By Claralynn Schnell of ContemporaryVA No one told me how hard this parenting job was.  No one told me there were days that I would hate the name Mom. No one told me that my house would constantly be in a state of disaster. No one told me that laundry would become unmanageable. No one […]

By Claralynn Schnell of Contemporary VA Are you satisfied with the intimacy in your marriage? We tend to think of intimacy in only one form…sex.  However, true marital intimacy encompasses so much more. True marital intimacy involves emotional, intellectual, heart to heart conversations, working together at common goals and a spiritual intimacy. Reaching the level […]

By Claralynn Schnell of Contemporary VA  Do you live your life regretting each choice or decision or do you live your life in a way that honors those decisions?  I used to live my life regretting things, the things I said, the way I was, who I was in general.  However, as I grew and […]

By Claralynn Schnell of Contemporary VA    Do you find yourself trying to figure out how to be consistently happy? I would suggest that you look at what your core values of happiness are and define your happiness.  About a year ago, I was not consistently happy, it was a fleeting emotion that would come […]

By Claralynn Schnell of Contemporary VA We all expect at some point to bury our parents, it’s a part of the cycle of life, however, when faced with this challenge, it can become overwhelming.  Two years ago at the age of 29 I was burying my father. He died of a massive heart attack at […]

By Claralynn Schnell of ContemporaryVA Do you feel like your marriage is in the same rut? Like you do the same things all of the time and you want to shake things up? Here are some great new “date” ideas that can help you in keeping your marriage healthy.  We all know the importance of […]

By Claralynn Schnell of Contemporary VA “Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.”  – Ambrose Bierce Controlling your anger can be a difficult and sometimes impossible task, however, here are some anger management tips on how to keep you anger in check.  Always remember that if you […]

By Claralynn Schnell of ContemporaryVA When the stress of it all becomes too much to handle, when you feel like you are going to scream or cry or run away…or maybe all three! Who hasn’t been there? I know that I have, sometimes on a weekly basis, daily basis, or heck if I am being […]

By Claralynn Schnell of Contemporary VA  Relationships, platonic and romantic, can be hard to build and be keep strong.  Communication, to include being a great listener, is a key piece of maintaining and building strong relationships. Not all people that you meet will be friends or develop past a general acquaintance, however, there will be […]

By Claralynn Schnell of ContemporaryVA Do you struggle with social anxiety? Social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, involves intense fear of certain social situations—especially situations that are unfamiliar or in which you feel you’ll be watched or evaluated by others. Just because you occasionally get nervous in social situations doesn’t mean you have social […]