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Bad Weather Coming this Valentine’s Day? Here’s A Dozen Romantic Rentals to Cuddle Up With at Home

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(PRWEB) February 10, 2005

This Valentine’s Day, if you’re still in those early stages where impressing your date is important (or in those late stages where getting back into your lover’s good graces is imperative), then by all means reserve that table at the Four Seasons. But if things are going so well that the intimacy of being home alone with your honey, the TV and a tub of popcorn sounds like the most romantic evening of all, then your only challenge should be: what to see?

Here’s a list offered by UCLA Romantic Comedy Screenwriting instructor Billy Mernit, author of the Valentine’s Day Classic “That’s How Much I Love You”:

Annie Hall

One of the great dysfunctional couples ever (you think you’ve got problems?), a love song to Manhattan and more wit per minute than most movies made since. (Alternate: for more primo Woody, try Hannah and Her Sisters.)

Black Orpheus

An ancient myth brought to vibrant, haunting life during Carnival in Rio, with unforgettable music, color and passion. (Alternate: for another classic tale magically transformed, see Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast.)

Breakfast At Tiffany’s

The incandescent Audrey Hepburn in the epitome of glamorous urban ’60s sophistication, with “Moon River” to hum along to. (Alternate: for Hollywood glamour of an earlier era, check out Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief.)

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Cutting-edge quirkiness, wild narrative leaps and laughs, and an unusually clear-eyed look at romantic relationships in modern times. (Alternate: another recent left-of-center approach to romance can be found in Lost in Translation.)

Four Weddings And A Funeral

One of the smartest, funniest, fractured courtship comedies ever contains some of the most memorable screen dialogue ever scribed. (Alternate: for sophisticated humor and an ultimate wedding triangle, see Hepburn, Grant and Stewart in The Philadelphia Story.)

Moonstruck

Mr. Passion (Nick Cage) meets Ms. Needs Passion (Cher) in an Italian-American family saga that’s loaded with life, laughs and amore. (Alternate: for a poetry-embracing classic that’s 100 percent Italian, try Il Postino [The Postman].)

Pretty Woman

This guilty-pleasure fairy tale is nonetheless pleasure-full, with Gere for the girls and Julia’s teeth and gams for the guys. (Alternate: for more Julia and the added fun of an addled Hugh Grant, see Notting Hill.)

Romancing The Stone

A priceless combination of rip-roaring adventure and bodice-ripped romance, this eye-filling ride holds up better and better as time goes by. (Alternate: another genre hybrid, mixing romance with crime and yielding real eroticism, is The Big Easy.)

Say Anything

Teen passion has rarely run so deep and humorously rueful, as in this quintessential portrait of adolescent angst. (Alternate: an older but not much wiser John Cusack makes High Fidelity a winner.)

To Have And Have Not

Bogart and Bacall were falling in love for real when they made this Howard Hawks pic in the Forties, and their chemistry hasn’t dated one bit. (Alternate: for the best of Hepburn and Tracy, another real-life couple, see Adam’s Rib.)

The Way We Were

No, it doesn’t work out in the end, but nostalgia’s never been quite so gorgeous as it looks on Streisand and Redford here. (Alternate: for more Sidney Pollack-directed Redford, washing Meryl Streep’s hair, go Out of Africa.)

When Harry Met Sally

As it tops many folks’ favorite rom-com list, you can’t go wrong with this very funny, knowing exploration of age-old male v. female issues. (Alternate: more Meg Ryan and Nora Ephron, plus Tom Hanks can be had with Sleepless in Seattle.)

Extras: If the two of you are TV fans and would like a smaller portion of romance, try the final episode of Sex and the City (Season 6, Part 2), wherein Carrie finally lands Big, in Paris, no less. Or for the best of Ross and Rachel, see Friends (Season 2, episodes 7 & 14) for their memorable first kiss, and their first… you know. Enjoy!

