Category Archives: marriage advice
Here's the advice Sean Lowe has for 'Bachelorette' couple Becca and Garrett
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Sean Lowe is a hands-on dad, but his wife Catherine Giudici is an even busier mom. Since the couple met on season 17 of “The Bachelor,” they’ve gotten married, moved to Dallas and have become the parents of two boys: Samuel and Isaiah.
Because Lowe has an affinity for DIY projects, he’s partnered with Lowe’s and Craftsman as a spokesperson — and he hopes to pass his love for building things along to his kids.
“You can do it yourself, and there’s a lot of pride in that. That’s kind of been my philosophy — if I can do it myself, I’m going to. I’d rather not have to call someone and pay them to come to my house to fix it if I can do the job myself,” Lowe told TODAY. “I want to instill that in my sons as well. There are some life lessons in there too — it doesn’t just pertain to DIY projects. I think if you can take accountability and tackle things head on, you’re much better off. And like I said, I look forward to passing those traits on to Samuel and Isaiah.”
Sean Lowe and his son Samuel in their new garage by Lowe’s, in partnership with Craftsman.Sam Hodde / Lowe’s, in partnership with CRAFTSMAN.
We caught up with the DIY dad to ask him about marriage, family life and his thoughts on the latest “Bachelorette” season finale.
The time after having a baby is usually considered the most stressful time in a relationship. A lot of marriages don’t make it. What has been the most stressful for you about having two young kids and how do you guys get through it?
I got very lucky by marrying such a wonderful woman, because she has been the one to get a lot of sleepless nights. As the mom, she’s breastfeeding Isaiah, so when he wakes up in the middle of the night, there’s not a whole lot I can do to help. Catherine has not only done it, but she has done it with a smile on her face. I’ve definitely gotten more sleep than she has in the past couple of months. She has handled everything so extremely well. I try my best to help her out, and that usually involves taking care of Samuel, our 2-year-old, so she can devote her time to the baby.
I would say a lot of times, lack of sleep can be very stressful. I may be more fortunate than other guys out there just because Catherine has performed beautifully. I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that you’re a team and you’re in it together, and sometimes it’s challenging, but just try your best to love each other through it and support one other. It’s usually more the husband supporting the wife because they are the ones doing most of the work. Do anything you can to be supportive and helpful.
Would you want your kids to go on “The Bachelor”?
I think I would say no. I would prefer they find their future spouse the old-fashioned way. “The Bachelor” can be tricky to navigate. I’d say I navigated it fairly well and eventually found the love of my life, but for my kids, I’d prefer they did it the old-fashioned way.
If they made a reality show about your life now with two young kids, what would it be called?
Hmmm, since I love puns, how about “Lowe Life”?
Everyone has some weird parenting quirk. What do you do as a parent that people think is weird?
Well, I’m sure Catherine could tell you several, but… I do sing a lot of songs, but I don’t know what the real words are, so I make up my own lyrics. I guess top of mind, that’d be it: singing lots of songs and just making up the lyrics.
Switching gears: What did you think of Becca’s choice on this week’s “Bachelorette” finale?
I have to be honest with you, I wasn’t really able to keep up with this season of “The Bachelorette” with a 2-month-old at home! We’ve been fairly busy with our two young ones. Catherine has been recording them, so hopefully I can get to them soon.
What advice do you have for Becca and Garrett?
For anyone who gets engaged on “The Bachelor” or “Bachelorette,” the hard work really begins when the cameras are off, because you have to learn how to be in a healthy relationship, communicate, fight in a healthy way, and forgive — all the things normal relationships go through that you don’t necessarily have the opportunity to do while the cameras are rolling on the show. You have to make sure you commit to your relationship. It’s so easy to be distracted with all of the shiny things that come after the show — I even fell a victim to some of this — but make sure you commit to the relationship and put that person first because it will be very challenging. But at the end of the day, you can make it work.
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Who do think should be the next Bachelor?
Well, I didn’t watch this season close enough to have a strong opinion, but if we’re talking from any time… I know they’ve been saying this for a while now, so I’m going to go with Chris Harrison (laughs). Then, I could give him advice like he gave me on the show.
You and Arie Luyendyk Jr. are friends. Will you be going to his wedding?
Yeah, I think so! I know I’m getting the wedding invite because he asked me for my address the other day. It’s going to be in Hawaii. The only hiccup may be what we are going to do with the kids and how we’re going to organize all that, but we’re going to do everything we can to get there.
Kristen Bell Reveals How She 'Bagged' Dax Shepard
When you’re deep in the dating game, it’s only natural that you will want to impress your new partner. You put your best foot forward and wait ’till you’ve already locked them down to reveal all your quirks. This is exactly the strategic plan Kristen Bell used to reel her husband Dax Shepard right on in. On Wednesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, according to Entertainment Tonight, Bell revealed the hobby she picked up when they first started dating in 2007 that she thought would do the trick.
