In fact, all relationships need TLC. Without it, partners get lazy and the spark dies out, says Irina Firstein, LCSW, a New York City relationship counselor who has doled out relationship advice to couples for over 20 years.

Affirmation For Today: I Deserve A Loving Healthy Relationship

Her best advice? “Try to remember what attracted you to your partner in the beginning of your relationship. Feel it again and keep it fresh in your mind.”

At EverydayHealth.com, Firstein offers five no-fail tips for recharging your relationship.

1. Try a Little Tenderness

Here’s a rule of thumb that seems like a no-brainer, but often gets forgotten in the rush of daily life: Be nice to each other! It’s all too easy to take your partner for granted and get wrapped up in kids and work, says Firstein. Instead, try this: Take a moment every day to pay your partner a compliment. “Go out of your way to make your partner feel special and important,” she says.

Longest Living Black Married Couple Gives Advice

2. Chit-Chat More

One piece of relationship advice all experts agree on? Communication is key. When was the last time you went out of your way to have a real conversation with your partner — one that you didn’t rush through? “Have a genuine interest in every aspect of your mate’s life the way you did when you first met and started dating,” says Firstein. “Ask questions and really listen to what they have to say. Be interested in how they feel and what they think.”

How To Make Your Long Distance Relationship Work

3. Add Oomph to Your ‘Thank You’

Do you remember the last time you told your honey how much you appreciate him? A healthy relationship is a blessing, so say thanks with both words and with deeds. If your wife usually gets home from work late, surprise her one night with a homemade, late-night meal. If your husband is usually in charge of yard duty, give him the day off and get out there with the mower yourself.

(Find out the next two tips here)

Read: Top 5 Super Fruits To Enhance Your Sex Drive

Married Couples We Love To See

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Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake near the capital that destroyed buildings and left thousands of people dead or missing.

The United States is sending first responders to Haiti to assist victims of a powerful earthquake, as part of a coordinated American response that includes the departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security.

Families seeking information on loved ones or friends in Haiti are encouraged to call the U.S. State Department at 888-407-4747. Visit state.gov for more information.

If you would like to help, you can also donate to these groups:

- Save the Children. Donate at savethechildren.org or make checks out to “Save the Children” and mail to: Save the Children Income Processing Department, 54 Wilton Road, Westport, Conn. 06880

- UNICEF. Go online to unicefusa.org/haitiquake or call (800) 4UNICEF.

- Red Cross. Go online to redcross.org and click Donate, or call (800) REDCROSS. Or donate $10 to Red Cross 4 Haiti by texting Haiti to 90999.

- Direct Relief International. Donate online at directrelief.org.

- Mercy Corp. Go online to mercycorps.org or mail checks to Haiti Earthquake Fund, Dept. NR, PO Box 2669, Portland, Ore. 97208 or call (888) 256-1900

- To donate $5 to Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund, text “Yele” to 501501 (the amount will be charged to the person’s cell phone bill) or visit www.Yele.org and click “Donate.”

For more information on the American Red Cross Relief For Haiti visit
http://newsroom.redcross.org/

You can also visit the Red Cross Chat Room
http://redcrosschat.org/2010/01/12/earthquake-in-haiti/

Go here for more of this story

Major earthquake hits Haiti

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The powerful Haitian earthquake has destroyed most of the capital city of Port-au-Prince, Haitian authorities said Wednesday.

A top envoy called it a “major catastrophe.”

Haiti’s first lady, Elisabeth Debrosse Delatour, reported that “most of Port-au-Prince is destroyed” and that many government buildings had collapsed, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, Raymond Joseph, told CNN Wednesday morning. Delatour said President René Préval was all right, Joseph reported.

Rescue crews were racing Wednesday morning to fully assess the damage in the teeming hillside city, where toppled buildings killed and injured an untold number of people and trapped others in the rubble.

The U.S. State Department has been told to expect “serious loss of life,” spokesman P.J. Crowley said, though precise casualty estimates were not immediately available.

About 3 million people — one-third of Haiti’s population — were affected by the quake, the Red Cross estimated.

