment-by-moment decision. One of the greatest mistakes we make is believing happiness is a result of happenstance. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Those who are happiest create that for themselves. They determine each day to look for the best in their spouse. Of course, there are idiosyncrasies and flaws (you have those too, by the way), but the happiest couples are those who make a conscious decision to choose happiness every moment of every day. And the gateway to happiness is gratitude. Couples who begin their morning focused on what they are grateful for that day, in their marriage and life, find that happiness chases after them the remainder of the day.
You can read the rest of this article on Huffington Post.
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JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
This has been a pretty amazing week. And if you managed not to see Happy Wives Club all over the place, my guess is you didn’t turn on your computer because we were everywhere!
This club -you and me- and our mission of sharing the positive side of marriage were on full display everywhere most turned. It’s a week that will be indelibly inked in my heart and mind forever.
I received an endless number of emails and notes from women that all seemed to begin with, “I’m writing this note to you through tears in my eyes,” and ending with, “Thank you for letting me know happy marriages exist and mine can be one of them.”
Who knew there were actually people in the world that didn’t even know happy marriages were possible? And who knew this Club could play such a large role in reassuring couples that happiness is theirs for the taking…if they choose it?
I could go on and on about this past week but thought I’d share with you a few of my favorite highlights:
Although these didn’t make it into my “Top 5″ recap above, I still think they’re pretty fantastic: 1) I found out the Happy Wives Club book will release in the UK the first week of February, in Australia the first week of March and in other countries around the world in the coming weeks and months; and 2) I have the final US cities and dates for the Happy Wives Club 12-City Coffee Talk Tour which will begin February 2nd in San Francisco, CA. So if you’re near any of the tour stops (Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York), we’ll finally meet in person!
When you first joined me here, did you have any idea this is where we’d be headed? Yeah, me neither. But I’m so happy we’re here…together. Thank you for being a part of this journey. Thank you for showing the world that contrary to popular belief (and portrayals in the media) all husbands don’t cheat, all wives aren’t miserable, and happy marriages do indeed exist.
And as always, if you want to chat, you can find me on our Facebook community page. (I’m the only moderator, so when you receive a response from HappyWivesClub, rest assured it’s always coming directly from me). It’s been a long yet beautiful week. I think I’d better get some rest today because only God knows what amazing new blessings are in store for us this week…
Until tomorrow…make it a great day!
JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
Pinch me. Keith and I are in New York this week to launch my debut book, Happy Wives Club, and will brave the freezing temperatures today to head over to Barnes & Noble to purchase my first store copy!
When I founded this club February 4, 2010, I had no idea how desperately it was needed. I knew I needed it. I knew my girlfriends needed it. But who could have predicted the community would grow to include more than 500,000 women in over 110 countries?
Clearly, my girlfriends and I weren’t the only ones who needed to know love and marriage still go hand in hand – even after 20, 30, 40 together. We weren’t the only ones who needed to be reassured that the positive hope we feel in our hearts about marriage and our wonderful husbands was, for a lack of a better term, real.
The last thing on my mind that cool February night was writing a book. And yet, here I am four years later with a book arriving in stores across the country – Today.
There are two things I want you to know about this book. The first is it is different. Unlike any marriage book you’ve read in the past. It’s been described as Eat, Pray, Love meets The 5 Love Languages and a synopsis can be found here.
The second is that I worked unbelievably hard on it and pray it delivers the goods. If you are able, I’d be honored if you’d pick up a copy (or two) today. And then tell your friends and family about it.
I thought about sharing with you all the amazing endorsements this book has received from people like 3x Olympic Gold Medalist Misty May-Trenor and New York Times Bestselling authors, Dr. Les & Leslie Parrott, Priscilla Shirer and Dr. Lissa Rankin. But those can also be found here.
What I think, what I hope, will be more impactful is for you to see how this book has already begun changing marriages for the better; taking them from good to great and from great to extraordinary. How it has sparked so many thought-provoking conversations on marriage and what it takes to create a lasting -and happy- one.