“You know when you’re in the beginning of a relationship, you want to seem way more normal—especially me, I wanted to seem way more normal than I actually was,” Bell admitted said. “He loves motorcycles. I really wanted him to think that I also loved motorcycles a lot and so when we first started dating I decided to get my motorcycle license. I was like, ‘I got it. I’m going to show him how cool I am.’”
After a two-week course, Bell graduated and surprised her beau with her license and photo to go with it. “He immediately started giggling, then he watched the flip camera,” she said. “He was way more concerned about the fact that both mirrors were torn off the bike, but I said, ‘Look, I rode hard.’”
Driving motorcycles was short lived for Bell, but she did ride on the back of Shepard’s while the two were filming their movie When in Rome, which premiered in 2010. Unfortunately, the ride didn’t exactly go as planned and Bell ended up with an injury. “I was wearing linen pants and I touched the side of the bike. It burnt a hole through my linen pants and gave me a very serious second-degree burn, the muscle was exposed,” she said. “But I was so desperate, because he said to me as we stepped on that bike, ‘Careful ‘bout your legs on the side it gets really hot.’ And I’m like, ‘I know!’ But I didn’t know.”
The injury was all in the name of love; when Kimmel asked why she didn’t say anything, Bell replied, “My goal was to bag Dax Shepard, Jimmy.”
It worked! Luckily for Bell, motorcycles are a thing of the past and the couple will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary in October. “I’ve never ridden again. Never driven again, no desire,” she said. “Look, we’re married. I can tell you. I don’t want to drive those things. They are terrifying.”
See more: Kristen Bell’s Throwback Wedding Photo with Dax Shepard Is the Hope the World Needs
Trying to impress each other is only one part of the equation that has kept this couple together. Earlier this year, Bell shared some marriage advice after a fan reached out to ask her to write a note to a soon-to-be married couple. “I wrote something congratulatory but then thought ‘Kristen! Wait! You are an old married woman, shouldn’t you have some wisdom to share?!’ After I was finished I realized what I wrote is pretty much the A-Z of how @daxshapard and I keep our relationship healthy. Its worked for us so far, so here ya go,” she wrote on Instagram.
She dropped gems like, “Vulnerability always begets connection and intimacy. Stay vulnerable with each other.” Another part read, “Take necessary separateness. It will make your marriage better.”
We will always take notes from these two.
Fair honors long-married couples
GEORGETOWN — These two little words are the secret to a long marriage: Yes, dear.
That’s the word from Ed Jones of Hoopeston, who jokingly shared his secret during the Georgetown Fair’s Golden Wedding Day celebration Wednesday. He and Phyllis have been married 64 years.
They have been attending the celebration for 14 years, along with their friends, Chuck and Anna Whiteman, also of Hoopeston.
Anna gave her advice for a long marriage: “Just hang in there.”
Her husband added, “Don’t argue.”
The Whitemans, who have been friends since childhood, also have been married 64 years. He served in the Army during the Korean War, and Jones served in the Marines during that time.
More than 40 couples and some individuals attended the party at the Georgetown Fairgrounds. Couples married 50 or more years were invited, as well as single people who had been married 50 years when they lost their spouse.
Scott Davis, a member of the fair board, told the crowd, “You guys are such good role models for our youth today.” He wondered how many people would make it to 50 years in the future.
The gathering was a time for the older couples to socialize with each other, as well as teenagers from Georgetown-Ridge Farm High School. The cheerleaders served drinks, ice cream and cake to the attendees, and cleaned up afterward. They also performed a cheer routine.
Prizes were awarded to attendees in certain categories.
Again, William and Bernice (Davis) Grubb of Covington, Ind., were honored for being married 75 years. They had met while Bernice was in nurses’ training; she quit in February and they were married by April.
Attending the First Baptist Church in Covington has helped keep them together.
Ed and Phyllis Jones, and Chuck and Anna Whiteman were honored for attending the most Golden Wedding events at the fair.
In addition, the 2018 Miss Georgetown Fair queen Billi Jo Shank and her court mingled with the crowd, and gave short speeches. The court includes first runner up Katelyn Blankenship, second runner up Emily Duncan, and third runner up Baylee Shepherd.
Coordinator SaLena Davis gave a history of the Golden Wedding Day, which is somewhat of a family affair. It was started around 1972 by Ethel Cunningham, who was SaLena’s grandmother. Joan Brittingham was coordinator for a while; she was SaLena’s father’s cousin. SaLena’s husband is Scott.
