In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: Determining what has caused the lack of intimacy in your relationship can really help you move forward and improve it. There are many reasons intimacy dwindles. Start by thinking about why you believed the intimacy is gone, and then discuss this with your partner. Ask them if they think the intimacy has decreased, and why. This can be very effective, especially if you and your partner have different reasons for why intimacy is lacking. It can be a good starting place to start discussing issues in your marriage. For example, bills, jobs, kids, parents, commitments, and lack of time commonly lead to a decrease in intimacy. However, you will never know for sure what the problem is unless you talk about it. Without asking directly, you will only be guessing about the problem. Life is full of distractions and responsibilities. When you are busy with kids, a job, commitments, and other responsibilities, you may not have time to focus on your marriage. This can lead to a decrease in intimacy. Your marriage should be an important part of your life, not something you push to the side. You should make your marriage an important aspect of your life every day. This means you should consciously choose to work on your marriage and relationship every day. You may need to give up some commitments or push some things to another day so you can make your marriage an important part of your life. For example, you may order takeout instead of spending an hour in the kitchen cooking a meal, you may tell your children to go play alone for half an hour, or you may decide to not check your work email at home so you can use that time to spend time with your spouse. Instead of watching television for two hours, you may take a bath with your spouse, sit on the porch and talk, play a game together, or do a shared activity. Sometimes, people lose touch with their spouse when they have kids because all their attention goes to their kids. Part of having a healthy family and raising kids is a healthy marriage. You can take some of the time you spend with your children and devote it to your marriage to help improve the family. This doesn't mean you are neglecting your kids. Having a stress-free, intimate, happy marriage is just as important for your children as your time with them. For example, on weekends you may encourage your children to play with their siblings or in their room for half an hour to an hour to give you and your spouse time to spend together. Allow your child to go to a slumber party or consider not going to every sports practice in favor of taking that time to work on your relationship with your partner.
Summary: Identify the reason for the lack of intimacy. Prioritize your marriage. Work on balancing your spouse and children.

While you don't want to open your first few dates with "do you want to get married," you should find someone who is comfortable with commitment. Signs to look for include: A willingness to talk about the future. Emotional and social maturity, the ability to have a discussion or argument calmly. Prior serious relationships. Make him dinner. Go to movies. Have a picnic in a park. Take the time to get to know each other and develop a solid relationship built on love and trust. Don't rush him with hints about wanting a happy marriage with him until you've been dating for awhile. People change, especially after the wonder and joy of a brand new relationship wear off. You want to see this side of them before you commit "until death do you part." Relationship expert John Molloy, the author of the book, Why Men Marry Some Women and Not Others, says that women who rush a man with hints about marriage too early in the relationship (first 6-8 months) will likely scare him off. Men aren't usually ready to pop the question, at minimum, until age 26 if they are college graduates. If you are looking for a proposal earlier than this, you may need to spend some more time dating before someone pops the question. Men getting graduate or professional degrees after college usually marry 2-3 years later. Men who did not go to college generally marry 2-3 years earlier. After age 33, most men become less likely to marry. Moving in together is a great step towards marriage, because you get to see how you function during mundane, day-to-day life. After 6-8 months or more, try getting a place together and make sure your relationship stays strong. Rushing into marriage before you know you can live together can lead to awkward and unfortunate surprises later on. Having the blessing of your family and peers leads to longer marriage satisfaction and lower divorce rates. If you want to hide him from your parents or your friends hate him, there is likely something holding you two back from being truly happy. Ask for opinions about you as a couple from trusted sources. Do they think you seem happy? Could they see you two together for a long time? You can't want a wedding ring because you feel pressured or "you've been dating long enough." You have to want this person as your partner for the rest of you life. Imagine your life in the future and make sure you see this person in it.
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One-sentence summary -- Meet an eligible guy who is serious about being in a long-term relationship. Get to know each other by dating for several months. Know when most people are ready to marry. Move in together to see how you work in the same house. Meet each other's parents and friends. Make sure you want to be with this person for the rest of your life.

Problem: Article: There are several different kinds of patents available and a recipe could fall into more than one category of patents. The Utility Patent protects new inventions that have a useful application. This covers new methods, processes, machines, manufactured items, devices or chemical compounds or any new improvements to any of these. Most recipes would fall under the Utility Patent category. The product shape or packaging may also be susceptible to protection under a design patent. In this case you could apply for one of those as well. Patents can be filed either in the United States or in other countries. If you feel that your recipe requires international protection, then you should apply for a patent in countries where you want patent protection. The European Union offers a "European Patent Office" that facilitates patent applications for countries within the EU. There are patent lawyers who specialize in filing the necessary paperwork with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. While you're certainly allowed to submit your own paperwork, the patent office recommends you hire a lawyer at this point to handle the flow of paperwork and make sure you submit all the required materials. Regardless of who does the actual filing, the papers are then submitted electronically to the patent office. The application cover sheet and list of required attachments can be obtained from the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, at uspto.gov. The patent application should be filed either online or via regular mail (note that filing online will allow you to avoid the $400 "non-electronic filing" surcharge and speed up the process considerably). The US patent office will consider your paperwork and make a determination if your recipe is eligible for a patent. If you're approved, the patent office will contact you. After you pay an issue and publication fee, your patent will be granted. The vast majority of patent applications are routinely rejected. You should not take it personally. Examiners are required to enforce the rules diligently and it often works out to your advantage, resulting in a more valuable patent. If your application is rejected you have an opportunity to argue or to amend (narrow) the claims or to appeal the examiners' final decision. This often takes several years and thousands of dollars in filing fees and attorneys' fees. If your application is finally rejected and you abandon it, and you still want to protect your recipe, you can do so by protecting it as a trade secret. Those who know the secret will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and in this way you can prevent your recipe from getting leaked.
Summary:
Decide what kind of patent you need. Figure out where you need patent protection. Work with an attorney to file your paperwork. Wait for your application to be approved or rejected.