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	<title>Collins Family News</title>
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	<description>Thoughts and pictures from Amanda</description>
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		<title>What Makes a Great Relationship?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In the past two days, I have had some wonderful conversations with two very interesting, strong women. Both are in relationships. One has been married seven years and thinks it&#8217;s pretty much on the skids and ending quickly. The other has been dating her beau for two months and is sure he is the one. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.collinsfamilynews.com/2012/01/what-makes-a-great-relationship/</link>
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		<title>Welcome Home, Little Girl</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It seems odd to say that I&#8217;ve been working in recent years to become more feminine; after all, I am a female. However, I have always exhibited many more stereotypical male traits, and softening the edges is a journey. Although journeys in life are hardly ever completed, I hesitate to say I am here. I [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.collinsfamilynews.com/2011/07/welcome-home-little-girl/</link>
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		<title>Read My Lips</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The other evening, I carpooled to a happy hour event with a male friend of mine. We parked in three-hour parking, and both of us agreed that we would likely be ready to leave in that time period. However, when the time came, there was a one-hour discussion about whether or not we were leaving. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.collinsfamilynews.com/2011/07/read-my-lips/</link>
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		<title>How to Move Past a Relationship: Break Free or Integrate?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently, a friend of mine celebrated the end of her decades-long relationship with multiple Facebook posts, in the form of YouTube clips, about being free and moving on. My ex-husband has planned his next wedding just days before what would have been our wedding anniversary. How do you move on after a relationship? And how [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.collinsfamilynews.com/2011/07/how-to-move-past-a-relationship-break-free-or-integrate/</link>
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		<title>A Man, a Plan, a Canal: Panama</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve not been blogging here often because, well, I&#8217;ve not had much to say. Instead, I&#8217;ve been sharing some things on Facebook with my trusted friends. Because of one of them, I&#8217;ve found a new book, Love in 90 Days. It&#8217;s really not a fall-in-love-quickly plan, but I&#8217;m guessing the title Love in a Half [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.collinsfamilynews.com/2011/06/a-man-a-plan-a-canal-panama/</link>
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		<title>Sometimes the Dust Just Needs to Settle</title>
		<description><![CDATA[After my last blog (and accompanying posts on Facebook), I&#8217;ve had people tell me I am being used by the man in my life. &#8220;He just wants to keep you around for sex,&#8221; they say. But why does everyone assume that the man is using the woman? Couldn&#8217;t the woman be using the man? Or [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.collinsfamilynews.com/2011/05/sometimes-the-dust-just-needs-to-settle/</link>
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		<title>Romantic Illusions of Grandeur</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Okay, I&#8217;ll admit it: I&#8217;m a chick. Although I do think a lot like a man in many instances, I&#8217;ve been channeling my inner female a lot more in recent years. Like all women, I want the fairytale in my life. I listen to songs by John Mayer and I&#8217;m taken in by the romance [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.collinsfamilynews.com/2011/05/romantic-illusions-of-grandeur/</link>
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		<title>Walking Slowly and Feeling More</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s interesting to see my feelings about my current relationship with L from the outside looking in. I&#8217;m pretty sure I&#8217;ve never been quite this objective in the past. Now, however, I notice that my feelings for this wonderful man are growing. It&#8217;s slow, steady, and unhurried. We&#8217;re building a friendship and connection, and I [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.collinsfamilynews.com/2011/04/walking-slowly-and-feeling-more/</link>
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		<title>Labeling Relationships, Labeling Life</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The other night, as I was speaking with the man I&#8217;m dating, Seinfeld&#8217;s quip that 95% of the population is undateable came up. I&#8217;ve long agreed with this, and since L is also a big Seinfeld fan, it&#8217;s not surprising that he believes it&#8217;s true as well. The conversation went all around the place and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.collinsfamilynews.com/2011/03/labeling-relationships-labeling-life/</link>
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		<title>Dropping the L Word</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Lately, I&#8217;ve spoken to a couple of my guy friends who are in relationships, and the L word has come up in the conversation. Although it should come as no surprise to anyone, I&#8217;m seeing a real discrepancy between how men and women approach the word. We women tend to throw it out willy-nilly, telling [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.collinsfamilynews.com/2011/03/dropping-the-l-word/</link>
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