Billy Mernit, a teacher at UCLA Extension Writers Program, is the author of Writing the Romantic Comedy (Harper/Collins) and, with artist Claudia Nizza, That’s How Much I Love You (Tallfellow Press).

Tallfellow Press is an eclectic book publisher located in Los Angeles. Its predecessor, Price Stern Sloan, is best known for publishing the popular word game “Mad Libs,” the ever-true “Murphy’s Law” and the melodious “Wee Sing” Series.

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Buy Your Own Box of Candy This Valentine’s Day

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Toledo, OH (PRWEB) February 15, 2005

EmpowerWomenNow.com, a one-of-a-Kind online empowerment resource center for Enlightened Women Entrepreneurs, is launched where success starts with self-love.

Women control 80 percent of all household purchases, so why wait to be given a special Valentine’s gift? Pamper yourself and buy it right now. Better yet, logon to EmpowerWomenNow.com for Free resources that empower enlightened women entrepreneurs to love and honor themselves first:

EmpowerWomenNow.com is designed on the principles shared in Ponn Sabra’s upcoming book, Empowering Women to Power Network, PublishAmerica, Summer 2005.EmpowerWomenNow.com offers practical, easy-to-implement and entertaining empowerment resources to guide enlightened women entrepreneurs on the path toward obtaining their goals. EmpowerWomenNow.com will not set your goals for you; it will set you on the path to reach them.

EmpowerWomenNow.com is broken down in a 3-Step System:

1. Education: Finding out where are you and where you want to be,

2. Enlightenment: The process of empowering yourself through action steps, and

3. Empowerment: Celebrating each achievement with others by sharing your success stories.

In Step 1 of becoming an Empowered Woman is to love and take care of you first. Women must be willing and able to enter a thoughtful path of reflection (self-discovery) that allows them to accept themselves fully (self-acceptance). This process allows a woman to create a strong inner love (self-love).

Self-love = Self-discovery + Self-acceptance

At EmpowerWomenNow.com women entrepreneurs achieve their goals through faith and sisterhood. This does not mean one’s business and personal life will thrive with prayers and hanging out with your girlfriends alone. This means that women entrepreneurs who are guided by faith and surround themselves with like-minded women and men can achieve their goals together.

Designed to praise, support, encourage, train and empower enlightened women entrepreneurs to live a life of success, EmpowerWomenNow.com offers the following resources:

• Free Empower Me Now Tips Newsletter,

• Free articles, reports, e-course,

• Community Message Board,

• Interactive Web-log (Blog),

• A local home-business mom expo for face-to-face networking & mentoring, and

• Future additions include teleseminars and ebooks.

To claim your Free women’s empowerment resources logon http://www.EmpowerWomenNow.com

Contact information:

Ponn M. Sabra, MPH

Author, Empowering Women to Power Network

4615 Holland-Sylvania #6 Toledo, Ohio 43623

Phone: 419-882-2338

Email: ponnsabra@yahoo.com

Website: http://www.EmpowerWomenNow.com

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Fitness Game Changer Jennifer Nicole Lee Makes History Again with her 2nd Annual JNL Fusion World Conference Being Held This Jan 13-16th 2012 on South Beach Miami

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Chicago, Illinois (PRWEB) January 10, 2012

Jennifer Nicole Lee’s amazing weight loss success story and award winning physique and body have been the “darling of the media” since 2004. But lately, another feather in JNL’s cap of extraordinary productions and products have been her exclusive high intensity athletically rich training method called JNL Fusion. JNL Fusion was recently named one of the world?s top fitness trends of 2012 because it has most of the major characteristics of what is predicted to be in demand in the New Year and beyond. The JNL Fusion Method has five major components of what top fitness experts and forecasters state are what the fitness consumer mostly values in a fitness training method. The top four most important characteristics that the best health and wellness industry leaders stated, that are also major components of the JNL Fusion method, are the following: an exercise program that increases the education of fitness professionals, an exercise method that aids in rapid yet long lasting weight loss, strength training using lighter weights or a personal own body weight, a practice that can be done in a small space, and lastly functional fitness, a kind of program that focuses on improving the ability to do every day activities.

