Great Dates Globe

Discussion: Scene 1: Auggie’s parents argue over whether they should send him to school for the 5 th grade year. How do you figure out a direction to take when you don’t agree? How could you help to ease your spouse’s worries, such as in this case where the father just doesn’t want to see his son be emotionally hurt? Scene 2: Auggie meets fellow 5 th graders for the first time. Julian starts picking on/bullying him. Has there been a time you were targeted for bullying? Often in marriage we start to expect perfection from our spouse. This can lead to bullying, over-sarcasm, and passive-aggressive behavior. What are three qualities you admire in your spouse? Scene 3: Auggie’s parents and sister drop him off on his first day of school. This is a big step for them, his parents have already been through so much in their relationship, stresses added due to Auggie’s situation. How would a situation like this strengthen and also strain your marriage? Scene 4: “Who do...

This movie is all about getting to know someone. Discuss: è Scene 1: “90% of what you’re saying, ain’t coming out of your mouth.” Hitch is trying to teach relational concepts to the men he his helping. He expresses that body language is very important. Do you have good body language in your relationship? Where can you improve? è Scene 1: “Listen to what she is saying.” This is another piece of advice that is given from the “expert”. How are your verbal communication skills and listening skills in your marriage? When we are with the same person for so long, after awhile things become lax; we are comfortable with who we are and who they are, but we begin to focus less on that other person. Days go on and we all change and grow. Making it a priority to listen to one another is important so that we may know our companions. è Scene 3: “It’s so beyond anything physical.” Hitch’s Brother-in-law is talking about the depth of love that is present when you fully invest in s...

My Big Fat Greek Wedding A wedding is just the beginning of a marriage. Discuss the following questions after viewing this fun movie! Boundaries è As the movie begins, Toula’s family all start their day at the restaurant. Her father, aunt, and uncle are discussing her lack of love life. She is 30 years old and this is all open discussion among the family. What topics in your marriage need to be/are private, between the two of you? è This Greek family was loud, in each other’s business, but close and very concerned for each other. What things exemplified are the same and different within your extended families? Love At First Sight è Toula stood gaping at Ian when he was at the restaurant with his friend. Do you remember how you felt when you met your spouse for the first time? Discuss this meeting. è Ian and Toula spend a lot of time talking about each other’s lives, families, likes, and dislikes. This is quite typical in the early stages of a relations...

Discuss: Sacrifice è Chris Gardner works very hard, wanting to provide for his wife (girlfriend) and son (scene 1). What does the expression of sacrifice show to those we love? Should the effort be good enough? è When Chris was told he was chosen out of the 20 interns, the head of the firm asked him, “Was it as easy as it looked?”   No, but it was worth it. Marriage takes work, but it is something to be worked for, because there can be immense joy found by having someone to share everything with, someone you can be completely transparent with. What advice would you give someone asking you about marriage as a whole? Morals è Chris tells the Man at the day care that they should fix the wall, where there are inappropriate words graffitied on it. He points out things that do not uplift. How can you implement this in your marriage? How does having strong morals add dimension to your marriage relationship/do they? è   Chris is left in a taxi cab; he has ...

Date night! Sometimes it is just tough to get out and do something. Time to cozy up and watch Marley & Me together. Use these questions to spark great conversation that can lead to better connection and the spark you need to re-implement good practices into your marriage. New Love è Scene 1: After marrying, John and Jenny moved to Florida. They are very lovey as they pursue their careers. “Who are you?   You are John Freakin’ Grogan, who is about to get a job…” In what ways can you keep the love alive in your marriage? è How can you keep friendship in your marriage, even when struggles come? è Scene 31: When burying Marley, Jenny puts her “start of the family” necklace that Marley once ate. She expresses publicly (in front of the children) that the family had already begun, when she got the necklace (Marley was part of the family). What are some of your favorite memories from the beginning of your relationship/marriage? How can you make your spouse feel rare an...

This year is the 14th Annual Round Mountain 5k Sunrise Challenge. Running as a couple can be so therapeutic, as you are challenging yourself, but also given an opportunity to push yourself to help your partner. I am more of a runner than my husband, but he has longer legs than I do....he's 6'4''. When we run together, typically he feels as though he is holding back to stay with me, but that changes after the endurance part comes to it and he is worn out before I am set on quitting. How ever you and your spouse work through such challenges, get outside and push yourself  on the sunrise challenge morning. It will soon be too hot to be out running. Head over to the Facebook Event Page  to get the details and try it out. It is a great way to support the community and get your Saturday started early and very productively. Marriage Reconnect "More than 80 percent of the time, it's the wife who brings up sticky marital issues, while the husband tries to avoid...

My husband LOVES when I just want to watch him "in the zone" of his hobbies. He finds it very attractive. A perfect date to him would be where I went outside to where he has all of his "toys" and watched him "tinker" with his tools. He would build a new contraption by cutting and welding metals together and I would look very quizzical. Explaining how or why he is doing something or how something works is also something he loves. I love watching him in his element, too. Another great part to this kind of date is when I might try my hand at these things he is expertly inclined for. One night a couple weeks ago, after the kids were in bed, I joined him in the yard as he was finishing up a trailer he was building. I grabbed his second welding hood and was handed his square pad to kneel on so that I could get up close and watch his welding techniques. I had my knees in about the center of this smooth, leather pad. When the sparks started flying, I started sc...

At Old Dominion Mine Park you can find a Disc Golf course right across from the Playground. Make use of this great space and throw some Frisbees!  Just try not to send them soaring to the  highway below! Marriage Reconnect A great way to strengthen any relationship is to learn something together. If you can throw a Frisbee, or even if you can't (your spouse can teach you!) Check out some details on how to play Disc Golf.   A simple tutorial on the different discs used in the sport Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to chat with each other about anything. Dates are about making connections and when married it is often about reconnecting. Enjoy this laid back time to share things that have been going on in your lives. 

Let's get the details on who we are and who they are. I have always acted as though family history work is not for me. I struggle with it. I struggle with technology. I like reading stories, but I thought that was about it. Recently my husband and I took a little date night for focusing on learning about some of our family lines. It can be so cool! It is interesting to learn where different ancestors were born and lived. What is really cool is just the fact that so many people have put in so much effort to preserve history of different people and that we have archives available to us with census information, marriage dates, and pictures and stories.  FamilySearch  is a great place to start, because it is free to everyone and has loads of information in it's archives. Marriage Reconnect Read up on an ancestor from yours and your spouse's side of the family. It is interesting how we claim people as family from years and years ago that we have never known. My husband was...

It all started with mining and it really is still all about mining. Head to the Historic Old Dominion Mine Park to get some fresh air and take a self-guided tour of old mine property. Go hand in hand on this date and enjoy the view off the side of the hill. Seeing the pictures on the information boards throughout the park really made me think about what life was like back in the Old West. Standing on the very ground where work was bustling and being able to see and touch a lot of the actual equipment that was used for years. Marriage Reconnect After you do all the exploring and learning about mining and the old Globe life, change focus to your own work life. Are you on track to where you want to be?  Talk about the dreams and goals you both have and look back on how far you have come while married. Times when we have discussed how we got to where we are, we have been humbled and also seen how our relationship has developed along the way. Day in and day out work i...