A Wedding Menu

Some of your wedding guests may be traveling great distances to get to your wedding. Some may even be flying to get to your wedding. Should you serve them the same type of meal that they got on the plane or should you serve them something better? I have included a menu below which is presented as an alternative to the usual wedding menu of baked chicken or broiled fish, vegetable, and roll.

This menu was served at a great price. Our caterer is exceptional. He has experience in some of the best restaurants in Washington, DC. Because of this, he likes to prepare more complicated meals than the usual wedding menu. He worked with my future wife to prepare this menu. I am hoping that you will find some great ideas from it. For example, we are having cupcakes presented on a tiered fashion that looks like a wedding cake instead of the wedding cake. Why? Our wedding is outdoors. We have many children in attendance. Finally, we wanted to end the meal in a less formal manner.

Enjoy the menu.

Hot and Cold Hors d Oeuvres

Croque Monsieur Black forest Ham and Gruyere Cheese Baked finger Sandwiches

Smoked Salmon in Pastry cup with Cream cheese and capers

Cilantro Shrimp on Skewers

Crab meat spoons-drizzled with marry rose and mango, pear, peach, honey and sake salsa served in Chinese spoons

Creamed Roquefort and toasted walnuts on crostini

Petite Quiche Prosciutto and Florentine

BUFFET DISPLAY

SALADS

Harvest Salad

Poached Pears atop red baby mixed green, Belgium endive drizzled with honey mustard vinaigrette and sprinkled with walnuts and dried cranberries

Salad Louisette Wedges of Iceberg Lettuce and Radicchio topped with Gorgonzola Cheese Crumbles, crispy Bacon and Julienne of Red Peppers in French dressing

Dalmatino Caesar Salad Topped with freshly grated Parmesan and Garlic Croutons with home made dressing

COOKING CORNER

Display of Scottish smoked Salmon Served with the traditional Condiments

Grilled Chicken Marinated with Garlic, Olive Oil and fresh Thyme served with a Madeira Mushroom Sauce

Marinated Grilled Flank Steak Creamy horseradish sauce and Dijon Mustard

Roasted Leg of Lamb With Rosemary Au Jus

Pasta Station

Penne Pasta With your choice of toppings Meatless marinara, Bolognese or Basil Pesto made to order

VEGETABLES AND SIDES

Saffron flavored Rice Pilaf

Marinated Medley of Grilled Vegetables

Crisp Asparagus, Fresh baby Carrots, Yellow and green Squash, Italian Eggplant, Grilled baby Artichokes, Portabella Mushrooms and Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes topped with a Roasted Pepper Confetti

String Beans Almandine French Green beans saut? with Shaved Almonds

Assorted Breads, Rolls and Butter

CAKE: Cup Cakes (chocolate cup cakes made with dark chocolate white icing and slightly yellowish tinting each decorated separately)

Assortment of Home made Brownies, Lemon Squares and Chocolate chip cookies

Will be presented on separate table in a shape of wedding cake with floral decoration.

BAR SET UP

Beer

Non-Alcoholic Lemonade and Iced Tea

Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay

Champagne for toast

Copyright 2006 Andrew Horan

Internet Dating Etiquette

Internet dating is becoming more and more popular among singles of all ages throughout the world.

There is a disturbing attitude among some Internet daters that courtesy, integrity and honor don't apply on "the net." I want to weigh in on this offensive attitude.

Integrity is not a choice. We don't employ integrity and courtesy if and when they are convenient or we happen to remember. Integrity lives inside us and is part of every action, reaction, interaction, choice and decision. We treat everyone with whom we interact with courtesy because we hold a value for treating others with basic kindness and respect and our value drives our behavior. We must not throw caution to the wind when it comes to honoring our values and our behavior.

Here are some thoughts about common sense, courteous behaviors otherwise known as etiquette:

· Posting a photograph is the single most important factor for getting people to read your profile. Post a current photograph of you! Resist posting an old photo or a photo of your best friend whom you think is "better looking than you."

· Be timely. Answer the responses and initial inquiries within three to four days. It is considered good etiquette to answer all emails since people have taken the time and effort to communicate with you.

· If you become overwhelmed by the interest of many men or women, simply freeze your account until you can catch up.

· Always be polite in you emails. Keep them fun, positive and upbeat. It is generally a good idea to avoid jokes and sarcasm. Also, avoid heavy or politically charged issues or issues that relate to religion, abortion, or the death penalty. Don't complain about your life or bash your exes.