So in honor of the Happy Wives Club book release, I won’t be blogging this week. Instead, I am turning the reins over to hundreds of bloggers who have joined the It’s All About Love blog tour in support of the launch and are sharing their thoughts on marriage and creating a love that not only lasts a lifetime but does so happily. Scroll down to read their amazing posts and…
**DON’T FORGET TO GO TO THE STORES TODAY TO PURCHASE HAPPY WIVES CLUB**
You can find the book nationwide at Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Wal-Mart, Target, Sam’s Club, and nearly every major book retailer. And if you’d prefer not to leave the comfort of your home, you can order the book on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and all of your favorite online retailers.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for joining this journey with me. I hope this book makes you proud. Not only proud to be a member (or aspiring member) of this club but proud to be among the wonderful women positively changing the tone about marriage around the world.
Until Monday…make it a great week!
BLOGGERS: Want to learn how to join the It’s All About Love blog tour? Click Here for more information.
DAY 12: LIFE OF COMFORT
When you first read the twelfth gift of marriage, Life of Comfort, did you immediately think, “Hey Fawn Weaver, don’t make people think marriage will always feel comfortable?!”
Rest assured, that is not the sort of comfort I’m referencing.
Lying in bed this morning, looking out at the rain in front of me, and my husband laying behind me with his arms locked around me in a tight embrace, this twelfth gift became clear as day.
No sun in sight and the visibility almost nonexistent, yet the comfort I felt in my heart was so palpable it was as if the day was already filled with sunshine.
Marriage is not supposed to make you feel comfortable at all times. A great spouse loves you exactly the way you are. An extraordinary spouse helps you grow; inspires you to be, do and give your very best.
This is not always comfortable. But it should be comforting.
You and I are blessed with wonderful, imperfect spouses who love us to pieces. How do I know this? You’re here with me. You’re a part of this rapidly growing community.
I’m not implying your spouse loves you perfectly all the time, or vice versa, but it is your love that brings you here daily. It is that love that makes you resolve to be a better spouse with each passing moment.
Marriage is filled with an endless amount of gifts. We’ve only scratched the surface with these twelve. But on this day, I hope I have inspired you to look at your marriage as a true and immeasurable gift. A treasure from above. Never to be taken for granted.
If I’ve done that, waking up each morning at 4:45am to write a new post on one of the many gifts of marriage -every day for the past 12 days- was worth every moment. And tomorrow, my friends, I will sleep in…
Until Tuesday…make it a great day!
P.S. This is also the very last day of our 12 Days of Christmas spectacular giveaway so, if you so desire, make sure to scroll down and enter to win (it’s a pretty fantastic Date Night prize).
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One last chance to enter the 12 Days of Christmas Spectacular Giveaway in honor of the release of my upcoming book, Happy Wives Club. (We are just 2 days away from its release – Wow!)
TODAY’S GIFT: $250 Restaurants.com + $250 Fandango Gift Card
As always, no purchase is necessary, entering to win is simple, and you control your number of entries. But if you do choose to pre-order the book (Amazon and Barnes & Noble have it 25% off today), make sure to scroll down because we’re giving you tons of FREE STUFF!
Here are the details for the awesome FREE GIFTS you’ll get for pre-ordering Happy Wives Club today. (**If you’ve already pre-ordered, you get these too!)
HOW DOES IT WORK?
All you have to do is email a copy of your receipt (or order confirmation email) to hwcbook@gmail.com. If you’ve already pre-ordered your book, just email your receipt and you still get these gifts! For additional details: http://happywivesclubbook.com/blog/preorder.
WANT TO GIVE THIS BOOK AS A GIFT BEFORE ITS RELEASE ON 1/7/14?
Not to worry, we created these beautiful printables you can give to anyone letting them know you’ve pre-ordered the book for them as a Christmas gift, anniversary, wedding or engagement present.
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JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
Are you a blogger? Click Here to join us for the It’s All About Love blog tour in honor of the Happy Wives Club book launch.
DAY 11: FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
Maybe my own vanity has led me to this place (although I’d love to believe there’s not a vain bone in my body…ahem). But the gift of marriage I’m introducing today happens to be one of my personal favorites.
It’s the one I knew very little about until I spent the better part of last year interviewing happily married couples in 12 countries and 6 continents.
Although this gift has been written on for decades, and studies from well-respected medical organizations like the Mayo Clinic have long proved it, I still didn’t fully grasp it until I traveled around the world and saw it first hand on every continent.
HAPPY MARRIAGE = THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH.
