triskelewoman

I'd say that before you settle on any ring you need to know if your lady is expecting one type of ring in particular. I absolutely love my engagement ring, but then again, I helped to design it and it is a one-of-a-kind ring. When my fiance and I first considered getting married we decided to browse jewelry stores in our area. What I realized when we did that was that so many of the engagement rings out there are virtually identical. Yeah, some may be platinum, others may have a bigger rock, but the overall design could have been purchased anywhere. So when it came near the time for us to actually get serious about getting married I pushed for us to have our rings designed specifically for us by a jeweler whose work we both loved. The rings you have selected are beautiful. Personally, I like the first one with the sapphire because it is a little bit different than what you might expect. Do sapphires have any particular significance to you? Ultimately, it's your call, but I do hope you "feel out" her opinion on rings--most especially, what specific styles she is fond of-- before you pop the question. Good luck! Getting engaged is so exciting!!!

Hi all, I am completely perplexed. I've been dating my partner for a little over five years now. We met in college. We're both each other's "first" official girlfriends, although I'd dated a few men seriously before coming out and looking to date women. We are both 26 and we are best friends. She reads me better than anyone ever has. I love her family. I love her brain. I love being around her and working on projects with her. We can even put furniture together without too much stress! She proposed to me on Christmas day (we'd had rings made and ready at the jeweler's for over a year) and it was the most wonderful day of my life. So here's my trouble. I work A LOT and she works a lot, but I teach high school (she teaches elementary) and often have to bring grading home to work on... so it seems as if the work's never done. I've been on medication for clinical depression for several years (it runs in my family) although I switched to on that's not supposed to hamper your libido last winter when I was in a funk. I am a fourth year teacher, I am working toward my national board certification, and I am trying to find a new job for next year. We have had $$$ difficulties over the past year and a half after buying our condo and are both working side jobs to stay afloat. Things look to be improving on all fronts except for my sex drive. While I've always taken a bit longer than her as far as foreplay is concerned I remember us both initiating sex in the past. Now it seems as if she is the one initiating 95% of the time and I am often-times unable to get my thoughts to slow down enough in my head to truly focus on our being together. I love this woman but I am worried that my low sex drive is going to destroy our relationship and I don't want to break her heart or let her down. She and I have discussed my struggles and decided to work on creating a date night and making "plans" to be together in the hopes that I will feel more "in the mood" than I've been feeling lately. I had a few situations over the past few years where someone else caught my eye (never physical, but disturbing none-the-less) and although none of those situations ever materialized into anything more than a brief fixation that "rush" I experienced is something that I miss, especially since we used to have it between us. I don't even get those butterflies when around her anymore although she swears that I still have that effect on her. Is this normal for a five year relationship? I know that she's committed to me. I know that she loves me and is completely turned on by me. I know that we're a great pair and that we've overcome so many challenges together, so why am I so worried? I can see us being amazing parents together. I want her to be the mother of my children but I also want her to feel just as wanted as I do. I want to feel that drive to have sex again and right now it's missing. That's not to say that we don't have great sex, because when we do it's still amazing. But so often I just want to be close, cuddle, and catch up on my sleep rather than have sex. Sometimes I feel as if sex is another chore that I have to do and I know that she can tell when I feel that way and it tears her up. Do you have any advice or recommendations for me? Have any of you been in this type of situation before when in a long term relationship? Have you made it through or is this type of situation an indicator that our relationship is nearing the end of the line? We are planning to be married (not legally because that's an impossibility in our state) in June of 2008 but I don't want to walk down the isle with a sex drive that's so stifled. What can I do to fix it? Please help? I've been round and round in my head (I tend to worry a bit much about pretty much everything) and I just can't shake my anxiety over this (one) topic. Thanks!