2nd Annual Cookie and Ornament Exchange Date Night

Date Nights, Life in Love  //  13th December 2013

There is something incredibly magical about sitting on the floor of our living room and looking around at a super full room of AMAZING couples who have filled our hearts with joy! I have shared about the idea of our Liz and Ryan family many times, but it is in moments like Wednesday night at our 2nd Annual Cookies and Ornament Exchange Date Night when everything becomes super real.

We went around the room and shared our favorite holiday traditions. The first one that came to my mind was that tradition right then and there. For the second year in a row, we have squeezed into our living room and found ourselves surrounded by a lot of love during this holiday date night. The second tradition that came to my mind was one that oddly resembles that same moment! It is on Christmas Eve at my MeMe’s house when the whole family plus family friends squeeze into the living room singing Christmas Carols and reading T’was the Night Before Christmas in anticipation for Santa to arrive. And then he does! ;) It is magical. But I think what I love about it most is gathering in the living room full of love where literally every single inch of floor space is completely covered. Sitting on the floor in order to squeeze as many people in is something we would never even think twice about! ;)

It is a room full of love that makes our hearts smile so incredibly big! We are so grateful for our AMAZING couples in our lives who have filled & continue to fill our hearts with so much joy! We are blessed to be surrounded by them!

Huge thanks to everyone who came out to join in the fun! It is such a crazy time of year and we know that you all have ten million other things you could be doing! For all of those near and far who could not make it… we LOVE you all and you definitely added to the love in that room in a special way! Thinking of you always! XOXO!

 

Incredibly Passionate & Alive | AMAZING Life Escape

Life in Love  //  20th November 2013

Yesterday we wrote a blog post over on the AMAZING Life Together website to recap our first ever AMAZING Life Escape! Definitely hop on over there to see all of the fun and hear all about the emotions that lead us towards hosting the Life Escape. It is so incredible what a few days away can do for our hearts and our relationship!

We are so grateful for the absolutely incredible week in Maine surrounded by couples who radiate so much love! It was inspiring to be in the room with all of them and just feel the comfort and the warmth around us. Yes, the fireplaces were AMAZING… lol… but the love seriously just radiated the warmth!

The Life Escape was a dream come true and more than anything we could have imagined. At one point during the Escape during one of the activities a question was brought up that went something like this, “when was the last time you felt incredibly passionate and most alive.” I can honestly say there were multiple moments throughout the escape where I felt like I was right where I was suppose to be, so passionate and so alive. Ryan and I were hand-in-hand surrounded by AMAZING couples who were committed and excited to live an AMAZING life together. We were there to encourage and inspire these couples… and at the same time they encouraged and inspired us in so many ways!! It felt so right and I never want to forget that feeling!

We are so grateful for all of the couples who joined us for the first ever Life Escape. Karey and Mike, Ashley and Jeremy, Sarah and Kenny, Justin and Mary, and Alicia and Andrew… we are better people because of you! Thank you so much for helping to make our dreams come true! Last week is certainly one we will never forget!

We shared a few recap photos yesterday on the AMAZING Life Together site… and a few of the photos we took of each couple during the escape can be found on the AMAZING Life Together site from Friday. Definitely check them out because the couple’s photos are some of our favorites ever! ;) We will likely be sharing more of them over here in the next few weeks! In the meantime, we wanted to share just a few more of the photos that will always help us remember just how special last week really was! ;)

We are currently making plans for next year’s Life Escape(s)!! Wahooo! If you have ideas of where to host an Escape- or even where you dream of getting away with your significant other, please let us know! We would love to hear your ideas!!

 

 

Two AMAZING Projects for AMAZING Couples

Life in Love  //  23rd August 2013

Over the past several weeks we have been extra busy making the final preparations for our AMAZING Life Escape.  We are so excited to host a fun new type of retreat for couples.  For the past several years it has been our passion and dream to create a retreat where couples can escape the everyday craziness of life.  We dreamed of creating an escape where couples could invest in there relationships and marriages with other fun and amazing couples.  We dreamed of creating an escape where the only thing each couple has to do is focus on reconnecting and loving each other.  We are so excited to be able to do all of these things at our first ever AMAZING Life Escape.  This November, we will be renting out a resort style home in the mountains of Maine to host the AMAZING Life Escape.  We have some super fun things planned to help each couple grew their love for each other including breakfast in bed, several AMAZING Life Together Inspired Sessions to help each couple strengthen their relationships, a romantic couple’s photo session, evening fireside chats (with S’mores of course) and much much more.  Learn more about the life escape in the following blog posts:

Check out the AMAZING house the Escape will be held at here:

http://www.lizandryan.com/blog/a-ski-lodge-to-ourselves/

Learn a little bit more about how we hope to help couples reach the full potential in their relationships:

http://www.lizandryan.com/blog/reaching-for-the-top-of-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs/

Learn more about the Life Escape in our FAQ:

http://www.lizandryan.com/blog/a-dream-getaway-the-amazing-life-escape-faq/

See the full Life Escape Site Here:

http://amazing.lizandryan.com/index.html#/life-escape-splash/

And sign up by 11:59 PM Sunday August 25th with discount code “AMAZING” to save $400 by clicking the link below:

http://amazinglifeescape.eventbrite.com

Ticket sales will be ending soon.  We have just two spots left for couples, and for this weekend only, we are offering our Early Bird discount price to any couple that purchases their tickets by 11:59 PM Sunday August 25th.  Just use discount code “AMAZING” to save $400.

In addition to the AMAZING Life Escape we have also been working on a few other projects. One of which is our AMAZING Marriage Project which we are currently in the process of developing into a feature length documentary. What started as a random thought on a plane ride early in the morning has quickly become an idea that is already larger than we could have ever imagined.  We created our site, www.theamazingmarriageproject.com, in hopes that a few people would nominate couples they considered to have amazing marriages.  Since then we have received nearly 60 nominations!!!  The even more incredible thing has been some of the amazing stories shared.  Couples have been amazingly open and honest about marriage, the tough times they’ve faced, but how they have worked together to make their marriage work.  The stories that have been shared are truly examples of AMAZING marriages!!!

Over the next three to four months we will start selecting and photographing couples.  Although our initial goal was to photograph 15  – 25 couples, there are just so many incredible stories to share.  The world needs an outlet to share the stories of real couples.  Liz and I believe whole-heartedly that we can learn something from every couple.   With all this in mind, we have started some super fun projects and can’t wait to share them further with the world!!!

But for now, we are still accepting nominations for additional couples for the AMAZING Marriage Project.   If you know an amazing couple, or feel as though your marriage is amazing click here to fill out a nomination.

We can’t wait to read all of your nominations for our AMAZING Marriage Project and to see you at the Life Escape.

Have an AMAZING Weekend!!!

How to Have an AMAZING Marriage: The 50/50/100 Rule

Life in Love  //  9th August 2013

Before we tied the knot and each said I do, we heard all sorts of advice about how marriage is a 50/50 relationship.  The idea was that in order to have a great marriage couples should each be responsible for 50% of the marriage.  Each couple should share the household chores.  Each couple should work to come to agreements even if it is a compromise.  Each couple should share the parenting duties…ok with the exception of breast-feeding; I just don’t think that would work to well for a guy. :) You get the point.

Throughout the first 5 years of our marriage Liz and I definitely tried to follow this philosophy for our marriage.  And for the most part, our marriage was pretty darn good.  But for us, good, or even great isn’t enough.  We wanted to have a truly AMAZING marriage.  We want our marriage to be an example for our future children of what a love filled marriage can be.  We want to be the little old couple that walks down the street after 75 years of marriage hand in hand… maybe by then we will be pushed down the street in wheel chairs but we will still definitely be holding hands and squeezing each other tight.

Not satisfied with just having a good marriage, over the past year we decided that instead of 50/50, we would each do everything we could to give 100 percent in our relationship.  Instead of focusing on how we could simply share the load in our relationship, we decided that we would try to serve each other 100%.

Sure there are times when one of us can’t give the other one a full 100% but the beauty of this rule is that the other person will be there to pick up the slack.  Think about it for a second.  If the premise of your marriage is simply a 50/50 relationship and someone gets sick, loses their job, or something else happens then all of a sudden a hole will start to form in your marriage.  One spouse might only be able to give 10% while the other person is still giving 50%.  That leaves an empty 40%.  Soon, the spouse still giving 50% will begin to feel resentment.  All of a sudden, they are the one’s dealing with paying the bills, doing all chores, parenting, etc.  If a relationship is built around this 50/50 philosophy, the extra work for one spouse to keep the marriage afloat when the other spouse is unable to do so will never lead to an AMAZING marriage.

However, there is good news.  If your relationship is centered around giving and serving each other 100% of the time, then no matter what happens, you will be prepared for the times when one spouse can’t give as much as to the other.

This past week has definitely been more crazy then normal.  We are smack dab in the middle of wedding season, plus we were hosting a guest, plus we have been working super hard in the planning of our documentary project, plus we have been working on finalizing plans for our AMAZING Life Escape couples getaway. Trying to cross things off our mile long to-do list, we had been working all day and before we knew it, it was already 3pm.