Marriage has been shown to increase general happiness. Overall, 40 per cent of married people, compared with just 25 per cent of single people, say they are happy with their life.
The survey stating those results, led by Professor Andrew Oswald at the University of Warwick, likened the benefits of marriage on our happiness levels to the equivalent of an annual cash injection of $98,000 into our lives.
Happy marriages are a youth elixir. Every couple I interviewed on my journey around the world (with the exception of a few stricken by illness) looked at least 10 years younger than their actual age.
In most cases, they looked between 15-20 years younger. One of the wives I interviewed in Cape Town, South Africa was 67 years old but barely looked 50 and had more energy than me (and I’ve got energy to spare).
I wish I could tell you I’ve done a scientific study on the effects of marriage on thickness of hair, suppleness of skin, strength of nails and heightened energy but that would be a fib. I can tell you, however: I’ve interviewed more happily married couples than I can count and there is one thing I can’t help but notice in all of them. They seem to not only have the secret to a happy marriage but unlimited access to the fountain of youth.
So while the $230 million global beauty market continues to roar on, you and I don’t have to be a part of it. All we need to do is invest in our marriages, create happiness in our homes, and viola! we give ourselves access to dip into the fountain of youth daily.
Just one more day remains in this series. I’d be honored if you’d join me here tomorrow for Day 12 of our 12 Gifts of Marriage series, and if you desire, scroll down to participate in our 12 Days of Christmas spectacular giveaway.
Until tomorrow…make it a great day!
___________
Every day, for 12 days, I will post an encouragement for your marriage at the top. And then, a pretty spectacular giveaway at the bottom in honor of the release of my upcoming book, Happy Wives Club. (Still can’t believe we are just a few days away from its release!)
TODAY’S GIFT: His & Her Fitbit Force Wristbands
Jump start your New Year health and fitness goals with this awesome gift. If you don’t know much about Fitbit bands, check it out here.
As always, no purchase is necessary, entering to win is simple, and you control your number of entries. But if you do choose to pre-order the book (Amazon and Barnes & Noble have it 25% off today), make sure to scroll down because we’re giving you tons of FREE STUFF!
Here are the details for the awesome FREE GIFTS you’ll get for pre-ordering Happy Wives Club today. (**If you’ve already pre-ordered, you get these too!)
HOW DOES IT WORK?
All you have to do is email a copy of your receipt (or order confirmation email) to hwcbook@gmail.com. If you’ve already pre-ordered your book, just email your receipt and you still get these gifts! For additional details: http://happywivesclubbook.com/blog/preorder.
WANT TO GIVE THIS BOOK AS A GIFT BEFORE ITS RELEASE ON 1/7/14?
Not to worry, we created these beautiful printables you can give to anyone letting them know you’ve pre-ordered the book for them as a Christmas gift, anniversary, wedding or engagement present.
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JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
Are you a blogger? Click Here to join us for the It’s All About Love blog tour in honor of the Happy Wives Club book launch.
DAY 10: GIVING HOPE
“It’s time to start a marriage revolution. Solid marriages lead to a more stable home environment which in turn leads to a more stable society.
“If we want to change the world, we need to start at home and let it grow from there.”
These were words spoken by the husband of Heather Lammers, a fellow blogger and HWC member.
I’d given Heather an advance readers copy of the Happy Wives Club book and in her excitement of sharing with her husband what she’d discovered, this is what immediately came to his mind.
Today, is Day 10 in our 12 Gifts of Marriage series and it seems to be no better time than to introduce this wonderful gift: Giving Hope.
The gifts of marriage -your marriage- aren’t just limited to your spouse and you. They extend far beyond the four walls of your home.
When you and your husband are in public, holding hands, nuzzling under each other’s chins or resting in one another’s arms, that is not just for you. Of course, you don’t do it for show. And that is what makes it even more special.
On Christmas, my husband and I walked along the beaches of Southern California. We started in Marina Del Rey, then walked through Venice and Santa Monica. Along the way, we noticed people kept smiling at us and seemed genuinely happy to see us walking by.
It was Christmas so I just assumed everyone was so friendly because it’s the most wonderful time of the year (not to mention, we were at the beach, in 80-degree weather, during the last week of the year).
But it was more than that. Finally, a woman walking across the street in the opposite direction of us, looks at us with a large grin, points to my shirt and yells, “Beautiful!” Keith looked down and said, “Oh, now I understand why everyone keeps smiling at us!”
