When love is fresh and/or marriage is new, it’s easy for a couple to believe their little two-person exception to the rule has everything figured out -- to be sure that nothing will cause them to argue, her to to raise her voice, or him to be angry (certainly nothing as dumb as dirty laundry left on the floor).  Romance novels reinforce the expectation that every perfect line of a perfect couple's perfect dialogue will live forever in their memories (promising an incredible connection, lust, trust, compatibility and amazing sex-- with little stress and few disagreements). SPOILER ALERT: A happy marriage isn’t easy: 7 things your romance novel doesn’t tell you about marriage success.

Funny, public, private, complicated, or perfectly simple—when you both look back on the moment you proposed, if you smile and feel the warmth of your love, you will know that your proposal was exactly right for the two of you. Here are ten engagement proposal ideas to create a memorable proposal story for you both-- a “how he asked” answer you'll each enjoy telling for years and decades to come.

Imagine if you had a crystal ball and could fast forward your life to 6 months from now and take a peek at what awaits.  What would your relationship with your significant other look like? Would you finally be engaged? Would you have transitioned from engaged to having had a wedding? Would your marriage be out of the rut it’s kinda gotten in recently? Would the two of you be healthier, wealthier and happier? Would you be enjoying more quality time as a couple? Would you live a life of more sex, less stress, more fun, less arguing?This future version of yourselves is possible.Here’s a “smart” way to make it happen, together.

Frankly, the U.S. higher education system might be the biggest scam running. And the way Big Pharma continues profiting off of drugs for those dying in late stage cancer misery-- and buying up and closing down any companies doing research on early cancer detection measures-- may be the most evil thing we’ve seen in the world of business. In our opinion...not far behind on the scammy and evil list, however, is the diamond engagement ring.Beyond the many, MANY lies the diamond industry has told for decades-- these solitaire swindlers have commercialized the emotion of love and somehow managed to transform a personal and thoughtful gift into a status symbol that has come to be measured-- and judged-- by the size (and the price tag). Yeah, we know that sounds more than a little  ‘tin-foil-hat’ crazy to some people.   But if you’re not already a definite ‘Diamond Doubter’, we're not asking a person to believe anything just yet-- until he or she can see the evidence for themselves. All we ask is that you refrain from disbelieving while we show you our proof that 'the more he spends, the more he loves her' is absolute bullshit.

To live is to risk-- and it always has been. So to love is to risk, too. Sorry, but there can be no love without the risk of loss, grief, screwing up, sadness and dissolution of the relationship.  But why dwell on it? Today’s post is about accepting the risk of relationship loss as one price to pay for the pursuit of happiness in that relationship.