The spoken word isn’t everyone’s cup of tea

It’s unfortunate but true that some people just aren’t comfortable with talking and take much longer to open up and connect with another individual if they have to do so with the spoken word.  Regardless of the underlying reason for someone’s inability to talk, when you or your sweetheart won’t join in a dialogue, it makes it much more difficult to foster trust, comfort and happiness.

If you and your sweetheart are having trouble communicating your feelings to each other through the spoken word, there’s nothing wrong with trying other romantic ideas to convey your thoughts and solving problems.  The spoken word simply isn’t the best form of communication for every couple.  Luckily, modern technology gives many new options for avoiding breakup or divorce to couples who haven’t found success with traditional conversation.

Is modern technology the answer to your relationship problems?

In addition to romantic text messages and romantic Emails, trying out instant messages, or IM, might be a great way for you and your lover to communicate thoughts and feelings that you haven’t yet had success with.  Instant Messaging is similar to communicating with someone via computer in an Internet chat room, but unlike a chat room your instant messages are sent back and forth between each other privately and cannot be seen by anyone else. 

Instant messaging may be the pefect way to improve communication in your relationship for several reasons.  If you and your sweetheart become easily frustrated with each other or offended because of body language or tone of voice, instant messaging will allow you to convey your thoughts without any visual or auditory baggage.

Additionally, it is much easier for some people to say what is on their mind via instant messaging rather than face-to-face.  The distance and security provided by instant messaging makes it much more comfortable for some people to speak their true feelings and explore problems that might be plaguing your relationship more deeply.

Start trying Instant Messaging today . . . it’s easy! 

If you and your lover ae having a difficult time communication face-to-face, a weekly Instant Message session may be exactly what you need to resolve underlying probems and add more romance to your relaionship.  If you’d like to give it a try, I reccommend signing up for Windows Live Messenger, an IM service that my fiance and I use regularly.  It’s easy to install and start using right away.

Do you realy have anything to lose by trying out instant messaging to see if it can help your relationship?  You might be surprised at how much your communication improves by taking advantage of modern technology and using unconventonal methods to build your romance today! 

Whether you have a million dollars to spend or an empty wallet, there are tons of ideas for romantic getaways that you and your sweetheart can take advantage of to spend a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days alone with each other.  Never let anyone else define what kind of romantic getaway should make you and your boyfriend, girlfriend, wife or husband happy.  That’s up to you!

Remember: one couple’s nightmare destination could be another’s perfect romantic vacation idea.  Relationships are as varied and diverse as snowflakes, with dynamics, strengths and shared interests that are both unique and special.  Just because one couple’s idea of a great vacation is laying on a tropical beach doesn’t make your preference of camping or bowling or sitting together at home any less perfect.

In the end, the most important consideration in choosing your perfect romantic getaway . . . is you and your sweetheart’s own preferences! 

And if someone else doesn’t approve of how you and your significant other spend your time together, who cares?  Putting your relationship first—and not paying attention to what others think about your happiness—is part of adding some good old-fashioned romance to your life!     

In fact, let me give you an example.  On The Prize Blog’s front page today, they’re featuring a contest called the Atrium Miami Beach Sweepstakes.  By taking a couple of minutes to enter, you could win:

Grand Prize: (1) winner will get a D&G Sunflower Print Mini Dress $525, Monique Leshman Silk, Beaded Top $418, Tom Ford Andrea Sunglasses $360, Chie Mihara Ankle Wrap $305, Missoni Summer Bikini $165, 6 pairs of Hudson Jeans $1200. Approximate Retail Value (”ARV”) of prize: $2973

Now tell me you couldn’t think of a hundred different ways to use those great prizes to add some romance to your relationship!  And it doesn’t stop there, either.  Brian, The Prize Blog’s webmaster, features unique new contests every day, from sweepstakes to raffles to drawings to everything else you could imagine.  Bookmarking it and visiting it every day, like I do, isn’t just addicting . . . it could be very lucrative for you!

In fact, I’m going to enter Romance Tracker into a contest that’s running on The Prize Blog right now, with this post!  If you have a blog of your own, all you have to do to get 20 entries in the contest is post something similar to the following:

 ”Over at The Prize Blog, Brian is having an awesome 6-day blogging competition and is giving away cash prizes, MP3 players, blogroll back links, Bloggeries Blog Directory listings and complete site reviews. This is one of the best blog contests you will ever find!”

