We cover three main ways to create safe spaces for loving conversation – decide your loving guidelines, choose a physical space and an emotionally safe space. Loving Guidelines Here is an example of the loving guidelines we have created. No yelling. No swearing. No blaming. No threatening divorce or abandonment. No leaving. No using what is […]
Communication
Communication is the foundation of a healthy relationship. On our relationship podcast, we share three decades of stories on learning ways to communicate. Sometimes, Jema just ran away in the red van, but that's a story for another time.
Learning to Talk About Sex
We have had quite the journey from having separate sex lives to learning to talk about sex. At the beginning of our relationship, we kept our sexuality to ourselves and crossed paths to have sex. We didn’t discuss it or really share with one another our inner desires. I checked it off like another chore from […]
How Not To Suck When Talking With Your Sweetheart
No one wants to be bad at conversation, especially when we are all trying so hard to understand one another! In the past, we were not doing well with our conversations because we didn’t really understand what each other really needed. Jon thought I wanted him to solve the problems I was sharing with him, […]
Simplifying Holiday Gift Giving
With the theme of creating a peaceful holiday season, we unravel simplifying gift giving for couples during the holidays and share our history of miscommunication during Christmas. (There may be some miscommunication on the episode, always keeping it real for you.) When we were young, around thirteen, I set my expectations for Jon’s gift giving. […]
Dealing With the Holidays As a Couple
The holidays are a time to gather with our family, friends, and coworkers. There are social gatherings to attend and eggnog to drink. A time of joy and chatter. The holidays can also be a time of anxiety and stress. One of the tools we have found to be helpful during gatherings and in our […]
Why Does She Keep Nagging Me?
Nagging is the constant harassment to motivate someone to do something, usually in the way you want it done. Being unique individuals in a relationship, we may have different perspectives on the right way to do things. Maybe this sounds familiar to you if you think about some of the popular sitcoms like an oldie, Everybody […]