Month: May 2016

Secrets of a Happy Marriage: Garth and Loretta Parker

Second post in our series Secrets of a Happy Marriage From Couples Married 25+ Years in which I interview Garth and Loretta Parker. This Interview is Part Two of a 4-Part Series: Secrets of a Happy Marriage So excited to introduce you to this sweet couple- Garth and Loretta Parker. I LOVED interviewing them. Something Garth said has stuck with me for weeks now. When he said, “it took a few years for it to dawn on us that the most important person in our lives was the other person, not ourselves,” I thought yes, of course. I’ve been trying to… Read More

Secrets of a Happy Marriage: Sonja and Lane Strathearn

First post in our series Secrets of a Happy Marriage From Couples Married 25+ Years in which I interview Lane and Sonja Strathearn. This Interview is Part One of a 4-Part Series: Secrets of a Happy Marriage Kicking off our interview series we have the Strathearns, a delightful couple originally from Australia who recently moved to Iowa City. A few months ago, Sonja gave an excellent talk on reconciliation during our church service in which she mentioned that she and her husband had gone through counseling together a number of years ago. I found it equally beautiful and encouraging to hear her tell… Read More

Secrets of a Happy Marriage From Couples Married 25+ Years

Introducing a new series where I interview couples happily married for more than 25 years to learn all their secrets to a happy marriage! Guys. I’m so excited to introduce our new series for this week: Secrets of a Happy Marriage from Couples Married 25+ Years! Over the past few weeks I’ve interviewed four couples and I’ve learned so much! I feel like I took a crash course in marital success. Some of the things they said I find myself reflecting on again and again. I’ve said it before, but I’m a big believer that we should get our advice… Read More

Ask the Panel: How to Set Boundaries with Your Mother-In-Law

Marriage panel members answer the question of how to set boundaries with your mother-in-law. This post is part of our ASK THE PANEL series where readers submit questions and our marriage panel answers them. As explained here. Here’s the submitted question: “Hey Celeste, I love your idea for a PANEL series and I’ve got one for you. Although, even at the outset, I feel kinda guilty complaining because, really my life isn’t that bad, this is just an area that weighs on me a lot so I’d love some advice. So, my problem isn’t so much about my marriage per… Read More

I’m not a better wife than you

***Originally posted April 25, 2015*** Occasionally I’ll pop onto Facebook and see my friends post things about how their spouse cleaned their whole house or cooked dinner or watched their kids all week or bought them a pony and I think, “Hm, that’d be nice.” And it’s easy to get just a teensy dose of spouse envy particularly if I’m in a pouty bout already. I worry that this blog does that for people. I worry that people who are having marital problems will read it and think that Rich and I and all these guest posters are shoving our… Read More