And you’re in!  Brian is giving a bunch of cool prizes away, and there’s a bunch of ways to win.  Go check it out!

• Thanks to the Group Research Project on eMoms at Home, our article on Being a Romantic Dad won us a $1,300 ticket to the Search Engine Marketing Bootcamp convention in Boston on August 8.
• This morning, I was delighted to see that our article L’amour de Blog won first place in the Blog Project Three at Daily Blog Tips.  That’s a $100 prize!   

Many thanks to everyone who visited Romance Tracker to read our articles and voted for us to win.  All of the money we earn here on Romance Tracker goes right back into advertising and development to make this a better romantic resource for you, our readers.  And if you have any ideas for articles you’d like to see in the future, don’t hesitate to drop me a line!   

The gorgeous picture you see above may look like it was taken in Japan, but it’s actually the Byodo-In Temple in Hawaii, which was built to commemorate the first Japanese immigrants to arrive on the island.  The reason I chose that picture was to illustrate the fact that Go Visit Hawaii does’t just focus on the cliche beachfront images and posts that you would expect.  I’ve looked through their posts, and am impressed to see that they’re a one-stop-shop for everything to do with the island, from food to beaches to anything else you’d want to know about Hawaii!

Go Visit Hawaii is run by editor Sheila Beal, a frequent visitor to the islands who knows just about everything there is to know about the place.  She prides herself on giving her readers completely independent and honest reviews of everything about Hawaii, so you can always be sure to get the real story about the best—and the not-so-good—things to do on a vacation to the islands.

And even if you aren’t planning on visiting Hawaii for a while, Go Visit Hawaii is still a great blog to bookmark to learn all you can about the islands for the day when you finally do take that romantic vacation you’ve been dreaming of. And before you go, be sure to email Sheila to ask her any last-minute questions about planning your trip . . . she’s great about returning messages!

A romantic vacation to a place like Hawaii can do wonders to bring you and your significant other closer, and Go Visit Hawaii is the perfect site for anyone who wants to learn all about the islands.  Go check it out . . . and add a little Hawaiian romance to your life!

BLOGGER FIRST PRIZE ($110 value): Hawaii Vacations

• A free review on the front page of Romance Tracker
• A free link in our “featured sites” for one month
• Your choice of any relationship book you want from our favorite books list

BLOGGER SECOND PRIZE ($90 value): The Prize Blog

• A free review on the front page of Romance Tracker
• A free link in our “featured sites” for one month

BLOGGER THIRD PRIZE ($30 value): ExPat Mom

• A free link in our “featured sites” for one month

RSS SUBSCRIBER PRIZE ($20 value): Christine Senter

• Your choice of any relationship book you want from our favorite books list.

Thanks again to everyone who entered!  I’ll be contacting all of the winners via email to ask for their prize choices.  Links to your blogs will appear in our “featured sites” for one month and your reviews will be posted soon.  Congratulations!

I thought therefore I blog

ExPat Mom

60 in 3

Contestant Blog

The contest had more entrants than I thought it would, and I’m excited to find out who the winners will be.  As I said, the last day to enter in Sunday, and we’ll be announcing the winners here at Romance Tracker on Monday.  Good luck to everyone who entered!

About thirty bloggers submitted entries in the project, and there’s plenty of reading material there for web surfers who want to learn more about balancing work and family life, blogging and entrepreneurship.  As always, I’m reproducing the whole list below, and I hope the other bloggers in the project will do the same.  Have fun! 

(more…)

But in a world as hectic as ours, how does a father effectively balance a busy career with the home life, children and significant other that exist as his top priority?  Sometimes it can feel like a no-win situation; if you don’t pay enough attention to the advancement of your career, you’re providing a poor example for your children and robbing your family of financial stability.  But by concentrating too much on your work, you take yourself out of an equation that’s crucial to your entire family’s health and happiness . . . and put a serious strain on your romantic relationship, as well.

