Matrimonial Blog
The amount of effort that goes into planning a wedding is astonishing. But in the course of planning the wedding, another important event can get overshadowed – your honeymoon.
Your honeymoon needs to be perfect. So good planning is required to help you have that post-wedding trip of a
lifetime, reports ABC News.
Here are 5 keys to a perfect honeymoon:
1. Time: If the idea of packing up your suitcase immediately after the wedding doesn’t appeal to you, consider travelling a few months after the wedding.
If you plan to take an immediate honeymoon, make sure to take your vacation days from work into consideration and check with the human resources department at your workplace to see how many days you have accrued.
2. Regional possibilities: If taking an extended honeymoon of a week or longer doesn’t quite fit into your respective work schedules, consider a ‘mini-moon’, which packs all the romance and excitement of a honeymoon into a three or four day period.
3. Budget: It is not fun to hash out the money aspect of a honeymoon. Don’t underestimate how important designating a honeymoon budget is and be sure to allocate your honeymoon expenses as soon as possible.
Remember that the amount you set aside directly affects where you go, the length of your stay, and your schedule of activities. Take the time to compare airfare, hotel, rental cars, and activity rates when booking a honeymoon.
4. Get your guests involved: If you are scrambling to save for the honeymoon, consider creating a registry for honeymoon funds in lieu of a traditional wedding gift.
After the honeymoon, consider mailing out thank-you cards featuring a picture of the two of you on your fabulous vacation as a sweet gesture your guests will appreciate.
5. The experience: Keeping your mutual preferences as a priority, whether the emphasis is fine dining, museum hopping or wilderness exploring, will help you plan the perfect honeymoon.
Article Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/relationships/Tips-for-a-perfect-honeymoon/Article1-632675.aspx
Have those romantic nights with your spouse become a thing of the past? Has the excitement been replaced by mundane nagging? Is your marriage on the rocks? Well, here’s how you can rekindle it
Alisa Bowman, in her new book, Project: Happily Ever After, offers advice and tips to other
‘miserably-married’ couples who may be finding themselves at the point of no return, reports FoxNews.
1. Look in the mirror. I initially thought that my husband was 100 percent to blame for our marriage problems. It wasn’t until I took a good, hard, humbling look in the mirror that I was able to see that our problems originated with me. I’d failed time and time again to tell him what I wanted, what I was thinking, how I felt, and how his actions (or inactions) affected me. Once I started speaking up for myself, our marriage improved.
2. Drop the idea of fairness in favour of the idea of happiness. What it takes to improve a marriage isn’t always fair. You might have to be the big person most of the time. You might have to make the first (or 100th) move to warm up your marriage, be more affectionate, or keep things civil.
3. Become a problem solver, not just voice it. Shift from complaining about what’s wrong to doing something about it. Marital problems are no different from any other life problem. Attack them with an open mind.
4. Stop stockpiling old grievances. Fight about current issues. Forgive the old ones. Many people use the words “I can”t” when talking about forgiveness, as in, “I can’t bring myself to do it.” But you probably can. Forgiveness is a decision. When you feel like you can”t forgive, it’s because you are holding onto the old hurt as if it were a precious jewel, and you are afraid to let it go.
5. Be adventurous in the bedroom. Most of us have learned how to have sex somewhat accidentally. As a result, we end up relying on a small number of techniques that we use over and over again. This, however, leads to sexual burnout. Pretend you are 16 again and that you know nothing about how to please a man or a woman. Learn everything you can, and ask your partner to do the same. Explore the art of the hand job. Find out more about oral sex. See if there are new positions you might want to try.
6. Focus on foreplay, not on anti-play. Think of foreplay as everything that gets you warmed up about your spouse. It includes compliments, thank you’’s, favours, hugs, physical intimacy, skin on skin contact, listening, and support. Think of Anti-Play as everything that turns you off: sarcasm, henpecking, ignoring, putting things off, slacking while you are hard at work, criticism, and more. The more your practice foreplay and the less you practice anti-play, the happier your marriage will become.
7. Communicate assertively, without blame. Don’t brace for a fight. Just ask for what you need, and do it in as few sentences as possible. Do it as warmly as possible, too.
Article Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/relationships/7-ways-to-fix-your-crumbling-marriage/Article1-644188.aspx
Kuala Lumpur: India’s Nicole Faria has been crowned Miss Earth Talent 2010 after beating 17 other contestants at a talent competition in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
In pic: Newly-crowned Miss Earth Talent 2010 Nicole Faria (second left) of India poses with Miss Earth Air Jennifer Pazmino (left) from Ecuador, Miss Earth Water Watsaporn Wattanakoon (second right) from Thailand and Miss Earth Fire Yeidy Bosquez of Puerto Rico, during the final of the Miss Earth 2010 contest held in the Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on Saturday.
Faria, a 20-year-old girl from Bangalore, won the title at the talent show with a scintillating belly dance that combines Oriental and Middle Eastern style.
“We are ecstatic and overjoyed although we expected it,” Faria’s father Ian said in Bangalore. The event raised 100 million Vietnamese Dong, which will be transferred to the local Red Cross to support flood victims in the central region of Vietnam.
Vietnam’s representative Luu Thi Diem Huong was voted among top five contestants with her performance of folk dances that are inspired by traditional dances in the northern, central and southern region of the country.
Source: http://liveindia.tv/?p=8982
The mystery of why married men behave better seems to have been finally unraveled thanks to the Michigan State University scientists.
S. Alexandra Burt and colleagues found that less antisocial men were more likely to get married. Once they were wed, however, the marriage itself appeared to further inhibit antisocial behaviour.