The JNL Fusion Management team led by Jennifer Nicole Lee is adamant about educating its top elite Master Trainers. Each year, JNL hosts her Annual JNL Fusion World Conference in Miami, Florida, where hand selected applicants are chosen to attend and work with her one on one. She certifies only a handful of personal trainers and fitness enthusiasts each year, making sure that she recruits the top Master Trainers in the world. In 2012, JNL has confirmed she will be going ?on tour? with the method, stopping at major cities to recruit and train future Master Trainers. ?Educating and keeping my master trainers motivated are my passions. Training and being inspired to me go hand in hand.?

Trending elements in the fitness industry in 2012 have shown to be an exercise program that aids in fast yet safe and long lasting permanent weight loss, which JNL Fusion has a proven track record. ?I myself am a weight loss success story, and I have kept off the 80 lbs plus with my own JNL Fusion method.? Records show a countless amount of people losing weight on this program. But JNL states ?its not only about losing weight, but gaining stamina, energy, endurance, and a new identity as an athlete. This is why the weight loss sticks, and JNL Fusion trainers and lovers of the method never gain their weight back.

JNL Fusion also focuses on another major trend in fitness for 2012, which is strength training using lighter weights or a personal own body weight. The equipment needed for the JNL Fusion method are a small pair of dumbbells, a cordless rope, or jump rope, a 30 second timer, and of course your own body. ?Your own body weight is what JNL Fusion focuses on when performing the signature trademark plyometric moves which super spikes your metabolism?. With JNL Fusion, there is no need for big bulky equipment. Plus, many don?t want to look like a bodybuilding, but have functional muscle.

Space is and always has been an issue for working out. With JNL Fusion, all that is needed is a small room, living room, bedroom, or small gym area. ?Realistically JNL Fusion can be done anywhere, anytime-at a park, in one?s bedroom, on a balcony, on the beach, even in your hotel room when you travel. This is why it works, and also many of my European clients love it, since their flats, apartments and homes tend to be smaller in some areas.?

Lastly, JNL Fusion is predicted to be a superior training method in 2012 and beyond due to it focusing on functional fitness. These kinds of programs focus on improving your ability to do activities that many encounter in everyday life, leveraging strength training to boost balance, coordination and power. JNL explains it this, stating ?Functional training is superior because many people don?t ?Zumba? or dance at work, at home or at school but they do lift heavy bags, bring in the groceries, carry their kids up stairs, or have to bent over to pick up items. This is why JNL Fusion will not only make you stronger while you work out, but for your everyday life to dos-thus making you a better mom, better dad, wife, husband, office worker?plain and simple, JNL Fusion will make you perform better in your life as it makes you more efficient, effective and yes, ?Strong is the New Skinny? as I always have said.?

In the end, this weekend JNL will be hosting her 2nd Annual JNL Fusion World Conference where women will be coming in from every corner of the globe to become one of the first ever JNL Fusion Master Trainers. “What makes my trainers superior is that they are not just watching a DVD and getting into ripped shape. Yet, I instill in them my trademark coaching capabilities which are second to none, which actually can create long lasting results in their lives and also their clients lives. I don’t plan on being a flash in pan, but leaving a legacy with my JNL Fusion training method.”

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This Valentine?s Day Celebrate Love and Peace With a Chef-Prepared Surprise from Artiko

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Independence, MO (PRWEB) January 23, 2007

Artiko announced today their new line of exclusive gourmet Valentine gifts. (http://www.artikoChef.com) Their unique chef-prepared gift baskets, ranging from romantic dinners for two and Swiss chocolates to ?Steaks for Him and Her? and a full week of chef-prepared meals, can also be customized and gift wrapped.

