Have you ever wished that you had your very own relationship expert on call 24 hours a day to help answer all of your romance and dating questions?  Well now, thanks to The Love Doctor, you can!

The Love Doctor is a new sidebar widget for Windows Vista that will put all of Romance Tracker’s relationship advice articles at your fingertips.  The Love Doctor was designed by Romance Tracker to let you search our archives for romantic advice from your computer desktop.  Just type your question into The Love Doctor’s search box and hit enter, and tons of relevant advice articles from Romance Tracker will pop up in your web browser within seconds!

The Love Doctor has already been downloaded and installed by hundreds and hundreds of Windows Vista users, and I hope you’ll be the next Romance Tracker fan to add The Doctor to your desktop!

And for those of you who don’t have Windows Vista, don’t worry . . . The Love Doctor is currently being developed as widgets for other popular sidebar programs, as well.  Romance Tracker will let you know as soon as they’re available for other platforms!

There seem to be endless claims out there of free love horoscopes that can tell you what to expect when it comes to romance based on your astrological sign, but should you really base your romantic future on a love horoscope in a newspaper or online?  Here at Romance Tracker, we believe that love horoscopes are a poor way to prepare for romance in your life, and that the only horoscope that you should rely on is your eternal sense of how to find true romance.

Love horoscopes claim that you can determine your romantic future and perfect romantic partner based on your astrological sign.  While we think that love horoscopes can be fun and aren’t harmful to read and dream about, you should be very careful when using a love horoscope to decide what romantic actions to take in your life.  No one knows your romantic needs and desires better than yourself, and a love horoscope could just as easily guide you into the wrong romantic place as the right one.

Are love horoscopes fun to read?  Well, sure.  They help us to use our romantic imagination, envision our romantic goals, and even laugh a bit at fun romantic predictions.  But if your inner feelings tell you that there’s something wrong with the predictions in a love horoscope, you should follow your heart rather than words written by a person who has never met you and knows nothing about your romantic needs and dreams.

It is true that there are different types of people in the world whose preferences and talents can be grouped into predefined sets, and many horoscopes tend to ring true because we all share common desires and needs.  But a love horoscope, no matter how enticing or seemingly optimistic, needs to be taken with a grain of salt.  Remember: you have more to do with determining your romantic future than the planets and the stars.  Take control of your own future and don’t let a newspaper or website set you on a path that makes you feel uncomfortable.

The next time you read a love horoscope, let yourself have fun with it and let your romantic imagination soar.  But don’t take every word of a love horoscope as gospel, or you may end up making a mistake that could cost you a future full of love and romance.  

I’m a real sucker when it comes to romantic dates, and summertime is the perfect season for an unlimited number of romantic getaways and distractions. One of my very favorite places to head on a date is a local carnival or county fair, where you can still see vestiges of small-town America on display with games, rides . . . and delicious, unhealthy foods!

If you haven’t gone to a local carnival with your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife or husband lately, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to add some excitement and fun to your relationship. No matter what your age, a carnival or county fair will make you and your sweetheart feel young again and have a great time together.

Sure, the carnival is loud and dirty and expensive . . . but it only comes once a year, and the sounds and trash and expenses are well worth the laughs that you’re guaranteed to have with your significant other. Going to a carnival every day for a week would probably get a little tiring, but putting aside one afternoon to ride a Ferris wheel, eat yummy fair food, and play games with your lover will do wonders for your relationship!

And speaking of fair food . . . come on, is there anything better than corn dogs, cotton candy, elephant ears and ice cream? Sure, you’d probably die of a heart attack if you ate it every day, but there’s nothing better on a fun, hot summer evening.

Anyway, you can probably tell I love going to a good carnival! And besides riding the Ferris wheel with my sweetheart, there’s one thing I look forward to more than anything: and that’s winning her a prize from one of the game booths. There’s just something about plopping down a wad of cash and throwing, shooting or tossing my way to a cheap plush teddy bear for my sweetheart!

That probably sounded cynical, but it isn’t; I really love all of the different opportunities for old-fashioned fun that a great county fair or carnival can offer a romantic couple in the summertime. So what the heck are your still reading Romance Tracker for? Go take your sweetheart to the carnival or fair . . . and have some fun!

