First Impressions

Hat Mug

Keeping A Long Distance Relationship Interesting!

People in a long distance relationship can have a hard time staying together. I spent many months separated from my partner at different points in our relationship because of Immigration issues. We were limited in the activities that we could share with each other and I get many complaints from people that are limited to phone calls, emails, instant messaging, and texting with their partners. It can become a bit boring over time and lead your long distance lover astray. It is important to keep things interesting. Here is a list I give people of things you can do with your partner from a distance so you never get bored.

1. Watch Movies Or T.V. Shows Simultaneously Together

If your partner is in another country or time zone and can't watch the same television program as you then You Tube is always a good option.

2. Send A Date In A Box

Get yourself a box, and then fill it with everything your partner will need for the date. When you buy the items remember to get 2 of everything so you can take part in the date too! A "Date In A Box" may consist of a DVD, microwavable popcorn, candy, a gift card to a restaurant that they can get take out from (Or you could always surprise them buy having food delivered to their home), something to snuggle with, and last but not least, maybe some instructions for how the date will go and what the attire for the evening should be. Some other things you can include are candles, bottle of wine, recipe card (If you want to make a meal together) and a CD with music that suits the occasion.

3. Record A Virtual Tour Of Your Neighborhood Or HomeIf you want to show your partner where you live and what places influence your everyday life and don't have the money and time or the means to be with your partner in person to show them these things, then there is an easy and quick way to do so without leaving the comfort of your home. You can download Google Earth on your computer. With the latest version, you are able to record tours in Google Earth and send them by email, put them on websites, etc. Just start the tour with your place and then hop to your school, church, hangout places, malls or whatever you do in your everyday life. You can be extremely creative and tell a story by making a movie through Google Earth. I made a movie to show my partner how an ordinary day looks like on the other side of the world. He absolutely loved it. What's great about this is that Google Earth lets you record your voice so you can provide commentary for the viewer!

4. Make A Word Search

A personalized word search puzzle may be fun to include in your next care package or letter. You can get creative and use words that have special significance in your relationship or even tease by having hints for a surprise you have in store for them for when you see your partner next.

5. Try A Different Web Cam Experience

Web cams are great for long distance relationships, but eventually it can get boring and you'll be asking yourself, "How can we make this more fun"? Get down and dirty on your camera. You will find that your body actually looks better on a web cam. It hides all little imperfections and you can do things to yourself and have your partner watch. This is really fun and you find yourself in front of a web cam for hours. I promise that your partner will dream of you every night from doing this.

6. Go On A Date

With each other of course. You can go to one of them coffee shops that have Internet access and web cams. Even if you normally web cam at home, being in a different place can make it seem a little more special.

7. Track The Weather Together

I always wanted a way to compare the weather in Massachusetts, USA with the weather in Brisbane AU where my partner lives. Before I started using Windows Vista (Has weather in the side bar which is awesome) I searching everywhere for a widget or site that could do a side by side comparison of the current weather conditions. I don't know why I like looking up his weather, but maybe it is because when I'm not where he is, it just makes me feel an eensy weensy bit more connected. Well Weather.com is the best one I have used. Right on their home page they have it set up so you can save 3 favorite locations. So the current conditions for those locations will be there every time you visit Weather.com (You don't even have to be logged on. Just have cookies enabled). It also lets you give a nickname for each location.

8. Grow Together

This could be a neat gift idea but it can also be something that you and your partner can prepare together, and it's pretty inexpensive. Supplies needed are 2 small flower pots, plant/flower seeds, soil, and water. You'll be growing a plant together. If you want to do this as a gift, you could take an extra step and decorate a flower pot for your partner. If you're doing this as a little project together, have fun deciding what plant/flower you both should plant. Make sure that the plants are planted on the same day that way each of your plants have similar growth. You could even get a little competitive here and see who's grows the fastest/biggest, and who's plant lives the longest.

9. Send A Message In A Bottle

Okay, so here's what you do. Write an amazing message, get a plastic bottle, put your message in the bottle, put any other little trinkets you can fit in the bottle or even fill the bottle with pretty shredded paper or Easter grass, cap your bottle and apply your "to" and "from" addresses to the side of it. Go to the post office to determine the appropriate amount of postage to stick on and mail it!

10. Create A Time line And Plan Your Future Together

Predicting and setting date goals of major life events including, when to move in together, when to get married, when to have your children, etc.. Don't get too serious about it, just make it a fun, even silly.

11. Write Your Story

People remember things differently, and memories may fade or alter overtime. So this is why I came up with this idea. You and your partner can each write your love story. Include details of how you met, when your feelings started to change for each other, how you felt when you first told them you had feelings for them, or how you felt when they told you they had feelings for you for the first time. What were your first impressions of each other? What initially attracted you to your partner? Who initiated the first kiss? Were you aware they had feelings for you before any confessions were made? What is your favorite memory as a couple? Who said "I love you" first? Where was your first date? How did you initially feel about being in a long distance relationship? Include everything you can remember. Exchange your stories, and I'm sure you'll have your own "Oh Yeah"! moments and remember things you had forgotten about or hadn't remembered correctly. You may learn things you never realized before. And as a plus, you'll have documented an important part of your life that you can keep forever.

12. Play The How Much Do I Love You Game

I made up this little game for my partner and I to play. All you do is email each other how much you love them and the point is to use analogies and try to top the last one sent. Example would be, "I love you like pigeons love statues." And then your partner will reply with "I love you like tigers love meat" and keep trying to make them better and better. Really makes you think when your out and about working and what not and you find yourself trying to look around for an idea for a better one.