Specializing in chef-prepared gourmet meals, appetizers, desserts, steaks and more, Artiko was specifically created for those who find themselves far from loved ones on holidays such as Valentine?s Day. As Valentine?s has evolved to mean more than just a romantic gesture between couples – mothers call their daughters and pre-schoolers bring artwork home for Mom – Artiko?s line of gourmet gift boxes offer the perfect way of saying ?Thinking of you? to a recently divorced friend, widowed mother, housebound grandfather or recovering colleague, all of whom could probably use a little love and a cheerful surprise on an otherwise lonely Valentine?s Day.

?Food evokes warmth, intimacy and fond memories which is why our care packages are so popular?, says Ariane Kemper, Artiko founder. ?We have countless stories about our customers that bring tears to your eyes and yet are really inspiring. Like the mother who surprised her son in graduate school with a week?s worth of delicious meals since she could not cook for him. Or the daughter who was thrilled and relieved that she could offer her Mom, who cares full-time for her Dad, a few weeks off from cooking. Food is such a big part of our social lives and daily experience; think of all the times you shared or tasted new foods, cooked a special dinner for your family or simply enjoyed a meal with friends. Valentine?s is the perfect holiday to celebrate those memories.?

So, instead of another tie, massage or impersonal gift certificate, why not offer a gourmet treat that combines the practical with the thoughtful, the delicious and the unexpected?

All of Artiko?s 300 gourmet products (appetizers, meals, desserts, chocolates, steaks & more) can be effortlessly and quickly prepared to save time and stress. Artiko uses only the highest quality ingredients assembled by professional chefs creating wholesome, nutritious and flavorful products. Their new website is user-friendly complete with mouth-watering pictures and tantalizing product descriptions. They ship orders the day they come in so orders are delivered faster and if you are not 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed they offer an exchange or refund. And last but not least, their new innovative Festive Gift Box? is a beautiful gift-wrapping option for all of their products that are shipped frozen.

To order from Artiko, log on to our website at http://www.artikoChef.com or call 1-888-278-4567 for a catalog.

Contact: Ariane Kemper

Office: (888) 278-4567 x701

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DateSmart.com: Prevent Dating Dangers This Valentine’s Day

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Santa Barbara, CA (PRWEB) January 31, 2007

On Valentine’s Day, be sure you aren’t dating a convicted felon, con, a plain liar, or just someone that seems too good to be true.

Ten years ago, founder Carmen Naimish of DateSmart.com introduced a novel concept to protect daters — background checks. DateSmart provides answers to pertinent issues of truth about suitors. “I look for inconsistencies in a person’s life history, comparing their claims to the findings,” says Naimish, a nationally known licensed private investigator whose 10-year case portfolio covers the gamut of researching and tracking dating predators and deadbeats. “Whether it’s their age, marital status or the severity of trouble they’ve been in, criminally, financially, or with their prior relationships, if someone lies about one thing, they usually lie about other things.”

The goal at DateSmart is to be pre-emptive. “Daters are more at risk today, especially online daters,” says Naimish. “Being armed with accurate information about an individual can save your heart and your bank account. One of our investigations revealed the man my client was dating had been arrested for burglary two years prior, and he was currently under arrest for soliciting prostitutes. I showed his mug shot to the client, and advised her to have no further contact with him.”

Whether having met on-line or by formal introduction, a crucial concern of DateSmart daters is whether the individual really is who he or she claims to be. “Our clients usually suspect something is not right,” says Naimish. “Their instincts are normally on target. Our investigations turn up unsavory information 80 percent of the time.”

About half of DateSmart clients try do-it-yourself online background checks first before using DateSmart. “They either could not find the answers to their questions or did not understand the results they received,” says Naimish.

” When we realize a boyfriend, girlfriend or even spouse has been deceiving us, most of us regret we didn’t learn the truth about our significant other sooner,” says Naimish. “We give daters the information they need to help them make important relationship decisions.” Naimish says she receives letters from clients explaining how they were lured into dangerous relationships, some resulting in violence. “These true stories provide graphic proof that if you date, you must investigate,” says Naimish.