· Resist embellishing and exaggerating. Integrity is always better than stretching the truth. Remember, you are trying to attract the kind of people you want to meet. Let them know who you are from the "get-go."

· Once you know you are no longer interested in emailing, speaking with or spending time with someone, tell him or her directly. Don't just stop emailing or calling. Don't tell someone you are interested when you are not. Don't tell someone you will email again or call again or that you want to see him or her again and not follow through.

· Find the courage to use your words and say plainly, "I have enjoyed meeting you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to get acquainted with you. I'm dating to find my ideal match and what I have discovered is

Free Online Dating Service: Why Free Is Not Always Best For You

Who offers better service? Free Online Dating Services or dating services that require payment? Ask just about anyone and you will get several different answers.

In todays society, everything comes with a price, even so called free stuff. You will not be asked to pay today but you will be asked to part with your hard-earned money sometime in the near future.

In the case of dating services that offer free membership, they are looking to increase their membership numbers. The more members they enroll the bigger the pool of potential daters and the more attractive they will look in the future to paying customers.

To prove this point just do a search with your favorite search engine for "free online dating services" and you will find that the majority of new dating web sites are offering free dating services. You can establish a profile, chat, send instant messages and even talk via webcam. You do not even have to give out your credit card information. How appealing is that?

Meanwhile these new dating sites are working out the bugs and building a recognizable brand name. Your service is free but you may experience some technical difficulties while the kinks are worked out. However, you wanted free service right?

Let's switch focus and talk a little about dating services that charge a fee. They realize that free online dating sites have something that most people cannot resist. The word free backed with a perceived good service.

Now the obvious question is. How does well established dating sites that charge fees compete with such an offer? Easy, by offering Trail memberships until they can win you over as a paying customer.

Now your options are to join a dating service that offers free memberships or sign-up with a paid service that has a proven record of accomplishment.

Okay it is out there, you can join dating sites for free and possibly experience less than average services or you could go with a paid dating service. The choice is yours to make.

Super Relationship Tips: Surprise Your Partner With A Secret Message

We are all so busy that it's hard to remember, and to find the time, to tell our lovers how much they mean to us. In the beginning it was easy; we so obviously lived just for each other. Even our friends got a little bored with our mutually exclusive focus!

Slowly, life got in the way and responsibilities pulled us in different directions. If we can no longer spend hours exploring each other's world, we can occasionally interject an unexpected message that jolts our partner into a brief moment of focus on us and the relationship between us that is at the core of our existence.

Take a couple of hours when you find yourself with unexpected free time, even if you have to steal it at a dull seminar or when tied up in rush hour traffic. Write up some short little notes telling your partner how much you appreciate them and the particular things they do that make you love them even more.

Then identify innovative ways to deliver your messages. Hide a note inside a dresser drawer. Scrawl it across the bathroom mirror in soap. Mail a personal and confidential letter to your partner's work — send certified so no one else can open it. Send it as an e-mail or leave it on a voice mail or text pager. Tape it to the bedroom or refrigerator door as a greeting when you know you won't be home. Stick it in a coat pocket or wallet to be found at an unexpected moment.

A quick reminder of what our lives are really about is a breath of fresh air in a world so often dominated by outside demands.

Dating Ideas - Success Mantra For Online Dating

So, you have got the concept of online dating and are raring to go. You also know the way to online dating. That is, by registering on the dating sites, you are where you want to be. Now, you need to have dating ideas to hit the nail right on the head. Dating ideas will facilitate your safe and smooth transition into the online dating world. Without loosing anytime, lets begin our discussion on online dating rules.

Online Dating Ideas

Following are some key dating ideas that may help you realize your goals in the realm of online dating:

Photograph: Upload your latest and attractive photograph on the dating site. Placing your photo on the site is likely to attract more response than a profile without a photograph. Reason being that two people interacting with each other should have a face to imagine rather than having something abstract in mind.

Updating: You should login regularly into your online dating account to get yourself noticed more. Also, keep updating your profile and photograph so that the others have a better picture of you. Keep updating your profile greeting with all the interesting things happening in your life.

Confidence: Be confident when dating online. Do not feel guilty about what people will think of you or that people will consider you as an offline dating failure resorting to online dating. Online dating is an open world now where many people are participating with confidence. This is no more a taboo zone.

