Rekindled Romance-Romantic Gestures

3 Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. 4 Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanonlooking toward Damascus. 5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses. 6 How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights! 7 Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit. 8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit.” May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples.9 and your mouth like the best wine. May the wine go straight to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth. 10 I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me. 11 Come, my lover, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages. 12 Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom— there I will give you my love. 13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover. (Song of Solomon 7:9-13)

Can you believe that this is scripture? Sounds like a sexy novel.  Keeping in mind that our marriages shouldn’t be sexless, our passion and romance for our spouses shouldn’t be non existent. After being married for a few years it is easy to forget about the romantic gestures that came so natural in the time prior. It is easy to take the one you married and love for granted. When you add jobs, kids and life in the mix sometimes couples put their love lives on hold. Although it’s easy to let the flame go out in our marriages we have to be intentional about rekindling the romance. Of course we shouldn’t only express our love during the month of February alone. But if you have noticed that the fire behind your romance has fizzled in your marriage, here are a few things that Could help us rekindle the romance in our marriages.

1. Write a poem.*
2. Cook a romantic dinner.
3. Give a full-body massage.
4. Pack a sunset picnic.
5. Pick wildflowers on the way home.
6. Give dark chocolates.
7. Read(Song of Solomon together) lol*
8. Prepare strawberries with fondue chocolate.
9. Leave little love notes everywhere.*
10. Send a love email every day.
11. Take a moonlit walk.(when it warms up lol)*
12. Snuggle together while watching romantic movies.
13. Watch something your spouse enjoys while snuggling
14. Take a bath together (use bubbles!).*
15. Bring home good coffee or a decadent sweet.
16. Take a walk down memory lane — visit some of the special places from your early days of dating.*
17. Make warm chocolate cake for dessert. To do body painting
18. Make a scrapbook with photos, mementos, and little notes from your lives together.*
19. Kiss in the rain.(or snow lol)
20. Ride a ferris wheel.
21. Sneak away from a party and make out.
22. Bring home great take-out, and light some candles.
23. Fix something or fix up the house just to make your partner happy.*
24. Take a nap together.
25. Kiss slowly, touching his or her back and neck and nape — just to tease
26. Make a list of everything you love about him or her.*
27. Write a love letter. And publish it in your local paper.*
28. Go to a movie, ignore the movie, and make out like teen-agers.
29. Groom yourself, and try to look good for your partner.
30. Take some quiet time and talk about your day.
31. Write little notes, one for each way he or she drives you crazy.
32. Feed each other grapes.
33. Recreate your partner’s favorite romantic movie scene.
34. Pretend you’re going on a first date — show up at the door with flowers, all dressed up, with your car washed and cleaned, looking spiffy. Recreate the first time.
35. Create a little box with a bunch of your partner’s favorite things inside.
36. Try some sexy role-playing. Get dressed up, be daring, have fun.*
37. Give a little token to your partner to wear, and say it’s to remind him or her all day that you love them.
38. Sing a favorite song to him or her. Only do this if you can sing fairly well.
39. Have dinner on the roof, with some candles. This doesn’t work if your roof slopes sharply.( or if the climate isn’t perfect)*
40. Hold hands, and walk somewhere with lots of pretty lights.
41. Say I love you. In a different way, every day.
42. Blindfold your partner. Use a feather. Slowly.
43. Declare your love, very publicly.*
44. Take sexy photos that only your spouse will see. (be careful) lol

Sugar & Spice…..And Everything Nice

How to Make Your Own Sugar Scrubs

Wouldn’t it be great to give your skin a little love? How about making your own sugar scrub? You can also make small jars as gifts for friends. A sugar scrub makes your skin feel nice (Sugar has natural relaxing and soothing properties, and it also helps circulation and exfoliates your skin.), but purchasing sugar scrubs can become expensive. Luckily there is an easy way to make a sugar scrub at home, and all you need is a few household products which can make a sugar scrub that will give you great results like a store bought one (but without the price)!

1. 1
   Pick a jar for your sugar scrub. Almost any jar would be fine. You can get one that locks or one that has a screw on lid. If you are a clumsy person like I am at times, use a plastic jar instead of glass, because this scrub will be put near the shower or bath tub, if you so desire. Plastic has its disadvantages too. A plastic jar will absorb any essential oils you add into the scrub, and that means that you can never use the jar in any other purpose. Make sure whatever jar you are using is clean. A plastic ziplock container will work well too. Even a little sandwich bag works.
2. 
   Gather your ingredients and select your sugar. Sugar scrubs have a few benefits over salt scrubs but salt scrubs can be used as well. I try to keep a balance between the two. Sugar granules are smaller and gentler. Preventing small tears in the skin. Sugars natural humectants properties are more hydrating. While overuse of salt scrubs can strip the skin of its natural oils sugar scrubs are more hydrating. Brown sugar is softer than granulated sugar so you can use it on your face and for sensitive skin. Raw sugar is naturally coarse and suggested only for the body.
3. Pick an oil and (or) spice. Any kind will do, but a few skin nutritive oils are almond oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, peanut oil, rosehip oil, sesame oil, macadamia nut oil, sunflower oil and olive oil. However, you shouldn’t have to go to the grocery store right now to buy these oils if you don’t have them.Even cheap canola oil, which is not fancy, works well too! But one oil you should avoid is baby oil, which contains mineral oil (a by-product of petroleum) because it doesn’t absorb into skin and when it evaporates, this oil makes your skin feel even dryer than before. Also baby/mineral oil clogs your pores. Spices like ginger, citrus,grapefruit and orange are my favs.
4.  Fill the jar with oil until it is almost full.
5. Mix your oil and sugar together with a spoon.
   Add a few drops of essential oils (SPICES)into the mixture. Choose a scent that you like. Some great ones are lavender (relaxing), peppermint (energizing), orange, lime/lemon, sandalwood, and vanilla. Or you can try extracts, like vanilla, almond, peppermint and coconut. Stir the salt scrub after you add the essential oil. If your anything like me I like color…. So add a few drops of food coloring to spruce things up a bit.
6. Enjoy your homemade sugar scrub.Use your sugar scrub or decorate the jar with a ribbon and give it to a friend. Sugar scrubs are great to use in the winter. Now because it exfoliates the top layer of skin, it is important to follow up with sunscreen if going out during daylight hours. Hope you have some sweet results
   

Detox Anyone?

It’s Fridayyyyyy!!!! As if you didn’t already know that huh;=) If by chance you’ve decided you’re staying in this evening nicely sheltered from the cold how about trying this detox I ran across on Terry Quinn’s facebook page.  By the way she has lots more great DIY’s in case you’re interested at www.facebook.com/terryquinn210

The first thing you need to know though, is that you should allow at least 45 minutes to yourself for this, because the first half of the time is to detox and the second half is to soak-in. The longer, the better.

You can make your own mixture with other ingredients, but the basic ingredients are as follows:

-2 cups of Epsom salt (and add in another cup for every 50 pounds you are over 100 pounds)
-2 cups of baking soda
-1/3 cup of ground ginger
-Your choice of mint, herbs, or essential oils

Add all of those things (or your favorite optional ingredients) into a hot bath as it is running, and swish it around until it is as dissolved as possible. Jump in and enjoy. Be warned though…you WILL sweat, and quickly. The more ginger you use, the more you will sweat. Soak for at least 45 minutes, hop out and into a fluffy towel, and then spend the next fifteen minutes trying to remember your first name. Ahhhhh…sounds great doesn’t it? I can’t wait to try it myself; =)