Not only has the recession been putting a strain on personal financial challenges, it has also been adding new stresses to relationships.  Long distance relationships, newlyweds, and casual dating have all been hit hard by the country’s economic downward spiral over the last couple years.  The good news is that we are all being affected fairly equally, but the bad news is that it might be awhile before the situation turns around.
If you have been feeling this recent economic relationship strain, don’t worry because you are not alone.  I have been hearing about new and challenging issues from friends and …read more

This is a common relationship story that happens often to both men and women.  You find yourself in a relationship that you think is blissfully perfect.  You dream of a happy future with a big house, babies, and a white picket fence.  You imagine your life together as a perfect happily ever after.  And then you get dumped.
This abrupt and unexpected type of break-up can be the most emotionally crushing, but surprisingly with some time and mental control, can be one of the easiest to get over.  If you have just suffered from this experience, here are the steps to …read more

What should you do?  Disliking your friend’s boyfriend is a common problem between friends and can end up completely ruining a friendship if it’s not handled in the right way…we all know what happened to Heidi, Spencer, and Lauren on The Hills!
If you have encountered this problem in your life, here are some tips for how to deal with it so that you can, hopefully, maintain a friendship and your own happiness:

Give him another chance. Sometimes new boyfriends can make a bad first impression.  You might have judged him too quickly.  Set your first impression aside and try to have …read more

Even if you’re not in a long distance relationship, the relationship that you and your significant other have with the phone is very important.  With text messaging and cell phones making it easy to be in contact every second of the day, oftentimes couples find themselves frequently fighting about issues surrounding phonecalls and messages.
If you are in a trusting relationship, then there is no need for excessive use of the phone to keep in contact.  Unanswered phonecalls and delayed responses to text messages can cause unnecessary stress, doubt, and worry.  It’s possible that your significant other actually loves talking to …read more

With every man that is serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, there are many loving and supportive family members and friends that are struggling to deal with this challenging and painful situation.  I can’t offer too much advice to those that are serving, but I do think that it’s extremely important to offer support to the loved ones who are fighting their own battle to stay strong at home.
I have some experience with military relationships, so I would like to start reaching out to women who have loved ones in the military and are looking for answers.  It is an extremely …read more

It goes without saying that moving in together is a HUGE change in your relationship.  It’s a big decision, so it’s something that you really need to think about and discuss at length to make sure that you are doing what is best for both of you.  Moving in together is exciting, but moving out is like going through a divorce so make sure that it is the right decision.
Here are a few questions to discuss with your significant other before you take the plunge:

Are we doing this because of financial reasons?  This is the biggest mistake that you could …read more

I read this interview with Libby Cataldi, author of “Stay Close: A Mother’s Story of Her Son’s Addiction.” 
She talks about how she feels that interfering with her son’s failures – bailing him out of jail, paying for his fine when his car was towed, etc – actually enabled him and prolonged his period of drug use. She found it impossible to turn away, to not help him when he needed help.
Cataldi: I blame myself all of the time. Absolutely I felt like a failure, like a failure as a mother. I should have been able to fix it. I should …read more

I have definitely met a lot of girls who say “I don’t have a lot of girl friends” or ”for some reason girls don’t like me.”  I am very understanding about this issue and I think that it it is worthwhile for those who only have girl friends and those who don’t have any to think about this issue and figure out where you might fit in.
I have mentioned in some of my previous posts that, unfortunately for many of us, a first impression is very important.  It’s a natural characteristic to feel welcomed or off-put by someone during the first …read more

I’m sure that it’s happened in my own relationships and I see it in relationships all around me all the time.  My observations might fall into some gender stereotypes, but when I see I pattern I just need to call attention to it and find out if other people feel the same way.  I am addressing this from a woman’s viewpoint, but the same situation could definitely exist in the reverse for a man.
If you have been in a serious relationship for a long time you probably think that it is moving towards engagement and marriage.  As the years tick …read more

I struggled with whether to post this glimpse of Scott Terrill’s life. I would hate for his family to think that I’m sensationalizing this whole ordeal and the pain that this family is going through, as a result. However, my heart feels the need to shed light on this subject as an example of what the feeling of hopelessness can lead to and the portrayal of people on reality television shows. Please take this post for what it truly is, a chance to educate people and bring hope out of an extremely tragic situation. My heart hurts for Scott and his …read more