Naimish was a featured speaker at the Internet Dating Conference held in San Francisco and is a columnist for Social Scene Magazine. She is District Governor for the Central Coast of the California Association of Licensed Investigators, a member of the World Association of Detectives and the National Council of Investigation & Security Services.

About DateSmart

This Valentine’s Day Women are Popping a Different Question: ‘Should I Dump Him or Not?!?’ A Free, Peer-to-Peer Website and New E-Cards Can Help

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New York, NY (PRWEB) February 2, 2007

This Valentine’s Day, the biggest dilemma for scores of women isn’t, “Should I buy him boxers or a thong?” it’s “Should I Dump Him Or Not!?!”

“Since Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love and romance, it really compels a lot of women to assess their relationships,” says Kimberlee Roth, founder of Should I Dump Him Or Not?!?, a free, peer-to-peer website dedicated to breaking up. Or not.

When weighing whether to dump him, many women harbor their doubts and stew about what to do. But why go through the angst and aggravation?

On http://www.ShouldIDumpHimOrNot.com women post their dilemmas anonymously. Then they get comments and advice from other visitors — including men — who even vote thumbs-up or thumbs-down on whether to let Romeo go.

“Sometimes we get stuck in our own heads, and it can help to have a place to go for a reality check and a fresh perspective,” says Roth.

Take “R.,” for instance, whose successful, ambitious boyfriend of more than a year recently “shocked” her by saying he might be “too busy for a relationship.” But he feels guilty and the guilt has him thinking about breaking up. “I truly love this man,” she writes. “I feel very invested in and committed to him. Even when I’m busy, I make time for him. I don’t know how to interpret his recent revelation.” (So far 50% of visitors have voted to dump him; 50% to “give it more time.”)

“S.” posted about asking her husband of nine years to move out since he refused to help with their kids or housework, and he developed a fondness for online porn. She wondered whether she did the right thing, and several site members offered their insights and virtual support. (Sixty-four percent voted to dump him; 17% to give it more time; and 17% to keep him.)

“Members say that what makes the site valuable is getting feedback and support from other women and men from all walks of life and all over the world,” says Roth. “Women especially appreciate getting a ‘male perspective’ on their dilemmas.” (Hint: Gentlemen, log on and tell us what you think!)

Visitors who aren’t in a relationship or who don’t have a dilemma to pose can still participate on http://www.ShouldIDumpHimOrNot.com in many ways:


by sharing their two cents or even just a few words of support

by voting on dilemmas

by responding to the “Question of the Week”

by creating free e-cards to hook up, make up, break up or say “I love you” — not only on Valentine’s Day but all year long.

For more information, visit http://www.ShouldIDumpHimOrNot.com, the free, peer-to-peer website dedicated to breaking up. Or not.

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day — or Not!

from

Should I Dump Him or Not!?!

Note to editors: For Should I Dump Him or Not!?! art work to accompany your story, or to speak with Kim Roth, contact Wendy Hirschhorn at 212-826-8790.

Roth is a freelance writer, author and the founder of the Should I Dump Him Or Not?!? website (http://www.shouldidumphimornot.com), a free peer-to-peer resource for anyone on the fence about calling it quits. She has written about health, wellness, nutrition, psychology and relationships for dozens of newspapers and magazines including Body + Soul, the Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, Glamour, New York Daily News, SELF and Women’s Wall Street. Her first book, a self-help title about family relationships and borderline personality disorder, was released in 2003 by New Harbinger Publications.

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Related Valentine Storie Press Releases

This Valentine’s Day Grandparents Give One Special Piece Of Advice To 8-Year Olds, How To Have A Healthy, Life-Long Marriage

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Colorado Springs, Co. (PRWEB) February 4, 2007

What will Valentine’s Day look like in 2057, should Jesus tarry? Will the day be “celebrated” mostly by pseudo-couples engaging in a long series of temporary, and ultimately fruitless, relationships? Or will it be a celebration of Christian marriage and lifelong fidelity by wedded couples who have built marriages which have withstood the test of time?