Original: Be original in online dating. Project yourself in an original and creative fashion. Relate those aspects of yours that are generally not mentioned by people in their profile. This will make your profile stand out.

Honesty: Honesty is the best policy no matter what century. Be honest about yourself in online dating. Do not lie. You may resort to not commenting on some personal question rather than lying. When your lies will surface, you may loose genuine relationships.

Correspondence: Always acknowledge the receipt of the response you get in your dating email account. When replying, keep your tone polite and light. Also, clearly mention in your reply if you intend to carry on or not.

Group dating: You may resort for group dating with your friends. You may create your own activity group or may join some already created one with your friends.

The above mentioned dating ideas provide you a basic framework of dos and don'ts when dating online. They are not exhaustive and there may be other dimensions also that you may encounter practically. Also, be careful, unscrupulous minds too may be at work.

Jealousy

"Love that is fed by jealousy dies hard" -Ovid

Jealousy can be consuming. It creates stress and anxiety in a relationship. Jealousy leaves you feeling insecure, vulnerable and frustrated. There is nothing good that comes from being jealous; regardless of whether you are the one who displays destructive jealous behaviors or if you are the victim of a jealous person.

First you have to differentiate between the two types of jealousy. Well-founded jealousy; jealousy brought on by some form of deception or infidelity. Or, unwarranted jealousy; the kind that stems from someone's insecurities and fears. If you are dealing with someone who is jealous and they have no reason; these unfounded fears can be quelled in time if you are in a healthy relationship. You address this by communicating their concerns or fears so there is nothing mysterious. By restoring confidence in the strength of your commitment you will begin to develop a mutual trust.

If someone is being totally unreasonable and unprovoked, without being able to be reasoned with; you have a bigger issue on your hands. Illusory thinking and false accusations can cause major problems and push the other person away. That's why it's so imperative that you express your feelings so you can put this monster to bed.

The fears behind these feeling are the culprit. If you are wondering why you aren't good enough; why you're afraid that your partner may be interested in someone else; why you question everything they do or if you're afraid they might leave you; these feelings have nothing to do with your relationship and everything to do with you. You are projecting your own inadequacies and your fear of loss is taking over your better judgment as to what is reality.

Insecurity is simply a lack of feeling secure. By trying to control someone you lose control of yourself. The green eyed monster is alive and well unless you tame your inner demons. As you begin to face your insecurities which cause this unwarranted jealousy; you will be able to have a healthier, happier life.

If you are with someone who has lost control and their feelings have taken over; you may experience episodes of unacceptable behaviors. Abuse is not something that should ever be tolerated.

On the other hand if you are jealous because your partner has given you reason to be; then regaining the trust in your relationship is difficult at best. It takes a major commitment by both parties to make things work. In particular, the effort must come from the person who caused the mistrust in the first place. This is when you find out what the deceptive partner is made of and how truly committed they are to re-building your trust. It takes a lot of reassuring and answering questions that are necessary in putting your relationship back on track.

When jealousy enters your mind and it is unfounded you know that you can diminish your fears by communicating your feelings. Get in control of your insecurities and build upon your mutual commitment.

But, if you are jealous because someone has betrayed you then you need to decide if this is a person with whom you believe you can rebuild trust and if you are still willing to work things out with them. The ball is in your court. It's your decision.

Making Him Your Valentine

Make him your Valentine this year and show him all of the ways you want to reward him for being yours. Valentine's Day is a time for love and togetherness. Many couples spend the whole day looking for ways to show each other how in love they are and how much the other person in the relationship means to them. Couples love Valentine's Day because the whole day is about making your lover feel good. This year, make him your Valentine and find the best ways to make him feel good for the whole day.

Valentine's Hints

If you're in a relationship making him your Valentine will be easy. After all, who would you choose? Of course, it will make him feel good if you ask him. You can do this in a number of ways. Below is a list of ideas you could use to convince him to be yours.

Ask him nicely

Use sensual tactics to make him yours

Give him a card with your request written on The inside

Beg him to be yours

Write it in lip stick on the bathroom mirror

Leave him a suggestive photo of you on your pillow with Be Mine written on it

These are just a few of the ideas that you could use or you could make up another idea that you think he will like better.

Valentine's Day Presents

Most couples exchange one gift on Valentine's Day. While there is nothing wrong with this, in some ways it becomes very limiting. What gift is the best one for your lover? Should you get him something naughty or nice? What does he want more than anything?