No two people are exactly alike, and one of the reasons that a loving, romantic relationship or marriage is so good for our hearts and our minds is that it presents us with exciting new experiences we’ve never tried before. The more lovers have in common, the better their romance can be. And while the the qualities you share may have attracted you to your romantic partner in the beginning, concentrating on the things you don’t have in common is a romantic idea that can help build a better, more fulfilling relationship.

What are your lover’s hobbies and interests? Perhaps they enjoy watching a certain sport, or listening to a certain kind of music, or a specific fun activity. I’m sure that one or two of those interests are things that you’ve never given much thought to trying yourself. But taking some time to explore your sweetheart’s interests will do wonders for your romantic relationship, and might even lead to a little fun for you!

Showing interest in your romantic partner’s hobbies when they aren’t expecting it will give them a nice surprise and show them that you want to learn more about the things they enjoy. The easiest way to do it is to just come out and ask your lover to teach you about a particular hobby or interest and let them know you want to share in the fun. Ask your lover to be patient with you as you learn, and make sure to let yourself laugh and have fun when you make the inevitable mistakes.

Or, if you like to surprise your lover, why not learn all about their hobby or interest by yourself and then give them a pleasant shock by showing how much you’ve learned? Your boyfriend, girlfriend, wife or husband is sure to be delighted when you quote some facts about a topic they’re interested in or when you demonstrate your proficiency in an activity they enjoy. Imagine the look on your lover’s face when you tell them you’ve been teaching yourself in private in order to make them happy!

Most importantly, though, learning about your sweetheart’s hobbies and interests will give you even more in common and even more fun, exciting and loving experiences to share together. Broadening our horizons and learning to do new things together are both vital to bulding better romantic relationships.

Well, have you decided what new hobby your are going to take up yet? Start today and I guarantee you’re romantic relationship will be better for it!

In Romance Tracker’s last post, we learned that showing your romantic parter you love them is vastly more important than just saying you love them. There are a million different romantic ideas for ways to say “I love you” to your boyfriend, girlfriend, wife or husband, and if you limit yourself to only the spoken word you’re missing out on a whole exciting world of romantic opportunity.

Romantic competition may be just what the doctor ordered!

While some forms of competition can have a negative effect on your relationship (competition that stokes jealous feelings should always be avoided), a little bit of romantic competition can bring you and your lover closer, teach you to interact together better, and add some spice to your relationship or marriage.

For couples who enjoy fitness activities and sports, occasional physical competitions and games can build your romance while helping you both stay in great shape. Something as rough-and-tumble as wrestling or football might be out of the question for some (but not all!) couples, but less dangerous competitive sports such as tennis, track, golf or handball might be the perfect answer to build your romantic relationship.

Romance and learning how to lose

Ideally, the sport should be one which doesn’t give one person an unfair advantage over another, so that both partners have a legitimate chance of coming out the winner. The point of adding romantic competition to a relationship isn’t to establish one person as physically or mentally superior to the other, but to learn how to better interact with each other and—gasp!—even how to deal with not being the winner. Give-and-take is a crucial part of any romantic relationship, and learning how to cope with not getting our way is an important part of romantic competition.

Getting beat by your lover in a romantic game of tennis is a great way to learn to shrug off the inevitable losses that come with any successful relationship . . . and you’ll quickly come to the conclusion that even though you may be losing in the short run, in the long run you’re winning by becoming a healthier, happier couple!

The list of possibilities for romantic competition is endless!

But romantic competition doesn’t have to be just physical. There’s an endless number of competitive games that couples can play while alone together or on teams with a group of friends.

Card games, board games, and even trivia can bring much-needed romantic competition to a relationship just as well as any physical sport. And while it may be tempting to always play on the same team as your romantic partner when with a group of friends, make sure you mix things up a bit by occasionally competing on different sides. Remember, the point of romantic competition is to teach you and your lover how to have fun with being the winner or the loser every now and then.

Romantic competition is a win-win situation! 

You’ll be amazed at how much more exciting and healthy your relationship will become by adding some romantic competition at least once a week, whether physical or non-physical. And remember: whether you win or lose the game, you’re always winning by building a better, more trusting romantic relationship. Have fun!

Update: You can check out this great example of using romantic competition to better your relationship from Shoemoney, one of my favorite bloggers. Shoemoney and his wife are having a triathalon against each other, and the winner gets to choose what restaurant they will eat at for a month. What a great idea for building better relationships!