In honor of Valentine’s Day 2007 – and to lay the groundwork for Valentine’s Day 2057 – The Christian Grandparenting Network is sharing the stories of 5 lifetime-married couples, each of whom answers the question “What one piece of advice would you give an 8-year old about their life TODAY that will ultimately help them enter into a healthy, lasting life-long marriage relationship?” CGN will share these stories with the world on its website (http://www.christiangrandparenting.com), and with young people seeking guidance in their relationship lives at the upcoming Grand Camp 2007.

CGN believes that the greatest hope for the children of today is that they will replicate the lifetime marriages that were so common for their grandparents’ generation – and so rare for their parents’. If today’s young children of 8 or 9 years old are to be celebrating their 25th and 30th wedding anniversaries fifty years hence, then CGN believes they must be mentored and guided in their relational lives not just by parents, but by caring and loving grandparents who will transmit the necessary “DNA” for lifetime love.

Earl and Helen Harper just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary and when asked about the advice they would give their 16 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren, they shared three words; honesty, trust and patience. “You see when you get married you make a promise that you will love and care for that person until death do you part! Not just when you have the time, not just when you don’t have other things to do, not just when you feel like it. You do NOT break promises! You will not always agree, but with love and trust, guided by patience, you can work it out.”

Howard and Vangie Oliver, GrandCamp Director and CGN Board Member, who will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in June, say remembering the value of “Please” and “Thank You” and a willingness to make compromises are critical for a lasting marriage.

Gary and Elise Erickson have been married 39 years. Elise and their grandson attended Grandcamp last year and loved it so much; all three will be attending GrandCamp 2007. Elise’s advice is to build your life and marriage on godly principles. She also states, “If you believe you can fall in love, you’ll believe you can fall out of love. Marriage is based on a life long commitment, not changing emotions.” Gary’s advice is to receive your mate as God’s gift to complete and complement you.

John and Connie Chapin will be attending their third GrandCamp this summer, traveling with their 5 grandchildren in their RV. They have been married 40 years and their advice is to keep Jesus at the center of your life and generously ask for and grant forgiveness.

Cavin and Diane Harper have been married 37 years and are the founders and program directors of GrandCamp. Cavin’s advice to those desiring to celebrate their 50th anniversary is that marriage is not about making us happy, but making us holy. Diane believes that seeing your spouse as Christ sees him will help you to love and forgive. “Remember all that God puts up with in you, yet He forgives you and continues to see you as precious.”

All of these words of wisdom will be taught, discussed and lived at Grand Camp 2007. Grand Camp is CGN’s premier ministry, bringing grandparents and grandchildren together to build, develop and nurture the special long-time bond and relationship that is God’s special gift to the generations. At Grand Camp, grandparents and their grandchildren relax and enjoy camping activities focused around bonding and mentoring – from white-water rafting to classroom activities, craft projects to family building exercises, and everything in between. This year’s Grand Camp has adapted a Wild West theme, with the motto “Cowboy Up!” – meaning, be tough in keeping your commitments–whether between grandparent and grandchild or husband and wife. The grandparent/grandchild relationship is often the longest-lasting nonparental bond a person will have in life, until it is supplanted by the marital union – and CGN believes that developing the childhood relationship will in turn strengthen each child’s ability to form long-lasting, permanent, Godly marriage. This relationship, long neglected, needs affirmation and strengthening – for Valentine’s Day 2007, and Valentine’s Days still to come.

Cavin Harper created ElderQuest Ministries (now called Christian Grandparenting Network) when his own parents and others expressed to him their dissatisfaction with retirement. Rev. Harper realized that the role of idle retiree was not part of God’s intention for family elders and founded CGN in order to help grandparents reclaim their rightful role and place in the family. Grandparents are a key element in proclaiming the goodness of God to the youngest members of each family, and their upright example and righteous living set paths for grandchildren that lead to positive and healthy outcomes. CGN provides free resources as well as events like its annual Grand Camps to assist the older generation in fulfilling their biblical role in the family, and in fulfilling God’s plan for family structure.

