15 Simple Romance Tips for Busy Couples

By Seyi Obasi

Has your spouse complained recently that you haven’t been spending enough time together? Have they complained that you aren't as romantic and attentive as you used to be? Or have you felt some distance slowly building up between you two?

I completely understand. I have a full time job and my husband is a banker, so you can imagine how difficult it must be for us to spend time together. And it’s easy to become a bit complacent after a while and just get too busy for romance.

Personally, I used to spend time shopping for love cards for my husband, planning weekend getaways and dates nights back in the early days of our marriage. My husband was equally romantic and reciprocated with his own brand of romantic gestures. I really enjoyed being on the receiving end of all that romance and attention.

But that was a long time ago. After ten years of marriage, conflicting schedules and our many roles in life (especially as parents to three bubbly children), we have been experiencing some "dry patches" in our marriage lately. Lack of communication, not spending quality time together, busyness and fatigue have lulled us into a state of I-have-no-time-for-romance.

In a recent counseling session, I and my husband were told to do everything we could to break through our excuses and bring the romance back using a unique approach: Simple Romance.

The Wife Diaries - Episode Three

I shrieked, pulled the trench coat tightly over my breasts and took the stairs up, two or three at a time. I flung open our bedroom door and ran straight to the bed to hide under the sheets until the humming in my ears ceased. I was so embarrassed!

As I lay under the covers basking in my utter humiliation, feeling sorry for myself and wondering what my husband was thinking, I heard the door crack open slowly.

“Babe..?” My husband said quietly from the door. “You okay?”

I shook my head and brought it up to look at him. He was standing just inside the door, a worried expression with a slight hint of amusement sat on his face. He peered at me curiously and his lips shook as he tried to bite back a laugh.

I sank back under the covers and cringed.

I felt the bed sink low as he came to sit next to me and rub my side through the covers.

“So um…care to explain what just happened down there?”

“No…” I whined.

“well, Felix thinks you’re hot…”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah in Nigeria

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah will be released in Lagos on April 27 at Terra Kulture, VI. The book itself is already on sale in major Nigerian bookstores. The poster shows the book tour schedule. I know some of you guys in Lagos will be all over this.

Date Night Movie Review - Tyler Perry's Temptation

Tyler Perry's Temptation follows the life of a newly married couple, Judith and Brice. Judith works at a matchmaking firm; Brice is a pharmacist. Things are just about OK with them, but one day Judith has to work with Harley, a very rich entrepreneur. Harley makes it clear that he is very interested in her, and she begins to wonder whether she's really getting all she wants from her relationship with Brice.

Myne's Review - I know this review is coming so late, but it's been very busy around these parts. I gave a quasi review in this post earlier about a particular sex scene in the movie. I wasn't a big fan of the movie, I have to confess, and preferred Good Deeds over it. But Temptation had its good sides. Kim Kardashian played a version of herself named Ava, and she was actually pretty good.

Vanessa Williams lit the room whenever she appeared on screen, and she had a funny French accent though she lost it quickly enough when circumstances called for it. The other actors were just OK, but they were all very good looking people, Lance Gross almost set the screen on fire in one of his bathroom scenes, black is beautiful o :)

Atala's review - When I saw the trailer for "Tyler Perry's Temptation", I was quite eager to watch the movie, because the theme of personal conflict appealed very much to me. Also, I quite liked Tyler Perry's "Good Deeds", so I thought I would enjoy this too.

Love and Immigration - Nigerian Woman in the UK Attempts Suicide to Avoid Deportation

Micheal and May Brown

May Brown is a Nigerian woman who is currently in a coma after attempting suicide by drug overdose pending a deportation order by the UK immigration services. May moved to the UK from Nigeria three years ago and is a student of public affairs at Weymouth College.

She met her husband Michael Brown 12 months ago and they got married last December. However, her request was denied despite that she had a valid student visa and was married to a British National. Her husband, Mr Brown said the UK Border Agency officials believed their marriage to be a ‘sham’ with no ‘emotional attachment’.” He however insists, as does his mother, that their marriage is real.

Now the report wasn't clear on when May Brown applied for asylum in the UK, whether it was before or after her marriage. But after her application was rejected, she was due to be deported in a matter of days. May Brown was so distressed at the prospect of returning to Nigeria that she took a drug overdose and is currently in intensive care.

Confused Girl… On Being Attracted to Women

This is a response to Confused Girl's mail to Myne.

My dear lady, I read your dilemma with interest and find that rather than simply send you a one paragraph response, you require a well thought out and unbiased response to your dilemma. What I like to do is look at your situations from a variety of perspectives and then you get to decide what to do and how to move forward to deal with your situation.

