Shannon here: Historical romance author, Lorna Seilstad shares how she upped the romance in her marriage, plus a chance to win a copy of her latest release, The Ride of Her Life. Every time you comment on any post dated May 14 – 18, your name goes in the drawing. Deadline: May 26th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Lorna:
Romancing the Home
Several years ago, I read a book called Romancing the Home by Ed Young that encouraged women to put more romance in their marriage. The guiding principle of the books was the Golden Rule—“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The author explained that if you wanted more romance, then the place to start was with yourself. You should be giving it—without expecting it in return—because that is how God has directed us to live.
It was an eye opening concept to me. My husband can be very romantic when he’s in the mood, but for someone like me, I love romance and could use a bigger dose than the poor man can supply. So, I took the author’s advice to heart and started adding extra romance to our life.
One thing I did was go to the store and buy a bunch of funny cards. For about three months, I mailed one to him every Friday at work (or left them in his car if I forgot to mail them on time). It started our weekend off in such a great way and he really started looking forward to the cards. He’d call and thank me for the card and we’d laugh about it all over again.
Another thing I did was buy him little surprises whenever I could. It wasn’t hard to pick up his favorite treat, Kozy Shack Rice Pudding, when I was the store or add a package of red licorice to the cart. Even more fun was to stick these items in his car, so on his long trips, he’d know I was thinking about him. I also loved sending him e-mails thanking him for being a godly husband and father. I wanted him to know how much I loved, respected, and valued him.
Some other things we enjoyed included:
– a quest for the best pizza in the metro area. We spent a couple of years trying out all of the pizza places and looking for our favorite.
-a progressive dinner. Appetizers at one restaurant, dinner at another, and dessert at the third but none of the restaurants being costly.
-kidnapping him for a picnic in the car in the winter. I brought along hot chocolate.
-date night where I made all the plans and he didn’t have to.
Did he become more romantic? Maybe a little, but more than that I changed. The more I thought about romancing him, the less I expected him to meet my needs. Our relationship became more give and less take.
This year, we’ve been married 22 years and I couldn’t love this man more.
About Lorna: Iowa native and resident Lorna Seilstad received her B.S. in education from Lubbock Christian University. After her first child was born, she quit teaching and became a professional wiper. “I wiped noses, tears, skinned knees, baby’s bottoms, and countertops every day. But at naptime, I wrote.” Today, she writes inspirational historical romance with a generous dash of humor, and lives with her husband and three children. Read more at www.LornaSeilstad.com.
About the book: The only man pragmatic Lilly Hart needs in her life is a six year old. Widowed two years ago, Lilly leaves the shelter of her intrusive in-laws’ home to stand on her own and provide for her young son by working for the summer as a cook at Lake Manawa. However, her in-laws find that life utterly unsuitable for their grandson, and when a row ensues, a handsome stranger–who designs roller coasters, of all things–intercedes on her behalf. Still, Lilly is not about to get involved with any man, especially this cocky (though charismatic) gentleman. Little does she know she is about to begin the ride of her life.
Filled with delightful characters and the romance of summer, The Ride of Her Life is another supremely entertaining story from the witty Lorna Seilstad. Readers will laugh out loud and sigh contentedly as they spend the summer of 1906 in Lake Manawa.
Come back May 16th for more from Lorna.
What great ideas to keep your “man” guessing ;). I like the idea that keeping the romance in our marriages is the wife’s responsibility too!
Lorna, I love all those ideas! My husband and I will celebrate our 25th Anniversary this coming August. Romancing the Home would be a perfect lead-up to our celebration. 🙂
Kim, that’s exactly what I disovered. It is as much my responsibility to keep romance alive as it is his. I’m not sure how much romance he needs though. In my quest to find new ways to make him happy, one day I asked him, “How do you know I love you?”
He said, “My underwear drawer is always full.”
On one hand, I sighed, On the other, well, it’s not such a hard thing to do to make him feel loved. 🙂
Happy early annivesary, Brenda! Remember back when 25 years sounded like a lifetime to us. I think a few special months of extra romance is definitely in order. Have fun!
sounds like a wonderful book!Love to win it!
Hi, Sheila! Good luck!
I loved the way you unselfishly added more romance to your marriage. Putting the spouse first is not always the easiest thing to do.
It would be wonderful to win The Ride of Her Life! It sounds like such an awesome book to read and the setting and plot sounds different from the norm. I look forward to reading it and will look to purchase it if I don’t win. Thank you and Shannon Vannatter for giving us the opportunity to win!
Popping in to say, Hey all. Lorna is my critique partner, which means I get to read her books before everybody else and tell her what I think needs fixed. Not much. She also gets my first drafts, which need a lot of help. I never got to finish this one though because we had dueling deadlines. It’s in my TBR pile.
Cool romance ideas too. I especially like the finding our favorite pizza one. Yum.
Patricia, you are so right. I had a lot to learn in the putting my spouse first department, and God’s still teaching me lessons. Thanks for your interest in The Ride of Her Life. It was a lot of fun to write!
Shannon, thank you for having me as your guest! We have the best crit group ever!!!! And I bet you guys would never let me have this many exclamation points!!!