30 days has September, April, June and November. Counting days is all very well, but what about those of us who are counting years? For anyone turning 30 this year, which includes Prince William, here are some suggestions of things to do to make it the special year it should be:

Climb a mountain

All mountains have an air of mystery and romance about them, so you can safely choose your challenge from home or abroad without fear of disappointment. Maybe you’d like to spend your 30^th year travelling the globe and climbing one mountain per continent? In which case you could consider:

• Africa: Mount Cameroon. Not the highest in Africa, but known as the ‘Mountain of Greatness’ so surely an accomplishment worthy of a 30^th year
• Asia:  leave Everest to the more single-minded and head for Huangshan, known as the most romantic mountain in China and the inspiration for poetry, painting and spiritual pursuits. Plus this one has stone steps ready carved!
• North America: As well as being another ‘great one’ Mount McKinley in Alaska offers the extra attraction of nearby Lake Wonder

Or compile your own list – you’re old enough now.

Sail an ocean

The ocean of love is always waiting to be explored, as are the oceans of the world. The Indian Ocean offers warm tranquillity, while the Atlantic Ocean is over 41 million square miles of swelling tides and swirling currents. If you don’t fancy crossing it in a boat then take a lead from Amelia Earhart who, in 1932, became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic solo. Then again, you might prefer to find a partner for your first class transatlantic crossing.

Dance the tango

You’ll need a partner for this one, although you don’t have to cross oceans or go to South America for them. Birmingham singles could check out the classes at www.tangoinbrum.co.uk and may well find a like-minded partner ready for some fancy footwork.

Ride a horse

Who hasn’t secretly hankered after being a cowgirl or cowboy riding off into the sunset in pursuit of adventure? Nat Love, the famous African American cowboy was just 22 when he won a horse in a raffle and left town. So if you haven’t saddled up and cracked your own whip yet, your 30^th year is the time to do it.

Write a poem

Whether or not you first put pen to paper in your teens, why not sharpen your pencil and go on a writing retreat to find your inner poet. ‘How do I celebrate my 30^th? Let me count the ways…’

Oh, and you might want to find a partner to share some of these amazing experiences with in which case looking for love online could be the answer.

It’s a night of fireworks, celebration, friends, family and of embracing the New Year and the tantalizing promise it brings. It’s a night of romance, all hinging on that midnight kiss. Could there be a more perfect occasion for a wedding proposal?

But even this wonderful opportunity could be sabotaged by even the smallest slip up. You’ll only propose once in your life so it needs to be perfect, whether you met through a dating agency or through friends. Here are a few dos and don’ts of a New Year’s Eve proposal.

DO throw a party,

DON’T propose in front of everyone

It’s a great idea to throw a New Year’s Eve party when you’re planning to propose. This will mean all of the most important people will be around to celebrate with. But at the same time it’s horrible to put someone on the spot by popping the question in a public place. Find an opportunity to take your partner aside and ask in a quiet place before jubilantly rejoining the party. This will mean that if for some reason your partner says no the party won’t be ruined for anyone else.

DO have a drink for Dutch courage

DON’T have more than one

Although New Year’s Eve is certainly a time to drink and be merry, if you’re planning a proposal keep away from the champagne. One glass is all you should allow yourself, just to give you that little bit of extra confidence. The last thing you’d want is to mess up the night by getting plastered. A sober proposal is the only kind that will be taken seriously.

DO plan timings carefully,

DON’T propose at midnight

Although the idea of proposing as the clocks strike twelve may seem romantic, it’s just not practical. Firstly, midnight is far too noisy a time to be able to get the question out. Also, the pressure will be on to get the timing absolutely right. Lastly, proposing that late in the night will mean you’ll be nervous and agitated for the whole of the evening. It’s best to get it out of the way early so you can fully enjoy your New Year’s Eve party. However, make sure you have a rough plan of when you are going to propose; otherwise it may clash with something else.

DO be imaginative,

DON’T overdo it

When it comes to the method of proposal, it’s great to come up with an inventive, romantic and memorable way of asking. The ring in a piece of cake, an enormous proposal sign, hiding it in a New Year’s Eve present – the possibilities are endless. But just make sure the plan isn’t too elaborate. God forbid if something goes wrong and they don’t get the hint. Or worse, your extravagant plan is met with a refusal. That could be embarrassing

No matter if you met on free dating sites or at university, a wedding proposal needs to be perfect. This New Year’s Eve could be just about special enough for you to pop the question, and with the above tips you should get it just right. Good luck!

