Healthy Happy Relationship advice

If you are married or in a relationship no matter how long I recommend these tips I have pulled from an article I recieved for me and Jared. We read it togeather and are going to work together to incorperate these into our relationship a lot more/better.

The ten characteristics are as follows and are in no particular order:
1) Friendship: Couples who have a strong friendship have staying power. They not only love each other but genuinely like each other as people. They enjoy hanging out together. They might even consider each other their “best friend.”
2) Humor: Partners who can make each other laugh tend to be good at de-escalating conflicts when they do arise. It’s the great mood lightener. I’ve noticed the use of funny nicknames can be an indicator of great fondness for one another. The names often stem from a “you had to be there” moment from the beginning of their relationship.
3) Communication: As obvious as this may seem, many couples are not very good at it. Those who are able to openly express their feelings in an emotionally safe environment typically deal with situations as they come up and avoid burying frustrations which always have a way of coming out at some point.
4) Chore Sharing: Those who divvy up the household or parenting responsibilities in a way that is mutually agreed upon way are less likely to hold resentments about what they perceive as “unfair.” Each participates (albeit maybe begrudgingly) and both contribute to the relationship in this way.
5) Sexual Intimacy: Couples who have their sexual needs met or at least have negotiated a reasonable compromise if their levels of need aren’t compatible, feel taken care of by the other. Some are highly active, engaging in lovemaking multiple times a week and others are content with far less. There is no “right” or “wrong” amount. However, often times a negotiation is needed to make sure no one feels neglected by the other.
6) Affection: Partners who stay in physical contact in some way throughout the day have appeared to be the happiest ones. These moments don’t need to necessarily lead to sexual intimacy but are rather easy ways to say, “I love you,” without the words. These moments can be invaluable, especially these days when everyone seems to be racing around to get “somewhere.” Whether it’s a hug, kiss, swat on the rear, tussle of the hair or a sit on the lap, these acts of affection keep couples connected when life gets crazy.
7) No “Horsemen of the Apocalypse:” This is a term coined by a famous couples researcher named John Gottman (The Gottman Institute -) who claims to be able to predict divorce with incredible accuracy. His “four horsemen of the apocalypse” are criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling. His research has shown that couples who demonstrate a high level of these in their relationships are in big trouble.
8) Mutual and Separate Friends: Partners who socialize with other couples and also maintain separate friendships have greater balance in regards to honoring themselves as individuals, within the relationship. This leads to more self satisfaction which translates to relationship satisfaction.
9) Reliability: Most of us want follow-through with our friendships and our partners. If couples do what they say and say what they do, they create an atmosphere of comfort in knowing their words mean something to the other.
10) Relationship Vision: It’s interesting the number of couples I’ve seen who don’t seem to have the big picture of their relationship in mind. Where do they see themselves in ten year? What are their relationship goals? Couples who have created a relationship vision for themselves know where they’re going as they’ve planned it together. They get joy out of reaching for their goals as a team and are less likely to be derailed by surprises down the line.

My healthy happy boys!

Here is Riley and Jaden happy and healthy! Riley is now 18 months old and Jaden is 3yrs ! they are growing so fast!

my 30 day pledge experience

I went to goveg.com or org cant remember any way checked out the website read a book called Skinny B____ and decided to take a pledge to be meat free for 30 days. I wanted to explore how it will positivly affect me and how my body would feel. November 14th was my pledge start. Been about 18 days. I dont miss it and I feel great! My skin is feeling hydrated and smooth my digestive systems is very regular and I dont feel as tired all the time.

I did have two times where I really wanted to give in but I overcame my "craving" if you will and am still going strong. Now I will say after my 30 days I may only very ocassionally eat chicken and fish. Ask me more about this!

Working with tofu!

ok so I had to give tofu a try. Its extreamly healthy a great substitute for meat/dairy type foods. Didnt like it. Still made jaden eat it (he was to young to know better he was only 1 at the time). Gave it another try. Still didnt like it. Then I learned more about it and how to work with it. I am all about textures in my mouth if it feels wierd I wont eat it. Pudding, oatmeal, frog eye salad, ya cant and wont eat it. Tofu was wierd in my mouth wasnt going for it. But like I said I learned to work with it and make it YUMMY! here is some things I learned

• sold in small amounts kinda a bummer



• about three different kinds all different ways to use it



• leftover tofu should be rinsed and covered with fresh water for storage you have to change the water daily to keep it fresh, and use the tofu within a week



• can be added to almost any dish!



• can be marinated for flavor and seasoned for flavor

There are many more ways I will be exploring this soybean curd

Recipes to FOLLOW

health and happiness journey begins

So health is very imortant to me and i want a healthy life for me and for my family and feeling happy with my self is imparitive to my life for me and my family :) so I want to start this blog to help me on my life long journey of being healthy and happy and I want to share with you how I am and will be accomplishing that. Maybe I can be an example for others maybe ill just be someone interesting to follow! But my goal is to have something that I can write down and post my journey on so that I may keep doing it for myself. So it begins! This blog with be for health happiness and family.