I hadn’t thought much about what I was wearing but that tee shirt was bringing life to so many who walked by us. It was a simple black shirt I ordered online that read: I Love My Husband.
There are alot of hurting people in the world. Those who have been jolted by love, shaken by abuse and jaded by abandonment. The love between you and your spouse, your marriage, gives them hope. Your loving marriage is a gift, not only to you…but to the world.
Just two more days in this series. I’d be honored if you’d join me here tomorrow for Day 11 of our 12 Gifts of Marriage series, and if you desire, scroll down to participate in our 12 Days of Christmas spectacular giveaway.
Until tomorrow…make it a great day!
___________
Every day, for 12 days, I will post an encouragement for your marriage at the top. And then, a pretty spectacular giveaway at the bottom in honor of the release of my upcoming book, Happy Wives Club. (Still can’t believe we are just a few days away from its release!)
TODAY’S GIFT: $500 Fitness Package for Two!
I am SO excited about this gift! Is getting healthy at the top of your list of 2014 resolutions? Then this is the way to do it. You’ll have US Olympian Annett Davis coaching you and giving you all the tools you need to get your year started off right!
No purchase is necessary, entering to win is simple, and you control your number of entries. But if you do choose to pre-order the book (Amazon and Barnes & Noble have it 25% off today), make sure to scroll down because we’re giving you tons of FREE STUFF!
Here are the details for the awesome FREE GIFTS you’ll get for pre-ordering Happy Wives Club today. (**If you’ve already pre-ordered, you get these too!)
HOW DOES IT WORK?
All you have to do is email a copy of your receipt (or order confirmation email) to hwcbook@gmail.com. If you’ve already pre-ordered your book, just email your receipt and you still get these gifts! For additional details: http://happywivesclubbook.com/blog/preorder.
WANT TO GIVE THIS BOOK AS A GIFT BEFORE ITS RELEASE ON 1/7/14?
Not to worry, we created these beautiful printables you can give to anyone letting them know you’ve pre-ordered the book for them as a Christmas gift, anniversary, wedding or engagement present.
##
JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
Are you a blogger? Click Here to join us for the It’s All About Love blog tour in honor of the Happy Wives Club book launch.
DAY 9: A BETTER YOU
“When people don’t live up to your expectations…show more grace.” These were my husband’s encouraging words when sharing his New Year’s resolution for me.
Every New Year’s Eve, it is our annual tradition to spend time thinking about two things: Five personal goals for the upcoming year and five areas of growth we’d like to see in each other.
On an index card, I fill one side with New Year’s resolutions for myself and on the flip side I do the same for my husband. During our New Year’s Eve dinner, we exchange cards. It’s one of my favorite date nights of the year.
Last night, however, with the incredibly busy season we are in leading up to next week’s release of the Happy Wives Club book, we decided to do it a little differently.
We each told the other one major area of growth we’d noticed from the current year and one area of improvement needed in the new year.
For me, the greatest area of growth Keith noticed was my determination to finish one project before moving on to the next (something that has been a weakness in my personality throughout my life).
And for my area of improvement, it was to show a greater amount of grace. I hold myself to a very high standard, “But you can’t hold others to the same standard you require of yourself,” he reminded me.
In that conversation, one of the single most beneficial gifts of marriage came to life: A Better You (a better me).
Your spouse likely knows you better than anyone else. You share the same bed, and sometimes, even the same pillow. One of the best gifts you can give is to help each other become your best selves. Because that, my friends, is what allows you to create your best life.
I’d be honored if you’d join me here tomorrow for Day 10 of our 12 Gifts of Marriage series, and if you desire, scroll down to participate in our 12 Days of Christmas spectacular giveaway.
Until tomorrow…make it a great day!
P.S. If you are wondering what happened to Day 8, I made a last minute decision to take a one-day break from this series to share this inspiring new post with you: 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Your Marriage. It just seemed like the right thing to do on New Year’s Eve. Hope you didn’t mind.
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Every day, for 12 days, I will post an encouragement for your marriage at the top. And then, a pretty spectacular giveaway at the bottom in honor of the release of my upcoming book, Happy Wives Club. (Still can’t believe we are just a few days away from its release!)
TODAY’S GIFT: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1!