The winter is nearly here. That familiar nip is in the air, the daylight hours are soon to be shortened and shop fronts are being adorned with tinsel and reindeer in the build-up to Christmas. Despite the cold weather, this is possibly the most exciting time of year, the magic of the season infectious and heartening. The winter is also a great time for dating and romance, with activities that are unique to the season opening up left, right and centre. Here are a few perfect wintry dates to dazzle your other half with…

Living-room picnics

The image of a warm fire while the snow cakes the ground outside is the perfect set-up for an idyllic romantic scene. As you can’t have picnics in the park anymore, why not arrange one in your own house? Spread a warm rug on the floor of the living room, set out some candles and prepare some carefully themed winter picnic food – roast-dinner sandwiches, Christmas cake and mulled wine or cider would be good places to start.

Snow sports

If the snow doesn’t fall this year, go and find it. Pick your favourite winter sport and turn skiing, snowboarding or ice skating into the perfect wintry date. There are plenty of artificial snow centres and even dry ski slopes that are relatively inexpensive. There are also lots of outdoor ice-skating rinks, such as the one outside picturesque Hampton Court. Take your other half on a snowy adventure, a truly unique dating idea.

Pick up a panto

Go and indulge yourself with a ticket to a pantomime. If well executed, these are always great fun, with many of the jokes aimed at the adult portion of the audience. You might even be favoured with a celebrity appearance. Take a date and laugh together through one of these festive plays.

Afternoon tea

If you’re dating London singles, why not take your date to one of the capital’s posh hotels for cakes and afternoon tea? This very classic British activity is a lovely treat, especially on a freezing cold day. Dress up smartly and get a taste of the fine life for an afternoon.

Carol singing

Whether you’re a good singer or not, carol singing is a lot of fun and has the added bonus of raising money for a good cause. This would be a brilliant thing to take a date along to – entertaining, festive and philanthropic.

Don’t hide from the cold. Try any one of these dates for a bit of winter romance.

Have you ever broken up with someone and looked back, years later through the sterilized and well-polished glass of hind-sight, only to find upon honesty and real thought process that you were being completely ridiculous for one reason or another?

For instance, I remember telling my ex at the bright young age of 19 that flowers purchased at a grocery store simply weren’t good enough. Going to a florist (apparently) showed more thoughtfulness, more effort. I look back on that now and think “You idiot!! You were one of a handful of women lucky enough in that stage of youth to find a man who thought AT ALL to buy you flowers!!” Many times have I wished that I could go back and smack myself upside the head, but since that’s not an option, I learn from it now. It got me wondering though, on a much larger scale of course, how often do we try to commit serial relationship suicide? Thinking back I consider myself lucky to have found a few guys who were willing to wait out or actually consider these types of acts of stupidity, because if they hadn’t I’d have successfully hung several relationships from the rafters. How many other people, do you think, look back on their dating relationships something like “It was me, in the kitchen, with a sharp self-esteem issue.”? Relationships shouldn’t be like playing a game of Clue, trying to decipher who it was that really killed it in the end. And more importantly, what causes us to act this way? I think back trying to figure out who or what on earth could’ve damaged me to such an extent at the ripe age of 19? This was one of my first serious boyfriends, one of the prospective “love of my life”. How had I even had TIME to become that cynical and damaged? I think the first step to discovering what makes you a relationship mass-murderer is to really examine the skeletons in the closet. This will likely be more painful or confusing than you’d care to spend time on, but maybe you won’t knock your next relationship over the head when it’s not looking.

When you’re single you naturally pay more attention to your physique. We spend more time primping ourselves, going to the gym and eating like rabbits in the pursuit of being always “ready” for the prospect of meeting “the one”.  Just because these days you’re doing your dating on dating sites, doesn’t mean that sooner or later you’ll have to show that skin in the light of day!