“Our results indicate that the reduced rate of antisocial behavior in married men is more complicated than we previously thought.
“Marriage is generally good for men, at least in terms of reducing antisocial behavior, but the data also indicate that it’s not random who enters into the state of marriage,” said Burt.
The study found that men with lower levels of antisocial behaviour at ages 17 and 20 were more likely to have married by age 29.
Once the men were married, rates of antisocial behaviour declined even more. When comparing identical twins in which one twin had married while the other had not, Burt said, the married twin generally engaged in lower levels of antisocial behaviour than did the unmarried twin.
Another factor that seems to be important is marriage quality; the effect of marriage on antisocial behaviour tends to be stronger in better marriages.
The findings were published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/relationships/Marriage-makes-men-less-antisocial/Article1-635422.aspx
Some great tips to maintain your and your family’s overall well being-
Lift weights and mood:
In a 259-women study, those who felt the most stress during a month were seven times more likely to get slammed with eight or more physical PMS symptoms – miseries such as breast tenderness, bloating, food cravings and fatigue. Happily, the same stress reducers that help you cope the rest of the month – exercise, yoga, meditation and deep breathing may well relieve PMS crankiness, too, note some researchers in the US. Dr Anita Soni, who is a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist at Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital, Mumbai adds, To reduce this stress and crankiness, take 600-1000mg of evening primrose oil daily. But if the symptoms are due to some hormonal imbalance, then it’s better to use oral contraceptive pills but it is important to first check with your doctor. Exercise regularly and eat meals which include more of proteins, fluids and green leafy vegetables. Cut down on starch and oily foods.
Giner aid:
If working out leaves you sore, you may want to try out something new and old. University of Georgia (US) researchers had 74 volunteers take either a ginger supplement or a placebo (given as a medicine for its suggestive effect) for 11 days,when, on day 8, participants were subjected to a muscle-taxing workout, the ginger group had 25 percent less pain than the sham-pill takers. A staple of traditional medicine, this spice functions chemically in the same way as anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen and naproxen do, the researchers believe. But ginger could deliver even more pain relief, with potentially fewer side effects. Good Housekeeping columnist, Dr Issac Mathai, medical director, Soukya International Holistic Health Centre, Bangaluru, says, ‘Ginger is wellknown for its carminative, anti-inflammatory and anti-histaminic properties. It’s an important ingredient in various herbal formulations to treat arthritis, rheumatic disorders, abdominal colic and migraine, where pain is one of the most predisposing symptoms. Daily intake of 1-3gm of ginger really helps.’
Nutrition in a nutshell:
Packed with phytosterols, antioxidants and good fats, pistachios are nature’s heart-healthy snack. They also offer a variety of minerals, phytonutrients and vitamins associated with supporting eye health. Pistachios are one of the lowest in calories and fat and highest in fibre, and therefore are good for weight-watches as well. Around 10 nuts a day, will keep the doctor away! goodhealth research updates and informati on for you & your family
Treasure the time:
Money can’t buy love – but can it buy happiness? A worldwide survey of more than 1,36,000 people in 132 countries says yes… and no. As incomes rose, people consistently reported feeling good about their lives. But a bigger paycheck didn’t boost day-to-day pleasure. Across the globe, enjoying life was most strongly associated with psychological, and not financial, prosperity. If you have fulfilling relationships – people to count on and trust, and people you help and who count on you – that’s what makes the difference, says lead author Ed Diener, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (US). Dr Rachna Singh, lifestyle management expert, Artemis Health Institute, Gurgaon says, Besides spending time and money on others, it is important to do it on yourself, so fulfil your own needs and desires. Learning new things and improving your skills are also enjoyment-inducers, the research found. This could be at work, in your kitchen, or doing a hobby, says Diener. So for happier holidays, instead of breaking your budget, spend some time off learning to play golf with your family, or practicing the piano, or finally starting that book club with friends that you’ve been talking about for so long.
Send them dancing:
If your parents spend lots of time in front of the television, then a big flat-screen may seem like the perfect present. But a US study shows that while people 65 and older spend almost three times as many hours watching television as young adults, they don’t find it as enjoyable or relaxing. In fact, those who watch the most are the most dissatisfied with their lives. Instead, give gifts that break down barriers that may be keeping your parents from social or physical activities, suggests Colin Depp, Ph.D., of the Stein Institute for Research on Aging at UC San Diego. Present them free dance lessons or even a car service so they can see friends. Dr Rachna Singh, lifestyle management expert, Artemis Health Institute, Gurgaon, says As people turn 50 and older, their energy levels dip. Switching on the television hampers their general wellbeing. Support from the family becomes a vital factor – for instance, tell your mother You used to cook so well, why don’t you start cooking again?, and so on.
Sweet news for dieters:
US researchers report that sugar substitutes don’t lead to hunger or overeating, as some have worried. When volunteers were given a lab-formulated snack prepared with either aspartame (APM – an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute) or Stevia (natural sweetener), they did not feel less full than a control group whose snack had real sugar. Plus, the sugar-sub groups were no hungrier as the hours passed, and did not eat more at later meals. Dr Ritika Samaddar, senior dietician, Max Devki Devi Heart & Vascular Institute, New Delhi says, Artificial sweeteners have no hormonal ill-effects as such. Stevia is a good and safe option and makes you feel as content as you would after having regular sugar.
Keeping these simple things in mind and acting on them can ensure a very healthy life for you and your loved ones.
Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/123470/Lifestyle/ways-to-good-health-and-a-great-life.html