These questions make it hard to pick the right gift. Of course, it does not have to be that way. This year consider buying him two gifts. One gift should be something practical. Maybe you will pick out a gift card to a home improvement store if he is a handyman or a certificate to the car detailing shop if he is a car buff. You might even choose to buy him clothes or a vacation. Whatever you choose it should be based on something you know he needs or you know he will love.

Next comes the naughty present. This present is all about fun for your man and your relationship. If he's into BDSM buy him some restraints, a leather flogger or whip, a paddle, or some medical equipment. If he's a more simple man consider buying him a vibrating masturbator, a love doll, or some sexy male lingerie. There are many other adult toys that would work for men, as well. Of course, if you think he will not be interested in toys you could pick out some adult movies you think he will like or buy him a subscription to his favorite adult magazine.

Your man will love the fact that you bought him something he can show off to his friends and something else that he can show off when he is alone with the woman of his dreams.

3 Devastating Effects Of How Marrying The Wrong Person Can Ruin Your Life

Marrying the wrong person can have far-reaching, devastating effects on your life. So you must take the necessary precautions when you decide to marry. Besides a life lacking fulfillment and satisfaction, here are the most common effects of marrying the wrong person.

You could put off reaching your destiny or miss it altogether. Marriage is not only the coming together of two people to form a family unit but also the coming together of two destinies. Since God designed a future just for you, he knows the person who is not only perfect for you but also perfect for the destiny he has set in place for you. But by marrying the wrong person, you put your future and destiny in jeopardy.

In my book,

The Dangerous Price of Preferring Fantasy

Romantic fantasies, like drugs and alcohol, offer the hope of getting what you believe you can't get on your own. Also like drugs they are temporary and never ultimately satisfying. When the spell dissolves, you're lost in the pit of heartbreak, shortchanged by life yet again.

On the other hand, when fantasy is not a substitute for reality, it can be a playful source of pleasure. You can slip beyond the limits of daily life and play in a make-believe world. You get to go anywhere, be anyone and experience anything you like. However, enjoying romantic fantasies is one thing. Preferring them over reality is quite another. That's a crucial distinction.

When you expect your fantasy to come true in reality, bitterness and recrimination will routinely be part of the package. Remember, reality can be overwhelmed when it has to compete with the perfection of fantasy. When reality fails, disappointed love often turns vicious.

Have you ever physically or emotionally hurt someone just because she or he failed to match your dream of the perfect lover? Have you ever suffered the failure of not living up to someone else's dream image of the perfect love? We ask these questions during our trainings, and, without exception, the majority of both men and women confess they have experienced both sides of this problem. Chances are, you have too. Then, when a real life relationship makes its inevitable demands, you shrink from a feeling of personal inadequacy, afraid you won't be enough, afraid you will come up short. The trance of romance is deadly. When we're caught, we reject what is, preferring what "should be."

The Unfairly Judged Professor

<b>An All Too Familiar Tale</b>

She takes her teaching responsibilities seriously; she is committed to making a difference in her students' lives. She prepares her syllabus meticulously, with class-by-class activities and assignments, the most relevant and up to date readings, illustrative cases, experiential activities. She prepares thoroughly for each class, working hard to draw out her students, engaging them, encouraging them, challenging them.

Some days are better than others, but all in all she is feeling good about the work she is doing and about her vocation as a professor. And then it hits! The student evaluations. The thing about these evaluations is that for the most part they are positive, some very positive. 5's on a 5-point scale with notations written in the margins — "best course so far," "appreciated your command of the material," and so forth. But then there are the others, the 2's and 3's, along with the comments — "too shallow," "too many hours wasted in class discussion," "not enough substance from the professor," "I was expecting more." The professor draws little solace from the positive evaluations, the 3.9 overall rating, the glowing comments from several students. What keeps her up at night and continues to trouble her during the day are those 2's and 3's, the negative comments, the criticisms and complaints, and worst of all, the fact that she was blindsided since none of this came to the surface during the life of the course.

So here we have an all too familiar classroom tale: <b>The Righteously Screwed Student</b> ("I paid my money, I came to class, I was entitled to a solid education, and you, Professor, didn't deliver.") And on the other side, we have <b>The Unfairly Judged Professor</b> ("I worked my tail off, I did my research, I put together the best course I could, I gave it my all, and never did I hear a word of complaint. And this is the response I get! Unfair!")

