Monday, April 20, 2010......
I'm on Twitter. I follow friends, chefs, random people that make me laugh (e.g, Sockington the Cat) and professionals in the writing industry. When Rachelle Gardner tweeted she was looking for 50 people to read, review and blog about The Marriage Project by Kathi Lipp I jumped at the chance.
I admit, I didn't know who Kathi Lipp was, but anyone who could come up with some great suggestions to reconnect with hubby in 21 days had my attention.
I think people forget that once you say "I Do" it doesn't mean you can ignore the relationship. In fact, quite the opposite.
As a person who was married once before, I know what it is like to be lonely in a marriage and I never want to be in that position again. In fact, I had never really thought of marriage a second time around until I met my husband. Kathi summed it up perfectly by stating "It takes a lot of hard work to have a great marriage".
What I liked most about the book is that she's not a Ph.d, but a woman who has bought and read many of the self-help books, realized they were incredibly time consuming and took the best of the best and put it into a 21 day project.
This was genius! My first thought was I can set aside 21 days, that's not too long and although I was reading this book to review on my blog, I shared a great deal of the suggestions with my husband (even the ones that had me sitting on the couch with him watching his favorite show while I didn't multi-task) he LOVED that idea. Often, I leave the room to surf the Internet and he'd rather have me in the room with him.
She has worksheets and suggests you tell a friend about your project -- someone to hold you accountable. The best part about her suggestion is it can be someone local, out-of-state or an unconventional friend (one you've met online).
In past entries, I've joked about my husband's brilliant ideas for dates under $25, but she has some great suggestions for under $20 (20 Dates for $20) and some that even include children).
At the end of the day, everyday life gets in the way once married. Some spouses might not want to participate and as Kathi mentioned, the project is also to help you view your spouse in a new light. Kathi reminded me of something I knew all along: Marriage is intentional.
You can get your copy of The Marriage Project through Amazon or Barnes & Noble
18 comments:
Sounds like an awesome book. I didn't know you were on Twitter. I will attempt to look you up now.
I should probably get this book. This is the time of year that I don't want to do a project, I just want to hit him over the head with something very large. Maybe the book would convince me to use something small...
♥Spot
Sounds like a great book! As we work on our 8th year, I'm sure it has a lot of lessons to keep us going!
Really interesting review. Our marriage project sort of got stuck at the "living in sin" stage. Lol...I wonder if this book has a chapter on getting married for less then 20 dollars?
www.charliestribe.com
very cool. will check it out...marriages need routine maintenance...they can always get better...
and twitter poetry...i follow but unsure if i am supposed to be doing more...help?
Sounds awesome. Oh, marriage is work. Thats why you need to marry your best friend and a person that makes you laugh. But there are days...well, lets just say I'm not as fantastic as I usually am.
Oh, and your comment about Rachel Ray...did you know there is an actual websites/ facebook pages dedicated to "I Hate Rachael Ray" or RR Sux?
Seriously, people are THAT unhappy that they see the need to bash one another...
So jealous you got to go to the show. I wonder if people realize that she is human and can have a migrane or PMS or a sick relative...
Sounds like a great book and I think all married couples would appreciate tips on keeping it on track.
You did a good job describing some things from the book and also sharing some of your own things.
This wouldn't be much use to me at the moment since i'm not even in a RELATIONSHIP, let alone married,but it does sound really interesting all the same!
LMB - love your review - I love that you GET the book. Thanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful review!
After 23 years of marriage, my sister and b-i-l still have their Wednesday date nights. He gets off work early that day and they go to dinner without the kids. A neighbor watched them when they were little.
I see that you learned a little something along the way! Good insights!
Sounds interesting. Maybe I'll check it out when we got out on date to Barnes and Noble. Ha!
I could use a tip or two.
So have you started? What did you have to do?
Considering my current situation - that is a great idea. I will get that book and use it if I ever do this again.
I always get a kick out of reading such books. Given that we will have been married 35 years this September, it is fun to keep a score card of how many of the ideas/suggestions we have already followed. (And how many didn't work for us given our quirky personalities.)
Sounds like a keeper.
I think you touched on one of the most important keys to any relationship's success - sharing. I think it was very sweet that your hubby wants you to hang out with him simply to watch TV together. And that you were smart to share what you read in the book to begin with. Such a smart Little Ms.
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