13. Design Something Unique

A while ago I designed a cute little item with it's own special message, "You are loved". There are a couple sites out there that will let you custom design pretty much any product you want. Clothing, hats, mugs, bags, even shoes. The list goes on. All you have to do is upload an image you've made or a picture and re-size it on the product of your choosing. Leave the rest of the work up to them.

14. Make A Keepsake Box

I save everything I get from my partner including cards and letters. I also save things like plane tickets, movie tickets for movies we have seen together, the first rose my partner gave me, as well as a multitude of other things that I have accumulated during our relationship. Right now I have them all in one of those Clear Plastic storage boxes with a lid. All those special things in a not so special box. So I have come up with this idea because it is something I would like to do myself. Make keepsake boxes for each other! Go to any arts and crafts store and you'll find boxes. Wooden or durable cardboard boxes that are plain so you can decorate them as you wish. Use paint, pictures, stickers, messages, etc... to decorate the outside of the box. Find a nice fabric, faux fur, or felt to line the inside. Exchange your boxes the next time you see each other or mail them. And now you have a special box your partner made for you, to put all your special things in.

15. Make A Card

I've done this many times. I usually make them for special holidays for my partner, but a handmade card can be appreciated any day of the year. Often I draw and create my own cards, but if you're not confident about your artistic abilities you can find many sites online for help and great card ideas.

16. Send Your Scent

What I have people do is to take a piece of felt and cut out a heart shape. Then spritz a small amount of the perfume you are wearing at that time on it, and send it to your partner so they can smell you. If you've been with your long distance partner before in person, getting the chance to smell them can turn on some very strong emotions. The power of scent on our memories and emotions is amazing. I love the smell of my man's deodorant and as funny as it sounds, I miss smelling him. So when I'm shopping and go by the deodorant aisle, I always stop to pick up the exact deodorant he always buys, and I take the cap off to get a whiff, and for a second it feels like he's right there.

17. Get Scared Together

When Halloween time rolls around and you want to do something together that suits the occasion. Having been to a few haunted houses one Halloween weekend, I got the idea to search for "virtual" haunted houses. Well, what do you know! I found some! You can talk on your phones and click through these haunted houses, lights out of course. They are a lot of fun and a lot of laughs! So if you are in the mood to be spooked, even if it isn't Halloween, just type into your browser virtual haunted house and choose from hundreds of them.

18. Record A Story

Record a CD of yourself reading out some short stories. This is a really neat idea, especially if you know that you and your partner won't be able to talk on the phone for awhile, or even if they are on a long drive or flight to come see you. They can be enjoying your home made audio book on their mp3 player any time they miss you and want to hear your voice.

19. Go On A Dollar Store Scavenger Hunt

If you and your long distance partner have dollar stores near you, this can be a fun activity. Here's what you do. Go to your local dollar stores and buy the following things. A piece of clothing, a toy, candy, a piece of jewelery, something stationary (paper for your partner to write letters to you with) and a surprise. You can come up with your own categories of what to buy, but you catch the drift. After purchasing your dollar store items, mail them to each other. You'll not only have fun searching the dollar store for what you want to get your partner, you'll also have fun seeing the $1 gifts they got for you!

20. Make A Countdown

There are many ways you can countdown the days until you see your long distance partner. You can get one of those small photo albums that show you one page at a time and flip over the top, you know, like the calenders on a desk, and fill the pages with photos of you and your partner with numbers counting down on each page until the day you see your partner again. Then you can give it to them as a gift.

21. Set Goals For Each Other

This is one exercise that I give to couples seeking sexual and romantic advice. Set goals for each other to achieve before the next time you see each other. For example, say you will see each other again in 6 months, and you want to make some healthy challenges for each other. One of person I know eats a lot less healthy than his partner, (a cultural difference), so, I challenged him to eat at least 2 servings of veggies a day and at least one must be a dark leafy green. I challenged his partner to stretch her legs everyday and by the time they get together she needs to be able to touch her toes easily. We thought up a reward at the end if it. I wont tell you what that is but I am sure you get the idea.

About the Author

I have studied sex and relationships for many years. I have helped people all over the world bring love and romance into their lives. I want to share with everyone they ways to have that perfect relationship inside and out with the ones they love. I have written an ebook as well as have a wealth of free information on my website. http://creative-seduction.com/ I share many tips and secrets to holding an intimate and healthy relationship.

 

Could you please help me replace a beautiful, small coffee mug? It broke this a.m. What's the company's name?

I think it's a replica of a 19th Century famous, reputable and historic pottery/china/cookware maker with distinctive insignia; they possibly also did textile. I think from New England. Possibly what's referred to as in the craftsman style, but I don't know about that for sure. This is not real expensive, and I think the company does online mail order.

The mug is thick, white, nice porcelin. A 1/4" Dark Green band runs just below the rim. A much narrower band runs parallel below it, about an inch down. Within this inch between these bands are three equilidistant figures: One looks like an one of those universal circle signs for men or women. Inside the circle is something that resembles 2 mirror-imaged "Rs" that looks like a cattle ranch insignia.

The second figure resembles the letter "T" as if it were made with 6 children's blocks--3 brown, 1 white and 1 the same dark green.

The third, the smallest, looks like an old-fashioned man's hat; it's the same brown. Thanks.

Try the following websites as a start and explore further if need be:

http://www.thepotteries.org/mark/general.htm

http://www.pottery-english.com/Articles/Pottery_Marks/Staffordshire_Pottery_Marks/

http://www.studiosoft.it/AntiquePorcelainMarks.htm

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