How to keep a relationship fresh?

Have a beautiful, well organized, and relaxing bedroom: It does not mean luxurious and/or new furniture, but it means that there is no clutter and it is a clean and tidy bedroom where you can truly relax. (Related: Bedroom decoration)

Dress nicely at nighttime: Of course, you can shop at Frederick’s of Hollywood or Victoria’s Secret if that is what you and your partner wants. However, there are many options out there, in which you can look sexy as well as be comfortable. Oversize T-shirts usually do not meet this criterion – keep them for cleaning the house.

Have a date: A special night right in your home (though it is not a bad idea to escape to a weekend getaway if you have the time and money). Give a massage to your partner even if he does not correspond, light a nice, natural ingredients based candle with a pleasant fragrance, and use high-quality, natural massage oil. Massages are relaxing for the person who gets them and also for the giver.

Dance together: Take a dance class at a local studio or adult education center. If not, shop for dance instruction videos, practice a little at home and then hit the clubs. Going out to dinner or movies are not the only options to entertain yourself.

Take a walk: Nice pleasant romantic walks are a great way to relax and talk. You will notice that even a difficult topic appears to be easy to talk about when taking a walk versus sitting on the couch in the family room.

Make it special: Once a month or so, try to have a special activity for you and your partner. You may include friends and family but that is up to you. You can visit a place such as museum, art gallery, or join a sport activity, a concert, a day trip, wine tasting, etc. Get out of the routine and do something different.

If you make the effort small activities that most of the time will not cost a lot of money nor take a lot of time can help you create a more romantic relationship.

Be proud of being a woman

Earlier I wrote about real women not being slim like the models and the Hollywood celebrities. Well, I am happy to say that Nancy Mills has created the Spirited Woman Approach to Life and as part of that effort, she is organizing a contest for women of all ages to "express their spirited woman self." To show spirit through song. To have fun singing. And to express enthusiasm, character, creativity, and talent to the world.

Women of all singing levels, from amateur to professional, and all ages, that means from young girls to 100 plus, are invited to enter the contest. You can enter solo or with others -- a group of friends, mom, sister, husbands, brothers, back-up band, kids -- the main performer though must be a woman.

"The contest is not about being the next Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood, it's about expressing yourself through your inner talent, and strutting your spirited woman stuff to the world," says Mills. "It's about having fun."

The winners will be selected by popular vote, just like American Idol. Mills, and her team of three Spirited Woman judges -- singer/songwriter Jamie Shea (member of The Walrus and The Holmes-Shea Band); filmmaker Lisa Murray, who's video "Free Hugs in Hollywood" has been viewed over 500,000 times; and Los Angeles comedienne Roz Browne (winner of numerous comedy awards) -- will pick the top 10 contestants per category, then submit them to the 4,000 plus women in the spirited woman community to vote on and to choose the top three winners in each.