Company Contact:

Tracy Nordyke

Christian Grandparenting Network

503.641.1637

Valentine’s Day 2057 Coordinator

tnordyke[at]dotheword.org

http://www.christiangrandparenting.com

Media Contact:

Krystal Collazo

WDC Media PR

786-577-2452

KrystalCollazo[at]wdcmedia.com

http://www.wdcmedia.com

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This Valentine’s Day Send an Original Handwritten Note to a Loved One – Tips for Getting Started at LoveAndForgive.org

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Kalamazoo, Mich. (PRWEB) February 8, 2007

If you’re looking for a special way to communicate your love this Valentine’s Day, consider bypassing the standard greeting card and instead try writing a simple, original Valentine from the heart.

For tips on how to start your Valentine, check out the campaign’s letter-writing initiative at http://www.loveandforgive.org then write your own message of love.

The Fetzer Institute, architect of the national Campaign for Love & Forgiveness, seeks to revive the art of written communication as a thoughtful practice capable of making a difference to friends, family and even communities. Mickey Olivanti, Fetzer’s program officer directing the campaign, explains, “Our hope is that through writing–whether it’s a short Valentine’s note, a heart-felt letter or writings in a private journal–people will experience firsthand the power of love and forgiveness.”

In San Francisco, Ca., high school teacher Ellen Greenblatt put this theory to the test. In preparation for a family memoir project, she asked her tenth-grade students to submit original letters expressing their love to someone important in their lives. In this age of technology, where text messaging “i

For example, one student wrote to his father: “We don’t talk a lot. We don’t fill up our time with chatter and gossip. A lot of time we don’t have a lot to say. But, recently, in our mutual silence, I have found more comfort and love than I would have found in a million words.

I would like to tell you how much I appreciate your powerful love and compassion that you emanate and how much comfort and stillness I have found in it. When we go on little walks with our dog or when we sit together and work by the fire, I feel the wordlessness saturated. I don’t have to blab to you to feel and bask in your love. Because we don’t always relate in evident ways because of our varied interests, I find that in silence we become father and son, purely.”

Another student wrote to his mother: “While you might think that your perpetual acts of kindness go unnoticed, I mean to assure you that they are observed and appreciated with the warmest of hearts. I decided to take some time to display how much I appreciate all of the seemingly small, yet significant acts that you perform on a daily basis. This fall was a busy time for our family, but it took the heaviest toll on you. Yet even through all of the different problems you had to deal with, you spent every Sunday schlepping me to and from baseball. Between the two hours of driving and the three to four hours of baseball, it took up our entire day. It was so amazing, Mom, and I only hope that some day I can do the same type of things for you.”

Lilia Fallgatter, author of The Most Important Letter You Will Ever Write, believes “telling someone ‘I love you’ is not enough to communicate what a person truly means to you,” she says. “The best way to communicate your feelings to loved ones is by writing,” she adds. “Good words are worth much and cost so very little. They can even help re-establish or strengthen bonds.”

Visitors to http://www.loveandforgive.org will also find resources for conducting conversations on the topics of love and forgiveness, information about local community events, and audio stories provided by StoryCorp, a national project inspiring people to record each others’ stories in sound. The Campaign for Love & Forgiveness is a project of The Fetzer Institute (http://www.fetzer.org). Partners include six public broadcasting stations, Paper Source and Gather.comTM.

The Fetzer Institute’s mission, to foster awareness of the power of love and forgiveness, rests on its conviction that efforts to address the critical issues facing the world must go beyond political, social, and economic strategies to their psychological and spiritual roots. The Institute works with global leaders, other organizations, and individuals to bring the power of love and forgiveness to the center of individual, community, and organizational life.