No purchase is necessary, entering to win is simple, and you control your number of entries. But if you do choose to pre-order the book (Amazon and Barnes & Noble have it 25% off today), make sure to scroll down because we’re giving you tons of FREE STUFF!
Here are the details for the awesome FREE GIFTS you’ll get for pre-ordering Happy Wives Club today. (**If you’ve already pre-ordered, you get these too!)
HOW DOES IT WORK?
All you have to do is email a copy of your receipt (or order confirmation email) to hwcbook@gmail.com. If you’ve already pre-ordered your book, just email your receipt and you still get these gifts! For additional details: http://happywivesclubbook.com/blog/preorder.
WANT TO GIVE THIS BOOK AS A GIFT BEFORE ITS RELEASE ON 1/7/14?
Not to worry, we created these beautiful printables you can give to anyone letting them know you’ve pre-ordered the book for them as a Christmas gift, anniversary, wedding or engagement present.
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JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
Are you a blogger? Click Here to join us for the It’s All About Love blog tour in honor of the Happy Wives Club book launch.
DAY 7: SPOONFUL OF SUGAR
Life can be tough. Things will rarely go exactly as planned. Perfection…well, there is no such thing.
Even for the most optimistic person, there are times when your circumstances might seem like a tough pill to swallow; medicine you’d rather not take.
But then a supportive spouse comes to the rescue with just a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.
Watching the movie, Saving Mr. Banks, last week with Keith, I was once again reminded that life is what we make of it.
In the movie, the two main characters (Walt Disney and author P.L. Travers) both had incredibly tough upbringings and yet, in the end, they chose to view the world drastically different. And the happiness in each of their lives reflected those decisions.
One decided to write about a ‘spoonful of sugar’ in a musical called Mary Poppins. The other decided to take it.
One of the greatest gifts of marriage is the ability to lessen life’s trials for your spouse (and your spouse, for you). Marriage won’t make the challenges disappear, but having a loving spouse by your side makes the stresses of life that much easier to bear.
The partnership formed between two loving spouses allows the burdens to be shared. Even in the most challenging of times, an embrace, a perfectly timed joke, or a reminder to focus on the larger picture, helps us jump over the hurdles with greater ease.
Life throws us curve balls. Always has. Always will. But learning to knock those curve balls out of the park is what makes the wins so much more meaningful. And the winningest team there is, if you nurture it: You + Your Spouse.
Join me here tomorrow for Day 8 of our 12 Gifts of Marriage series, and if you desire, scroll down to participate in our 12 Days of Christmas spectacular giveaway.
Until tomorrow…make it a great day!
___________
Every day, for 12 days, I will post an encouragement for your marriage at the top. And then, a pretty spectacular giveaway at the bottom in honor of the release of my upcoming book, Happy Wives Club. (Still can’t believe we are just 1 week away from its release!)
TODAY’S GIFT: Nook HD + $250 Barnes & Noble Gift Card!
No purchase is necessary, entering to win is simple, and you control your number of entries. But if you do choose to pre-order the book (Amazon and Barnes & Noble have it 25% off today), make sure to scroll down because we’re giving you tons of FREE STUFF!
Here are the details for the awesome FREE GIFTS you’ll get for pre-ordering Happy Wives Club today. (**If you’ve already pre-ordered, you get these too!)
HOW DOES IT WORK?
All you have to do is email a copy of your receipt (or order confirmation email) to hwcbook@gmail.com. If you’ve already pre-ordered your book, just email your receipt and you still get these gifts! For additional details: http://happywivesclubbook.com/blog/preorder.
WANT TO GIVE THIS BOOK AS A GIFT BEFORE ITS RELEASE ON 1/7/14?
Not to worry, we created these beautiful printables you can give to anyone letting them know you’ve pre-ordered the book for them as a Christmas gift, anniversary, wedding or engagement present.
##
JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
Are you a blogger? Click Here to join us for the It’s All About Love blog tour in honor of the Happy Wives Club book launch.
DAY 6: ACCEPTANCE
One of the most amazing gifts in life is to find someone who knows all your flaws, differences, and mistakes, yet still loves everything about you.
Growing up, I remember the word two-faced being viciously hurled at those deemed to be untrustworthy, duplicitous and without authenticity.