But after you’ve entered into a stable and committed relationship with someone your level of self-care starts to slip a little. Less attention is paid to makeup or the clothing choices, and time spent baking together and lying around watching movies and cuddling begins to usurp what used to be your prime gym time. But is being in a relationship any reason to let your self go? Even if your new partner could care less that you’ve gained 10 lbs. or that you no longer find it necessary to wear makeup during your every meeting or get yourself into your “buffest” conditions as regularly, is that going to keep your self-esteem comfy when you realize suddenly “Oh my gosh, I’ve gotten fat!!” I think that we often forget the reasons why we take care of ourselves in the first place. Sure, trying to attract a suitable mate is one reason that seems to stick to our forethoughts when we’re single, but nobody likes to feel badly about themselves either. Being healthy and in shape (not model thin or body builder buff) feeds into our personal self-esteem and makes us more confident, which shows in many different ways. Try not to forget yourself in a relationship or lose your will for personal upkeep. Try exercising together, for instance. Studies have repeatedly shown that couples who workout together see better individual results than people who work out solo. Take walks instead of watching TV or movies and try having veggie pizza instead of meat lovers. At the end of the day I’m no where near a fitness expert; I myself am much chunkier now than I was years ago when my husband and I started dating. But my fitness has remained important to me no matter how happy I’ve gotten. For me personally, it’s hard to be happy and fat at the same time.

We’ve all heard the expression about who wears the pants in the relationship. Usually this discussion is had by friends, co-workers or acquaintances who are discussing a couple’s obvious (often painfully obvious) imbalance of power structure.

This usually occurs when a wife or husband regularly and publicly belittles or overrides their partner with little discussion or protect from the offended party. This embarrassing behavior constitutes little whispers from those surrounding the incident of “I wouldn’t wanna be that guy/girl.” or “Did you see that, I can’t believe he/she would act that way publicly.” Eventually the other shoe will drop, however, and the person getting trampled will explode, implode or leave. On the other hand, sometimes we see couples who exemplify the expression “Too many chiefs and not enough Indians”. This occurs when two dominant and most often stubborn people find each other. The point of all the pants and shoes and Indians is this: Why does there have to be a power struggle in a relationship?” I think that especially since the women’s rights movement and the female sex finding new positions of power and equality in the working world, we now see more struggles for power in relationships. I’m not saying that the women’s rights movement was anything short of necessary: but I am saying that this type of personal relationship issue might be a negative side-effect. Balance in a relationship, particularly and online dating relationship is key. No one of you should call all the shots with respect to the money, the kids, the house or any other aspect of your relationship. When you both learn to listen a little more, communicate a little more, and pull a little less you just might find that even footing fits you both quite well. Remember, more happy Indians means more “happy in pants”.

Millions of men all over the world have this thought float through their head from time to time: “My wife/girlfriend is crazy. Seriously, crazy.” Of these millions, however, a few thousand of them are right.

When you first meet a person, especially on a dating site there is a definite “honeymoon period”, a period during which you find yourself more capable of accepting qualities or behaviors in a person that you truly like than you normally would. So it’s not surprising that from time to time a man begins dating a woman and after some time passes and this “honeymoon period” lifts, he notices that, no, wait, there really is something wrong here. Now ladies I don’t use us as an example because we’re all secretly crazy and we’re the only ones: According to a study by The National Institute of Mental Health women are 50% more likely than men to develop a mood disorder over their lifetime. As many as 20.8% of Americans suffer a lifetime prevalence of mood disorders, with 9.5% suffering a 12-month prevalence and 45% of those cases are classified as severe, according to the same aforementioned study. Mood disorders include Bi-Polar Disorder, Depressive Disorders and other illnesses which affect, you guessed it!, mood. So how do you handle the news that someone you’re very well matched with just happens to suffer from one of these disorders? Do you run for the hills or tough it out, and what exactly does that mean for you? I believe the first step would be to educate yourself about your partner’s illness. Remember, a person suffering from these disorders can no more be blamed for their illness than a person suffering from the common cold. Understanding more about what’s happening with them will help you gain the information and tools necessary to make decisions about dealing with them in the low times. Also, understand that there are varying degrees of many illnesses, meaning one person’s case may not be as severe as another’s. If you do some soul searching and decide that you’re just not willing to deal with these types of disorders, don’t. It’s better to get out early and be honest with the individual than to stay in the game knowing you have little chance of standing the test of time.