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Call for Stories of Personal Transformation Announced for the Heart Lessons Project by Slow Hope Author Anita Swanson This Valentine’s Day

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Lake County, CA (PRWEB) February 14, 2007

It takes self-love to successfully travel the Road of Personal Transformation. Celebrating these journeys this Valentine’s Day, author Anita Swanson offers her hard-earned insightful tips for healing just as the Heart Lessons Call for Stories of personal transformation is announced. Swanson’s own healing journey was fictionalized in her inspiring novel Slow Hope.

“Everyone has to find their own path for healing,” reflected Swanson. “Like dieting or fitness programs, you need to figure out what works best for you personally. At the same time, we learn by sharing our Lessons of the Heart. What’s your story? What did your Heart teach you about living in a new and better way?”

Like her novel’s main character Anne, Anita once had to face the disintegration of a marriage as well as the life she knew. This triggered a process of scrutinizing her choices of the past and a search for what Purpose might lead her into the future. Today she shares her Heart Lessons during lectures and book-signings as well on the pages of the novel, Slow Hope. Among the lessons?

10 tips for healing*:

1. Reach out and find someone to talk to.

2. Write.

3. Simplify your routine and stick to it.

4. Learn to become your own coach.

5. Surround yourself with people who believe in you.

6. Know that feeling afraid is normal.

7. Know that feeling sad and even grief-stricken is normal.

8. Know that being alone is not a bad thing.

9. Pray.

10. Hang on.

*For longer explanations of the 10 tips, go to the Resources section of http://www.slowhope.com.

“When you’re dealing with a traumatic change in your life, you can feel like the difficulties are never going to end,” noted Swanson. “The reason the last tip, hanging on, is so important is that you never know when there might be some kind of a significant shift in your life, including a healing shift of perception. But while you’re being consumed by your challenges, know that it’s OK to only be able to say, ‘I survived today.’ Eventually you’ll have patches of feeling better, and with time, the better feelings will expand if you do the necessary healing work.”

To share your Heart Lessons, type up your experience in a storylike way using the narrative nonfiction style (real-life stories written in a fictional style). Submissions can be from 500 to 1200 words in length. The Heart Lessons stories Swanson collects will be considered for presentation on her website, as well as possible inclusion in an upcoming book. To learn more, go to http://www.slowhope.com and visit the Submissions section of the site where you’ll find story guidelines, the entry form and further information.

And to receive inspiration for writing your story, listen or read an interview with Anita Swanson. You’ll find the audio and a transcript for a recent chat with the author at http://www.readerviews.com by going to the Read reviews section, selecting S and clicking on Slow Hope by Anita Swanson. An interview by KWAVE Radio can also be heard in the Press Kit section of http://www.slowhope.com.

Swanson’s novel Slow Hope (Ivy House Publishing Group, ISBN 1571974350, 250 pp., $ 15.95) is available through Amazon.com and http://www.slowhope.com. Regarding this book, Maureen Murdock, author of The Heroine’s Journey commented: “Swanson’s writing is timeless and courageous.” Rev. Donn. D. Moonaw notes: “I was hooked from the very first page.” In 2005, Swanson’s short story, Crazy about Fish, took the top fiction prize in the coveted Taproot Literary Review competition. Other writings by Swanson have been selected for such influential anthologies as Ship’s Log: Writings at Sea, Whispers from Heaven and The Chrysalis Reader. Anita Swanson is a commercial and SAG actress.

More info about the Heart Lessons Call for Stories, the novel Slow Hope, and author Anita Swanson can be found at http://www.slowhope.com.

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Five Must-Dos for the Recently Engaged: This is the Time of Year for Proposals and All That Comes with Them

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New York, NY (PRWEB) January 29, 2009

The days between Christmas and Valentine’s Day yield more brides- and grooms-to-be than any other time of year. Once the proposal is accepted, however, many of the newly engaged couples are not always sure how to start planning for the big day. eRegistry.com has put together a list of five tips below to help couples begin their journey toward marriage.

Tip 1: Tell the World – This is one of the most exciting times of your entire life. You and your fianc