<b>The Independence Bias</b>. In the university classroom, no less than in all our other social systems, we exist in relationship with one another (see Seeing Systems, Act II), yet when it comes to evaluations our focus tends to be on the individuals and not on the relationship; the professor evaluates (grades) the student, and then it is the student's chance to evaluate the professor. In all of this, the relationship goes unnoticed.

Professor and student exist in a <b>Provider/Customer relationship</b> in which the professor has designated responsibility for providing an educational service and the student is the designated recipient of that service. (I think it is fair to say that in higher education the teacher/student relationship is one of Provider/Customer, but that this is less clearly the case in lower forms of education where many of the students may feel more like inmates than customers. I maintain, although it is an arguable point, that students in lower education are the willing and unwilling products of educational systems and that the customers lie elsewhere: universities, organizations, communities, parents.)

Once our eyes shift from the individuals to the relationship, then we begin to focus not only on the attributes of the parties, but also on the qualities of the relationship. And one quality that is particularly relevant is partnership: that is, is the relationship characterized by a joint commitment to the success of whatever venture the members are engaged in? In the case of the professor/student relationship, is that relationship characterized by a joint commitment to the success of the educational venture?

<b>The Responsibility Dance</b>. It may seem eminently reasonable for professor and student to be in partnership with one another, to be jointly committed to the success of their educational venture; yet, that is not how it often goes in the professor/student relationship or in most other Provider/Customer relationships. A more familiar pattern is the responsibility dance in which responsibility for success resides primarily, if not exclusively, with Provider (in this case, the professor) and minimally, if at all, with the Customer (here the student). Provider is responsible, Customer not responsible.

When this responsibility dance occurs, the relationship becomes one of non-partnership; yet the absence of partnership in and of itself may not be a problem. The Provider professor may take up all responsibility for the course and discharge it brilliantly; and the Customer students who have felt no responsibility for the course still emerge delighted customers. No problem. (One could rightfully argue that this is only true in the short term, but that there is a gradual and mutual disabling process that goes on the longer that non-partnership form continues.)

But now let us observe what happens in this non-partnership pattern when delivery is less than satisfactory. Our non-responsible student becomes <b>The Righteously Screwed Customer</b> ("You, Professor, were responsible; I was entitled; and you let me down.") And our responsible professor becomes the Unfairly Judged Provider ("I gave it my best; I taught a good course; your reaction is unfair.")

The student can, with impunity, blame the professor for the failure of the course, but the professor cannot blame the student, for if the responsibility dance is on, it is clear that the professor alone is responsible. (The grade the professor gives the student is an evaluation of the degree of mastery of the course content not of the student's contribution to partnership.)

We Are Stuck With Relationship, but Do We Want Partnership? Democracy is not a requirement in the classroom. There have been many great professors who have taught many great courses in which there have undoubtedly been many disgruntled students, yet no one would have thought it necessary, much less appropriate, to have the students evaluate the professors. The teacher taught and the student coped as best one could. But once we choose democracy in the classroom, then the game shifts and partnership becomes relevant. Now we are in this together and, under these conditions, it is as valid for the professor to evaluate the student's contribution to partnership as it is for the student to evaluate the professor's.

The professor's evaluation of the student's contribution to partnership might comprise such statements as:

* You were a failure as a customer.

* Where were your complaints during the course, when we still might have had the opportunity to deal with them?

* Did you ask me to clarify points you didn't understand?

* Did you speak up when you thought student conversations were dragging on too long?

* Did you suggest topic areas that you expected to be covered and which were not?

* And so on.

Professor/student is a relationship. Our choice is whether or not to create it as a partnership relationship. As a professor I may not want that partnership; like many providers, I may not welcome the intrusion of the customer into what I consider my business. And as a student, I may not welcome the opportunity of partnership; like many customers, I may be firmly rooted in my entitlement and not feel that it is my business to help the provider deliver the service I expect. What can drive us toward partnership would be our common interest in creating the best possible product, service, learning experience. And if our choice is not to work on building partnership into the relationship, then we can expect occasional if not frequent bouts of "unfairly judged" and "righteously screwed."

Many of us work on creating partnership in our classrooms by having an initial contracting session with our students, clarifying in that process what each of us expects from the other. Yet we also know that relationship is an ongoing process and if our focus is on partnership, then we need to come back regularly to examine that relationship. Is the Provider professor opening him/herself to evaluations, suggestions, and reactions from the students; and is the Customer student making it clear to the professor what is and is not working in that process? Are we jointly committed to the success of this educational venture?