President Obama pledged Wednesday that the U.S. government would lead “a swift, coordinated and aggressive effort to save lives” in Haiti after the earthquake.

“For a country and a people who are no strangers to hardship and suffering, this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible,” he said.

The president noted that “military overflights have assessed the damage” from the earthquake and that civilian disaster assistance team were beginning to arrive in Haiti.

Obama said U.S. relief efforts are currently focused on a quick accounting of U.S. Embassy personnel and their families in Port-au-Prince, as well as other American citizens living and working in Haiti. He urged Americans trying to locate family members in Haiti to telephone the State Department at 888-407-4747.

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The main airport in Haiti appears to be operable. U.S. Embassy staff at the airport said the tower and the lights are working, Crowley said Wednesday.

The quake ripped apart buildings, shearing huge slabs of concrete off structures in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Many buildings that remained standing were left open to the elements, pictures from the scene showed.

First rescuers on the scene were often local people trying to help dig people out of the rubble by hand or to comfort injured survivors.

Pictures from Haiti showed concrete buildings that had fallen onto themselves, broken and flattened. People in the streets were dusty from the concrete and in some cases bloody from their injuries.

“One woman, I could only see her head and the rest of her body was trapped under a block wall,” said Jonathan de la Durantaye, who drove through Port-au-Prince after the quake. “I think she was dead. She had blood coming out of her eyes and nose and ears.”

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday, centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It could be felt strongly in eastern Cuba, more than 200 miles away.

Many of the concrete-block homes in Port-au-Prince are built “helter-skelter, all over the place,” Joseph said. The earthquake damaged buildings as grand as the National Palace, pancaking scores of structures, trapping people inside those buildings, and knocking down phone and power lines.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Timothy M. Carney told CNN that Port-au-Prince was particularly at risk because it grew rapidly from a population of about 250,000 in the mid-1950s to more than 2 million today, all with little oversight.

More than 100 employees of the United Nations’ mission in Haiti were unaccounted for Wednesday after the earthquake, U.N. officials said.

Among the missing were the chief of the U.N. mission in Haiti and the agency’s deputy special representative, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in New York.

The destruction included the U.N. peacekeeper compound, a five-story building where about 250 people work every day.

Three Jordanian peacekeepers died and 21 were injured, according to Jordan’s state-run Petra News Agency. An Argentine member of the peacekeeping team also is confirmed dead, the Argentine military said

About 3,000 members of the U.N. peacekeeping force are based in Port-au-Prince and its outskirts, while another 6,000 are in the rest of the country.

None of the three aid centers run by Doctors without Borders in Haiti is operable following the earthquake, the group said Wednesday.

The group is focusing on re-establishing surgical capacity so it can deal with the crushed limbs and head wounds it is seeing, said Paul McPhun, an emergency management expert for Doctors without Borders.

Read more here.

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TRIPLE A “TIPSY TOW”

Had too much to drink? Instead of driving drunk, call Triple A for a free ride and free vehicle tow home until January 2^nd. Call 1-800-AAA-HELP OR 1-800- 222-4357.

AMERICAN RED CROSS LAUNCHES HOLIDAY GIVING CATALOG

The American Red Cross is launching a new and unique way to make a real difference. It’s the Holiday Giving Catalog and anyone can purchase a tax deductible gift item that contributes to the overall mission of the Red Cross. Visit redcross.org/gifts and make a donation that will pay for tangible items like hot meals for displaced families, blankets, or phone cards for those in the military.

HOSEA FEED THE HUNGRY

The work of the Hosea Feed The Hungry and Homeless program is in full swing this holidays, gearing up to feed needy families. Log on www.hoseafeedthehungry.com to find out how you can help.

EMPTY STOCKING FUND – SPONSOR A CHILD CAMPAIGN

Give money to the Empty Stocking fund to provide Christmas gifts to underprivileged children. until December 25^th. 50,000 children in the Atlanta are will benefit. For $20 a child will get a toy, educational item, a new article of clothing and a stocking stuffer. For more information call 404- 876- 8697 or visit www.emptystockingfund.org