Living through your children is a popular analogy and has been thrown around for years. Why does it seem no one sees this in the relationship, hence the RUT that starts to form.... and make no mistake the longer the RUT holds onto your relationship the deeper it can be to climb out. Listen in and Chris & Cindy take this discussion into what some would consider offensive territory. As a man should we not pursue the woman, as a husband it is our responsibility to pursue our wives regardless of whether your son is the star quarterback, or your daughter is the star basketball player. Being a good parent does not translate in giving your everything for your child. Yes, be a great Dad, and yes, be a loving Mother, but the end game is the union between him and her, the husband and the wife. Comments, or feedback are always welcome! And pay attention at the end for new questions you can answer with your spouse, like an ice breaker "would you prefer window or isle seat?"

The RUT, that point which can come and go it seems at various times in your relationship to where there is just a DULL. Tell the truth and be honest here, has at any point in your marriage, in your relationship, that you have felt like you are just high fiving your partner on the way out the door. This happens to all couples as we are all busy. Busy with work perhaps, pursing your career coupled with this pressure to produce or provide something for the family. What about school, and the continuing education with the goal of again achieving a better job. Listen in and Chris and Cindy give you a full podcast of casting a vision of dedicated time for each other while in the midst of work, school, or kids and their activities even. This podcast allows an uninterrupted dedicated 2 minute segment per perspective coming from Cindy, and then Chris. How do they bring it back together although at times disagreeing on the subject? Stay tuned in all the way to end for some surprise 'Lets Get Deep' questions, and answer these off topic deep centered random questions with your partner.

Here we go! Listen in as Chris and Cindy dive into a new series they are calling 'The Rut'. This concept of couples practically falling into this dull in their relationship, and this can be happen based on numerous things going on in their lives. Why not begin the series with Growth. We all need need to be growing, both in the reflection of who we are individually, and as we relate to our partner in our relationship. So why is it that at times it seems one in the relationship is pushing, looking to better their outcomes either financially, or personally even, while yet their counterpart seems to be content, or worse idle. The insight offered up in the ftuplife podcast series by Chris & Cindy not only hit this topic straight forward as they both allow the other a solid 2 minute thought breakdown, but also how to bring it all back together. It can be hard to be patient, and offer up a compromise, when you feel as though you are the sole dreamer, that you are the only 1 who has the Vision of bigger, greater accomplishments. The question of "there has to more" falls heavily into the thought process, this desire to work and achieve, and build. How exciting when the couple is in this mindset together! Subscribe and listen in, comments and feedback are welcome. 

It must be noted that first and foremost having children is a blessing. Indeed happy is the man whose quiver is full. With this said how is that children play such an important and at times critical role in where the money goes in a marriage, in a relationship. Listen in as Chris & Cindy tackle this very issue and come at this from two points of view and how they bring it back together as a couple when it comes to spending money on your children. As in our culture there is a perception of parents living through their children; such as sports, even activities the child may be involved in. So as a married couple how do you deal with this. The stress pulling couples in all sorts of directions can be exhausting which opens the door for all kinds of possible problems, with money leading the way. What are your thoughts after listening, where do you fall on the spectrum of spending money on your children, the where and why? Do you and your spouse agree on the direction of the money being spent. Our goal is help couples, those in relationships, build a stronger connection, through compromise, but most importantly through faith. Chris & Cindy even through a little icing on the cake when discussing the idea of pets and where that takes couples financially? Interesting on where you may land on the idea of money and pets. Listen in, subscribe, and grow your relationship. 

So your InLaws, outside the premise of if you get along with them, or even like them? What happens when the relationship with your 'InLaws' involves the ever sensitive issue of money? Listen as Chris and Cindy take this difficult issue and dissect from both perspectives. Whether on the giving end or the receiving end of how money is distributed to or from your Inlaws, it can be difficult to manage! What happens when the circumstances dealing with your Inlaws is 1 sided in that your partner is pushing money in that direction. Family is always difficult and then throw money on top of that could greatly increase tension, if not bitterness. Give some feedback, and comment, as this podcast hits this issue straight on. There is always compromise, but how do you get there in your relationship with this issue?

Back in our Money series in an ftuplife with a focus on Debt. Coming into your relationship, what if your partner has debt? Does the amount of debt matter. Debt can be a very heavy burden and allot of tension will arise if not handled correctly. In our culture today of getting that quality education to better yourself what happens when you bring massive amounts of student loans into your relationship.  Even better, if your partner is just an excessive spender and their credit card balances are, shall we say full. Tough conversation to have but how do you handle this? 

So our Money series continues on the topic of the dreaded BUDGET. No  matter where you are in your relationship lets cover whether or not you are in this budget mindset together, does one or the other not typically into the budget principal. I firmly believe that a person, a couple, can be disciplined together in their money habits without needing a budget. Well, my beautiful wife believes disciplined spending is automatically a budget, but is it? As you listen and relate to either perspective, if not both depending... learn something and take away an action item to sit and discuss with your partner. Make that decision together! We truly love our listeners, so please share our podcast and direct listeners and followers to our website to learn more at ftuplife.com. 

Still in the Money series and in this episode we discuss "wants"! When it comes down to it in your relationship there are times when your wants may outweigh the wants of your partner. Listen to Chris & Cindy talk on this very topic and open up about their difference approaches, and perspectives, and still come back to a foundation that kept their marriage strong for over 25 years. So, do you just go buy what you want because you want it, or do you go buy something in a mindset of some type of retaliation for what your partner has bought as it was something they wanted. Interesting? This can be problem in some relationships for sure. This 'want' mentality on other side can be deadly and effective communication is a must. So listen and see where your relationship falls. Lets get better at relationships, and especially marriage. It will only make our world better. 

This podcast stays in our MONEY and marriage series.  This series will be a 7 week dynamic overview on the different pieces of MONEY within a relationship. How can in this society two people, a couple, with different careers, possibly different education levels come together and decide who's money is it? Are there separate bank accounts, are you responsible for some bills while your partner is responsible for others? Typically in a relationship, a marriage, one makes more money than the other. So how does this effect the layout of what the money is used for, does this effect the feeling of being less valuable perhaps...?  Let us help by providing our intimate thoughts and feelings on this topic with the goal of allowing some common behaviors to line up. In fact, we desire to give couples the opportunity to discuss the issue based on what they hear, the struggles and complexities when it comes to His Money vs Her Money ( or should there be such a division? ). We love feedback, and questions from our audience, so check out our website ftuplife.com and subscribe. We love each and every one of you!

Welcome to a real life relationship based podcast that all listeners, whether dating, engaged, newly weds, or married several to many years can listen to and hopefully take something away that will help strengthen that bond with their partner in life! Chris & Cindy Brown have formed a new style of relationship based dialect in a sense that both may come from completely different backgrounds which at times may produce a different perspective, even disagreements that could lead into issues. So how do they disagree and still avoid the issues that relationships in our culture suffer from. Married 26 years with 3 children; 25,21, and 17 with 2 grandbabies listen as the format will give each a 2 minute window to state the reasoning if a disagreement is at hand...listen and learn how to disagree but still have a great relationship. You may find yourself choosing a side perhaps, so be warned. In this podcast we are beginning are series on MONEY! Yes, the dollar bills.. to we choose the "End Goals" to start us right. In your relationship do your End Goals match up? If not, listen .. subscribe .. and learn! Blessings