It may feel as though it’s impossible to balance your work and home life, but we’re surrounded by millions of examples of fathers who have succesfully built their careers while still providing their families with the attention and affection they deserve.  Remember: you’re never going to find the perfect balance, and problems are a natural—and sometimes healthy—part of every relationship.  But by following a few simple guidelines, you’ll make success much more likely when it comes to balancing your career and your family.

1. Let your family know they are more important than your work

You need to balance your responsibilities with paying enough attention to your family to let them know how important they are to you.  Your family may understand that work or other responsibilities keep you away from home longer than you would like, but do you make sure that they know how much you missed them when you were gone?

2. Call in sick every now and then to spend time with them

Millions of people skip work for an endless number of reasons every day, including plain old laziness. But if you’re a hard worker and deserve a little time off, taking some much-deserved time off to spend time with your family is a perfect way to recharge your batteries and show them how much they mean to you.

3. Take your relationship seriously . . . but take your job seriously, too

Like everything in life, it’s possible to assign too much weight to your romantic relationship or marriage . . . to the detriment of other important aspects of your life.  A healthy career is an essential ingredient in a successful family, and ignoring your job or being apathetic about your performance at work will affect your family life negatively, eventually.    

The Blog Project Three reveived 112 entries in all.  I’m reproducing the list of entrants below for my readers to check out themselves . . . and I suggest that everyone else on the list do the same on their blog to help reward everyone who took part.  Good job!

• Top 3+1 Sites about Blog Contests by Lovedeep Wadhwa
• Why I am Still Addicted to Blogging After 3 Years by Ajay
• Increase Your Blog’s Stickiness by Jordan
• L’Amour De Blog: 3 reasons why blogging is like being in love by Phil
• 3 Trends that Shaped up the Blogosphere this Year by Ashwin
• 3 Times A Blogger by Rich
• 3 Ways To Get Back In The Blogging Spirit by Scott
• 3 Ways to Increase your Blog Stats by Ant
• Three Things That I’ve Yet To Achieve as a Blogger by Rhys
• 3 Secrets of Writing for Blogs by Tejvan
• 3 Tips to Increase Blog Readership by Kyle
• 3 reasons why comment relish is not good for your blog by Vijay
• Top 3 Reasons You Should Stop Reading Blogs by George
• 3 Reasons Why You Should Use Storytelling by Daniel
• Top 3 tips to pick up girls/boys using blogs by Mario
• Three Reasons Why Group Blogging is Great by Mike
• 3 Ways To Get Me To Not Visit Your Blog Again by Sean
• 3+1 Things Blogger’s Should Never Ever Do. by Arpit
• How To Sell Your Blog in 3 Easy Steps by Ahmed Bilal
• Three essential steps to great blog posts by Corner Scribe
• 3 Sure Fire Way to Advertise Your Blog on a Shoe String by Engtech
• Three Steps to Keeping your RSS Feed Readers by Matthew
• 3 Fatal Errors of Blogging by Tillerman
• Three reasons why I like contest by Ashok
• 3 Reasons I Stayed On With Blogging by Tine
• July Blogtipping by Rob
• Top 3 Things Kermit The Frog Can Teach You About Blogging (and Life) by Dee
• 3 Good Blog Habits To Get Huge Traffic For Your Blog by Amey
• What “The 3 Little Pigs” Can Teach You About Blogging by Jan
• 3 roads to blogging stardom by Jayson
• I’m Engaged! Now What? by Brittany
• Blogging in Three Numbers by Francesco
• 3 Reasons why I suck as a blogger by Ben
• 3 Ways to Track Your Comments by David
• 3 Reasons Why Daily Blog Tips Sucks by Bes

• 3 Easy Steps to Becoming More Effective by Ron
• 3 Great Alternatives to Paper by Using Web-based Solutions by Ryan
• 3 Signs that You are in the Wrong Company by Anne
• Top 3 Reasons Why You Have to Work from Home by Alfa
• 3 Reasons to Persevere by Anne
• Three Mistakes made by teen Online Entrepreneurs by Nick
• 3 Reasons Job Search Spam Should Scare You by Jacob
• 3 Reason Why Entrepreneurs Succeed! by Ray
• Finding Work and Steve, the Maintenance Man and That Third Thing by Hoffman
• Reducing Debt: 3 different Ways by Richard

