Marriage not a ritual

I wanted to have Don-Mike & Amber's guest book either finished or well on it's way to being finished, but it's not going to happen. However, I saw this quote in Puzzled Hearts (Facebook game) & think it will go well with this picture.

Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner. 
~ Amy Bloom ~

Don-Mike & Amber dancing at their wedding reception, Saturday, May 5, 2012.

 Now I'm not sure. I thought there was another picture of them dancing. Don-Mike looks tired in this one.

Happiness

One of tonight's quotes is a repeat. President Gordon B. Hinckley talks about some of God's standards are out of date by today's standards here.

And President Benson's quote talks about happiness in marriage

"The secret of a happy marriage is to serve God and each other. The goal of marriage is unity and oneness, as well as self-development. Paradoxically, the more we serve one another, the greater is our spiritual and emotional growth."

--Ezra Taft Benson, "Fundamentals of Enduring Family Relationships," Ensign, Nov. 1982, 59

I read a study the other day online that a long marriage can be predicted. A study was done where they interviewed several couples & then followed up on them at periodic intervals, seems like it was 5 years, but I can't remember. Anyway, it showed that couples that gave 5 positives to every negative stayed together. I was telling Don about it at the grocery store. We walked past a family & the wife was very stressed. She was telling the husband where to get something & she was kind of rude about it & she spoke the same way to her kids. I wondered aloud to Don how long that marriage would last.