Laura's Strengthening Marriage Blog

 eBook — And They Were Not Ashamed –
just $4.99 til Jan 10th, 2012! 

We have eBooks! We’re thrilled to finally have our book And They Were Not Ashamed: Strengthening Marriage through Sexual Fulfillment available in eBook format for all you eBookers out there!

Click here for our eBook if you have the Amazon Kindle and click here for our Nook Book if you have a Nook from Barnes & Noble.

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Here is volume 1 of the new book “Understanding Women.” Good luck to all you men out there…you’re gonna need it! I’m just glad God saw fit to make men not so complicated! : )

In honor of 20 years of marriage to my sweetheart, Kevin, I’ve gathered some of our couple/anniversary photos throughout the years (2011 – 1991) to share with you. You’ll also find a link to some fun marriage tradition ideas to help you celebrate your years together and make them continually better and better!

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Happy 50th Anniversary! — Morris and Elaine Bastian

It isn’t everyday that a couple reaches that fabulous milestone of 50 years of marriage. My good friends, Morris and Elaine Bastian, have successfully done just that!

Morris and Elaine Bastian have been great supporters of my efforts through the years to help strengthen marriages. In fact, Morris Bastian was one of the editors of my book And They Were Not Ashamed — Strengthening Marriage through Sexual Fulfillment.

The following is a little bit about the Bastians, and some of their suggestions for building a strong and happy marriage to last throughout the years.????? Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to our new “Open Forum 3” discussion page!

We continue to create new Open Forum pages for you to post your questions and comments, and for us all to discuss important marriage and intimacy issues. Please post your new comments/questions to this Open Forum 3 post below.

For additional insights, you can review previous discussions by clicking on the links below:

• Open Forum 3 (to post NEW questions and comments)
• Open Forum 2 (posts from Jun 30, 2009 — Apr 3, 2011)
• Open Forum 1 (posts from Aug 14, 2007 – Jun 29, 2009)
• Laura’s Straight Talk Q&A (for other questions and answers from Laura)

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One affectionate couple found themselves being shoved into the kitchen pantry by their grossed-out children who didn’t want to see their parents kissing! (That’s a separate issue to tackle, if your children have a negative response to your PDA!)

This was the beginning of this couple’s regular romantic rendevous in their “Kissing Closet.” (Click here for their story.)

What a fabulously fun idea for couples!

Do You Have a Kissing Closet?

The kissing closet is a great idea for any couple to add a bit of fun and flirtatiousness (is that a word?) to their relationship. Do you have a “kissing closet?” Read the rest of this entry »

We are thrilled to announce that The Anniversary Inn is now offering our StrengtheningMarriage.com fans a fabulous discount at all their Anniversary Inn locations in Salt Lake City, Utah, Logan, Utah and Boise, Idaho!

You can now enjoy a 25% off discount on any romantic, luxurious Anniversary Inn suite (any night, any location, Sappire level suites excluded)! Check out all fun themed suites by Clicking Here! Read the rest of this entry »

by Mark Chamberlain, Ph.D.

Psychologist and clinical director of the Addiction Resource Center for Healing (ARCH), author of the book Love You, Hate the Porn, and blog of the same name.

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The amazing thing about pornography is how it can keep arousal fresh when it would otherwise stagnate; keep excitement electric when it would neutralize; keep us awake when we’d otherwise sleep.

Marnia Robinson and Gary Wilson probe porn’s secret recipe for keeping the high going. Key ingredient: the convincing illusion of so many willing participants eager to have sex with little old “moi”—the viewer. (This is where the the brain’s illogical, gullible, pleasure-driven Responder screams, “This is real!”)

A Real-life One-and-Only

What could be better than that dreamy vision; that fantastic mirage?

How about a real life “one-and-only”?

Last Valentine’s day, I was quite attuned to my wife of twenty-two years. Jenny and I went to grab lunch together, which consisted mostly of me waiting in the car with our two little chatterbugs while she ran into Target to grab heart-shaped treats for our fourth grader’s class.

Why did my heart skip a beat when I saw that it really was her in the blue sweats walking out the door of the store? Why did we have so much fun shoveling down twenty bucks worth of Thai food in under ten minutes? Why did I feel just a little giddy when I asked her to be my valentine and she smiled? Read the rest of this entry »

I got a kick out of these photos a reader sent in. Apparently her son wasn’t too happy about her taking away the book he was intently studying! : ) I guess if a kid’s that insistent then maybe you better get busy starting a conversation about these things!

…two years old might be just a LITTLE early to let your kids read this book though! : )

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Congratulations to Chris and Shelby for winning this year’s Valentine’s Giveaway with their couple photo entry (random drawing)!

Over 100 new couples photos have been added to our Couples Photos page for our recent 2011 romantic getaway drawing to The Anniversary Inn. Check out the new photos and locate your picture (if you sent one in). There are so many great new photos!

Anniversary Inn Discount

We are thrilled to be able to offer a fabulous 25% off discount to all of our readers so that you too can stay in the luxurious and romantic Anniversary Inn! Check out all fun suites by Clicking Here!

To reserve your romantic getaway you can either call (1-800-324-4152) to reserve your suite and ask for the “StrengtheningMarriage.com” discount or make your reservation online then call to have the “StrengtheningMarriage.com” discount added to your account.

The Anniversary Inns are located in Salt Lake City and Logan, Utah and Boise, Idaho.

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