And of course you actually have TWO unrelated problems rolled into one. I hope you realize that. Lets deal with one at a time. 

On your bisexuality

Let us start from the religious aspect. You are likely to get a number of responses from many Nigerians condemning your actions and behavior. This is not wrong, but is due to the fact that a large segment of Nigerians in and out of Nigeria remain strongly religious. As you have said this not an issue in your relationship, (but it could be, more on that possibility later). I suggest don’t take those critics too seriously, not that they are not to be heard, or might offer bad advice, but I believe to each his / her own. If you don’t hold / share those Christian perspectives and beliefs then you need not worry about them, or be held to them. And no, there is no demon or devil chasing you either! :) No one should not foster their beliefs on you, unless you are willing to freely embrace them.

Secondly, any true Christian will have only one line of advice for you. Go and find some solution or deliverance to your “problem” of bisexuality.  You can then of course freely and happily get married to your fiancé. However, if your fiancé is one who will intend to become more religious after marriage, (this tends to happen to many couples as they go on to have kids and realize they want their kids to have some religious structure in their lives). You might also want to consider that factor as you decide what to do next.

Omotola Jalade at the Time 100 Gala [Video]

Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde was named as an Icon on the Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World list for 2013. Her citation;

Actress, singer, philanthropist, 34
By Richard Corliss
The world’s most productive English-language film industry is not Hollywood but Nollywood. The teeming Nigerian cinema grinds out some 2,500 movies a year, mostly direct-to-DVD quickies mixing melodrama, music and an evangelical Christian spin. (Think Bollywood via Tyler Perry.) Employing a million Nigerians, Nollywood enthralls millions more who come for the thrills, the uplift and the artful agitations of Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde — the Queen of Nollywood.

Called OmoSexy by her fans, she has made 300 or so features, from the 1996 Mortal Inheritance to the 2010 superproduction Ijé, shot partly on location in Los Angeles. Married to an airline pilot she wed on a flight from Lagos to Benin, Jalade-Ekeinde brings a juggler’s grace to her roles as actress, singer, reality-show star, mother of four and philanthropist (the Omotola Youth Empowerment Programme).

Success hasn’t spoiled Africa’s most renowned leading lady. Rather than going Hollywood, Omotola wants to stay Nollywood.

Corliss is TIME’s movie critic

See her pictures and video at the Time 100 Gala in New York below...

Some Celebrities and their Families

Omoni Oboli and her sons 2012

We often see them on the big or small screen, or all dolled and suited up on the red carpet, alone or with their partners, however, some celebrities can be quite protective of their families. Once in a while though, they share some pictures of them at home or out with their kids and for those of us who admire some of them, it can be encouraging. Check out more pictures of Omotola, Joke Silva and Olu Jacobs, Van Vicker, Ramsey Nouah, Charlyboy, Eldee and David Oyelowo. Enjoy!

Spinach Egusi Soup With Stockfish and Shrimp

This is my usual egusi soup recipe, somehow like this first one, with spinach but with the egusi cooked in the soup. This time also, I had just been to the African store, and had a new supply of stockfish, aka okporoko or panla.


Ingredients

3 cups Ground Egusi
5 pounds of your choice of beef, cut
1 pack of cut-up dried cod (okporoko/panla)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large tomato, diced in large pieces
2 tablespoons of ground crayfish
3 teaspoons of ground pepper
1 cup of palm oil
2 cubes of maggi
2 packs of frozen chopped spinach
1 Pack of frozen large tailed shrimp
Salt to taste

Widow of Boston Bombing Suspect Speaks Out

A few days after the one of the boston bombing suspects was killed, and the other taken into custody, it was revealed that the older brother was married to an American woman, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev. She had been brought up Christian and had converted to Islam after marrying Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and she also was quite devout and observed the muslim practice of covering her head with a scarf.

This had made a lot of Americans to come out hard against her, and also to other people who may be married to other religions and cultures, and assimilating into them. I don't think that is a fair call or judgement to make, this is just one case and should not be extended to every person marrying across cultures or into Islam, and also no one knows at this time the full details of what happened with Katherine Russell's husband, how he was radicalized, and if she knew what was going on.

Well, her lawyer, Amato DeLuca, released the following statement this afternoon.

Our Firm is representing Katherine Russell and she has asked us to make a short statement. As you know from news reports, Katie married her husband in June of 2010. Since then, she has been living in Cambridge, raising her child and working long hours, caring for people in their homes who are unable to care for themselves. Katie grew up in Rhode Island and has always remained close to her parents and sisters here, as well as her extended family. She is fortunate to have the support of her loving family now, as they struggle to come to terms with these events and the deep sorrow we all feel following the events of last week. Meanwhile, she is doing everything she can to assist with the investigation.