• Three Things Wrong with Transformers by Nathania
• 3 movies that can change you by WebStuffScan
• The Three That I Miss The Most! by Jimbo
• Got Independence? 3 things you should do this July 4th by Joe
• Magnetic 3D Globe Jigsaw Puzzle by Marcel
• Three Free Willie Nelson Songs by Liz
• Three Great Anime Blogs and Maybe Anime? by Carlie

• Get Healthy In Three Minutes by Gal
• 3 Things I Have Done To Save My Own Life by Eric
• Top Three USA Worst Cities for Losing Weight by Cherry
• 3 Things I Miss About Being Fat by Anna Farmery
• 3 Reasons Why PowerTap SL is so Popular by Jasper
• The Top Three Reasons Why I hate Diets by Joey
• Three reasons to try a marathon… by Shane
• 3 Reasons Running is Good for You Alexander

• 3 ways to use Digital Point Forums to Earn Money Online by Adheeth
• 3 Costly Internet Business Mistakes to Avoid by John
• 3 Things no one told you about web monetizing by Pedro

• Three Reasons You Should Hate the Prius by Michael
• 3 Ways to Use Social Networking For Your Podcast by The Freq
• 3 Reasons Why I dont Like GMail by Nirmal
• 3+3 free tools for moving your life and your stuff online by Tanya
• Add Impact To Your Photos With “The Rule Of Three” by Brian
• 3 coolest PC Mods b yMadhur
• 30 curiosities about number 3 in the games by Marcelo
• Free PDF Readers by Deepak
• 3 Useful Del.icio.us Tags, Life Quotes, & Traffic Generators by Adam Pieniazek

• Top 3 Ways to Avoid a Crowd at Disney World by Winnetta
• The three places in Japan I would love to visit by Jamaipanese
• 3 Ways to Have a Luxurious Hawaii Vacation on the Cheap by Sheila
• Three reasons to Visit Cyprus by Rajaram
• 3 wonders of the world that designers should have voted for by Mirko

• 3 Huge SEO Mistakes I have Made by Jeremy
• How I built 10,000 links in 3 weeks by Patrick
• 3 Ways to Improve the Comment Styles on Your Blog (With Examples) by Ryan
• My three best traffic generators by Johan
• 3 really simple ways to speed up your blog by Hans
• Make your WordPress blog more Search Engine friendly by Shankar
• 3 Must Do Things For A New Blogger by Ramkarthik
• The 3 P’s for Creating a Successful Website - Passion, Persistence, and Patients by Sarah
• The 3 kinds of web statistic tools (or site traffic counters) by Planet Apex
• 3+1 Ways to Make Your Website Load Faster by Pallab
• 3 + 3 + 3 Places Where You Can Get Free Icons For All Seasons And Reasons by Joel
• 3 reasons why you must learn ruby language by Ruby Tips
• 3 Reasons Why I shifted from Blogger to Wordpress! by Ashfame
• 3 + 2 Most Sexy and Stylish Firefox Themes For You by DJ Flush
• Top 3 Mistakes of Rookie Web Designers by Kevin

• Three things I want my kids to refrain from saying on our upcoming road trip by Juggling Frogs
• 3 Reasons to be Hopeful of the Future by Anna
• The 3 Easiest Ways To Ruin Your Truck’s Transmission by Jason
• The last three times I lost my wallet… by Johan
• The 3 Most Common Types of Collections by Jason
• Three bad foods that are really good by Graham
• 3 Reasons Why I Love the Bar Exam by Andrew
• Memorials to three dead bridges by Graham Richardson
• 3 Tips for Staying Focused with Small Children by Genesis
• What Happens When Three is Almost Enough: Go Irrational! by Simmone
• Me and three by John
• 3 Sexy Cover Ladies = Infinite Hotness by Celebrienne
• 3 little words by Paris
• 3 things I want to do before I die by Just Me
• Three Reasons Why Superheroes Wear Their Underwear On The Outside by Brown Baron
• Ten things i didn’t know about the number 3 until now by Blaiq
• 3 Reasons to Play EVE Online by Adam
• The 3 Email Newsletters No Church Site Should Be Without by Mark Alves
• Three is a Magic Number by Mary
• Three Cheers for T-Shirts by Jay Wagers