Then I became an adult and came to this conclusion: Most people, myself included, were encouraged early on to become two-faced.
Not in the negative sense of the word I heard (and used) in my teenage years, but as the proper description of what it often takes to protect oneself in society.
We wear two faces. The brave one reserved for the general public.
“Never let them see you sweat,” “Don’t let them know where you tie your goat,” and other similar lessons taught during our formative years set us on a path of creating a public persona and a private one.
We wore a mask so often it became a part of our innermost being.
Then one day, someone came along and removed our masks. They revealed the beauty of what was beneath. The good, the bad, the admirable, and the yet-to-be-worked on. They gave us permission to just be ourselves, exactly where we were in that moment.
The moat we’d previously built around our heart was drained and the drawbridge let down. We discovered the walls we’d erected to protect us weren’t just keeping others from hurting us, they were keeping us from being free.
Trapped in the very castles we’d built to keep us safe.
Having that one person who accepted us, flaws and all, freed us. Knowing we were loved no matter our mistakes, liberated us. Finally, we could remove our masks and allow vulnerability to take its place. Because we experienced then, and continue to marvel in now, one of the most freeing gifts of marriage: Acceptance.
It is this sense of knowing we are loved unconditionally, in spite of ourselves, that allows us to grow into the beautiful people we were always meant to be.
This series is unlike any I’ve ever done before. The top half of this page is reserved for a marriage encouragement and the lower half a promotion for my upcoming book. So if you desire, scroll down to participate in our 12 Days of Christmas spectacular giveaway. But more importantly, join me here tomorrow for Day 7 of our 12 Gifts of Marriage series.
Until tomorrow…make it a great day!
___________
Every day, for 12 days, I will post an encouragement for your marriage at the top. And then, a pretty spectacular giveaway at the bottom in honor of the release of my upcoming book, Happy Wives Club. (Still can’t believe we are just 1 week away from its release!)
TODAY’S GIFT: Sony Xperia Z Tablet!
No purchase is necessary, entering to win is simple, and you control your number of entries. But if you do choose to pre-order the book (Amazon and Barnes & Noble have it 25% off today), make sure to scroll down because we’re giving you tons of FREE STUFF!
Here are the details for the awesome FREE GIFTS you’ll get for pre-ordering Happy Wives Club today. (**If you’ve already pre-ordered, you get these too!)
HOW DOES IT WORK?
All you have to do is email a copy of your receipt (or order confirmation email) to hwcbook@gmail.com. If you’ve already pre-ordered your book, just email your receipt and you still get these gifts! For additional details: http://happywivesclubbook.com/blog/preorder.
WANT TO GIVE THIS BOOK AS A GIFT BEFORE ITS RELEASE ON 1/7/14?
Not to worry, we created these beautiful printables you can give to anyone letting them know you’ve pre-ordered the book for them as a Christmas gift, anniversary, wedding or engagement present.
##
JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
Are you a blogger? Click Here to join us for the It’s All About Love blog tour in honor of the Happy Wives Club book launch.
DAY 5: CREATING HISTORY
The beauty of things that happen organically. Following yesterday’s post, I received numerous notes from encouraged couples – spouses reading it together.
One comment from Cheri Gregory became the inspiration for today’s gift: Creating History.
“Although The Story of Us was not the romantic comedy we were hoping for when we saw it on a date night 15 years ago, I’ve always remembered these lines, spoken by the wife when she realizes she doesn’t want to file for divorce:
‘There’s a history here, and histories don’t happen overnight. In Mesopotamia or Ancient Troy there are cities built on top of other cities, but I don’t want another city, I like this city.’
“The “history” she speaks of is built from bearing witness to each other’s lives day in and day out.
“For me, ‘a place called home‘ is about this shared history. I can start asking, ‘Do you remember when…?’ and my husband will start to laugh because he knows exactly what I’m referring to. Sometimes, all it takes is a look.
“According to Daniel Goleman (and others), couples become biologically wired to be together, to the point that when one spouse dies, the other is truly lost because the carrier of all that history, the co-creator of ‘home,’ is gone.”
Fifteen years from now, on our silver anniversary, we plan to once again renew our vows. As my husband twirls me around on the dance floor, all guests in attendance will know they aren’t just watching two people dancing cheek-to-cheek, they’re witnessing history being created.
