• Marriage & Keeping Intimacy

    The Unforced Rhythms of Grace

    If you’re following along, you might know about Sacred Saturdays.  They evolved from my husband’s and my need to hold time aside just for us. The time that has worked best is Saturday mornings. The name came later as we realized just what this time means to us and what it has contributed to our relationship. “Sacred” in the name does not mean that we do something specifically related to God every time, although we sometimes do. It means that this time is a priority and it’s special. I explain how it came about and what we do on these mornings in the original story. We’ve been doing Sacred Saturdays…

  • Marriage & Keeping Intimacy

    Marriage Guardrails: How to Protect Your Relationship Before It Hits the Wall

    Drag racing is dangerous. My husband, Bobby, is a professional funny car driver, and over the years I’ve watched more racecars crash than I care to remember. Our sport has worked to be safe, and almost every time, drivers walk away without even a scratch. But there is damage. The two most common safety issues in drag racing are cars catching fire and cars hitting the wall. Often, the two happen at the same time. Bobby has been on fire three times. I thank God that’s he’s never been hurt in the car. I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more just to… never see that again.…

  • Date Night

    20 Winter Dates for 20 Bucks

    I’ve got 20 easy, FUN, and cheap date ideas for winter! All under $20. Just try one. Capiche? Make cookies. You can go homemade or buy a mix. ...and give them away. Package them up in Ziploc bags and deliver them to neighbors or retirement homes near you. Have a kitchen showdown! Challenge each other to a cook-off – you can split the $20 at the grocery store however you’d like, but each person must whip up as full a meal as possible with what they’ve got. This is my Chicken Marsala – do not and I repeat – DO NOT – challenge me to a cook-off. 4. Put together a…

  • Marriage & Keeping Intimacy

    Like a Bowling Ball… Apparently

    Did you know that race cars are like bowling balls? Yeah… me neither. At least not until my race car driver husband casually dropped that little nugget early in our racing days, like it was common knowledge and not something that should immediately make me question all future decisions. Naturally, I trusted him. Which is wild, because if you know me at all, trusting someone else’s logic over my own is not my default setting. I’m more of a “let’s pause, analyze, build a spreadsheet, and circle back” kind of girl. But still… I trusted him. And somehow, against all odds and physics and everything I vaguely remember about bowling…