Seeing that I was starting to get a little “hangry,” without even thinking twice, Liz said, “Why don’t you go get some lunch and I’ll stay here to finish editing photos.”   In that moment she focused on serving our relationship 100%.  I was able to take a short break without feeling guilty.   I grabbed a quick lunch and became re-energized.

In the end, it helped make me happier which allowed me to again focus on how I could serve Liz better.  When I got home, after picking up a tasty smoothie for Liz, I decided to spend some time responding to emails that I knew had been on Liz’s mind for most of the day.   The simple act of Liz serving our relationship 100% lead to a happier evening and more time to relax while watching football together…side note, how amazing is it that football has started again!!!

Before wrapping up this post I just wanted to leave everyone with 3 quick things you can do to have an AMAZING Marriage and how to bring your relationship from a 50/50 relationship to one in which you serve each other 100%.

1.  Say yes – No matter what, begin to make it a habit of saying yes when your spouse asks you to do something.

2.  Just do it – If something needs done around the house, instead of waiting until later, or hoping that your spouse will take care of it instead, just do it.

3.  Do the things your spouse doesn’t like to do – If there is a particular chore that your spouse doesn’t like to do, there is no better way to brighten their day then to take care of that thing for them.

Follow these three tips and focus on having a 100/100 relationship and your marriage will quickly start turning from good to great and from great to AMAZING.

 

If you enjoyed this post and are looking for a way to intentionally focus on creating a more AMAZING life together then join us for a fun and unique couples getaway at our  AMAZING Life Escape this November.  Throughout the Escape Liz and I will be leading several AMAZING Life Inspired sessions focused on turning your relationship into an AMAZING relationship.  Get more info by clicking here. And if you sign up before the end of the day today you can save $351 using code AMZESCAPE.  We can’t wait for you to join us!!

Reconnect without Distractions & The Liz and Ryan Date Night Guide

Life in Love  //  7th August 2013

It’s late in the evening.  We are sitting on the couch together, phones in hand, laptop on the ottoman, iPad nearby, and the television is on.  I check the latest score of the Orioles game while Liz pins away on Pinterest.  The phone buzzes and the urge to see who might have emailed us this late in the evening is too strong to resist.  I just “have” to know who needs my attention at this exact second.  Unfortunately, the person who really needs my attention at this exact second is sitting right beside me.  We sit together on the couch, but are we really together?

Is checking that email, facebook update, or instagram really more important then checking in with each other?

How did we let all of these distractions interrupt our lives?

How many people reading this can share a similar story?

How many people reading this are doing so on their phone in front of the TV while your spouse sits oh so close, but yet so far away?

I remember our honeymoon quite vividly.  Ok, Ok, I won’t get into all those details here :), but the one thing I will share is that it was truly an escape with each other without distractions.  No phones, no computers, no television.  It was truly a place and time to connect with each other without distractions.

Earlier this week, Liz and I cuddled close for a date night together on the couch.  It has been one of our traditions to watch The Bachelor/Bachelorette together since the very beginning of our relationship back in highschool…. going all the way back to season 1!

… For a moment we were definitely worried Des might end up alone.  Maybe it was all the distractions of giant cameras and a twenty-person television crew that kept Brooks from truly falling in love with her.  But that’s a conversation for another post…

We roasted s’mores, made fancy drinks, and sat close.  Besides the TV and after a quick instagram, (because clearly everyone needs to know at that exact moment that we are roasting marshmallows inside our house, just in case we accidently set it on fire), we made sure to turn off the computers, put away the iPad, and put our phones on silent.

And for the first moment in over a week, we could truly reconnect with each other.

Too often we get caught up in the fast paced life of a technology driven world that we forget to reconnect without distractions.

Our friend Lara Casey has declared this month as Intentional August, a month to focus intentionally on what’s most important.

This week we challenge everyone who reads our blog to intentionally shut off the distractions and focus on reconnecting with the one you love.

Sit close, share the one thing you love most about each other, play truth or dare, watch the sunset, or better yet, watch the sunrise.  Have a romantic date night in the middle of the week.  Make breakfast in bed.  Have sex before work (yes I said it! :)).  Talk about your big dreams, how many children (or dogs) you want to have, and what life will be like when you are old and wrinkly.

We have some fun inspiration to help you reconnect without distractions.  Earlier this year we created the Liz and Ryan Date Night Guide. And today, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to share it with you all for FREE! Just click here or on the image below to download the guide.  And then print it out so you can turn off your computer and reconnect with your spouse.  :)

Finally, if you’ve enjoyed this post and our date night guide download, and you are looking for a fun couples getaway, we’ve created our AMAZING Life Escape as the ultimate way to reconnect with each other without distractions.  Learn more by clicking here and be sure to use discount code AMZESCAPE when registering to save $351 on our last two remaining spots.