Today, I encourage you to take some time to think about the history you and your spouse have created thus far. Pull out photo albums, look through your Facebook photos and marvel at the wonder of your life. Whether up or down, it’s a beautiful life.
Please join me tomorrow for Day 6 of this series and before you leave today, if you so desire, scroll down to participate in our 12 Days of Christmas spectacular giveaway.
Until tomorrow…make it a great day!
___________
I’ve never done a series quite like this before. Every day, for 12 days, I will post an encouragement for your marriage at the top. And then, a pretty spectacular giveaway at the bottom in honor of the release of my upcoming book, Happy Wives Club. (Still can’t believe we are less than 2 weeks away from its release!)
TODAY’S GIFT: $500 Best Buy Gift Card!
No purchase is necessary, entering to win is simple, and you control your number of entries. But if you do choose to pre-order the book (Amazon and Barnes & Noble have it 25% off today), make sure to scroll down because we’re giving you tons of FREE STUFF!
Here are the details for the awesome FREE GIFTS you’ll get for pre-ordering Happy Wives Club today. (**If you’ve already pre-ordered, you get these too!)
HOW DOES IT WORK?
All you have to do is email a copy of your receipt (or order confirmation email) to hwcbook@gmail.com. If you’ve already pre-ordered your book, just email your receipt and you still get these gifts! For additional details: http://happywivesclubbook.com/blog/preorder.
WANT TO GIVE THIS BOOK AS A GIFT BEFORE ITS RELEASE ON 1/7/14?
Not to worry, we created these beautiful printables you can give to anyone letting them know you’ve pre-ordered the book for them as a Christmas gift, anniversary, wedding or engagement present.
##
JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
Are you a blogger? Click Here to join us for the It’s All About Love blog tour in honor of the Happy Wives Club book launch.
On January 22, 2014, we sponsored an unofficial new holiday: National Husband’s Day. A special day set aside for the nearly 1 million women in the Happy Wives Club community to celebrate our husbands.
Initially, my hope was we’d be able to get a government official to proclaim the day on our behalf. Our team began working on that and quickly realized the many complications of getting a date named as a holiday officially. But who needs official?
National Peanut Butter Day is one of my absolute favorite holidays. No government official has yet to recognize that officially but that doesn’t stop me from indulging in a few more spoonfuls of that tasty stuff just at the mention of its national holiday.
So let’s celebrate our special day together!
To make it easy, we’ve come up with 5 special (and free) gifts you can give your husband today to commemorate the occasion.
1. Print this certificate. If you didn’t get a chance to print this off last year, you may still want to print it now to let your husband know you’re a proud member of this club and because of his love, you’ve sponsored this day honoring him. This is the original sponsorship certificate so it includes the original 2014 date. Here is one dated for 2015.
2. Customize this proclamation. If you printed the above certificate last year as one of the original sponsors of National Husband’s Day (or even if you didn’t), we’ve created a customizable proclamation for you to give your husband this year. Customize it. Print it out (legal size paper). Frame it. Then deliver to him a gift sure to make him proud. (If your computer doesn’t allow you to customize the PDF, print this one to handwrite his name and your name instead).
3. Print a customized Book of Love. This fantastic DIY coupon book from The Dating Divas is something sure to knock your husband’s socks off. Surprise him with this creative book that gives him all the things he wants most…one coupon at a time.
4. Write the perfect love letter. Have you ever written your husband a love letter? Not just a few words at the bottom of a card but actually write the card yourself? If not, today’s a pretty fantastic day to sharpen your writing skills. To make it easy, here are 7 ways to write the perfect love letter.
5. Spoil your spouse date night. There’s no better night than tonight to spoil your spouse. This date night is all about doing what your husband loves to do. No marital compromise here –this is his night!
Any excuse to celebrate those fabulous hubbies of ours is a good enough excuse for me.
Until tomorrow…make it a great day!
We’re SO close to our goal! JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.
THE NEW YORK TIMES® BEST-SELLING BOOK: It’s been described as, “Like Eat, Pray, Love but not down on marriage.” Make sure to check out the Happy Wives Club book. I had the great honor of traveling to 12 countries on 6 continents, interviewing couples happily married 25 years or more, with 1 mission only: to find out what makes marriages happy…and keeps them that way. It’s a marriage book like none other. Guaranteed.
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