Article: Take the time and talk to your partner, and more importantly, listen. Engage your partner by asking open-ended questions, then leisurely reflect upon what he or she says. Be open with sharing your feelings, and allow your partner to do the same. You can practice reflective listening by saying, “I hear you saying that things are difficult between you and your parents” or, “It sounds like you’re feeling really stressed about work.” With jobs, families, and other issues that require your time, sometimes the relationship is the part that suffers the most from time taken away. Stress is a normal part of life, but chronic stress causes a spike in cortisol, a hormone that can reduce the desire for physical intimacy. Needless to say, this can cause damage to your relationship in the long run. Eliminate stressful elements from your life if possible, and combat stress by exercising regularly, doing yoga, or meditating. Encourage your partner to do the same, especially if he or she struggles with stress.  Manage your time to avoid the stress caused by rushing to meet a deadline. Take care of tasks as they come up rather than letting them pile up, and use a planner to keep track of obligations. Spend more time doing things that you enjoy. Life can’t be all work and no play, so make it a point to devote at least one day each week to doing what you love. Find something that will interest both of you and work toward it. Having a long-term goal assures that you will spend time together during your week and can lift you out of the work-family life rut. Some possible projects might be:  Train for a sporting event together such as a triathlon. Learn a new language together, then visit a country where it’s spoken. Build something like a boat, a shed, or a garden. Trying something novel can increase intimacy. Choose an activity that neither of you has done before, and maybe even one that’s a little scary. Sharing the experience of having trepidatious misgivings and then going through with an activity anyway will probably bring you closer in ways you never imagined. Plus, the experience will provide a great conversation topic among your friends.  Try rock climbing, skydiving or paragliding. Go on a backpacking trip. Take a wild and native foods cooking class. Being in a long-term relationship can lead to focusing only on yourself and your partner. To rekindle your relationship, it may be necessary for you and your partner to get out of this mindset. You may need to find a way to expand your horizons and connect through this experience.  Try to engage in a spiritual practice together. If you and your partner share a spiritual belief, then you could attend services together. If not, then perhaps you can explore spiritual beliefs together. Engaging in a spiritual practice may help to reignite the spark between you and your partner.  Consider volunteer work. Volunteering with your partner may also help you to get out of yourselves and bond over the experience of helping others. Try volunteering at a local food bank or animal shelter. Work together to raise money for charity. You and your partner might also be able to change your focus by working towards a charity’s financial goals. Consider helping out with a telethon or run a charity 5K with your partner.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Be a good listener. Manage stress. Do a long-term project together. Try something new. Find ways to focus on the big picture.

Take that one cup of raisins in the original recipe and cut it in half. Now figure out what you want to replace it with! The following options will all go nicely with the raisins, but you can just as easily substitute these ingredients for all of the raisins if you wanted to:  Chocolate chips or chunks (white and dark chocolate go particularly well) Chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds Dried cranberries This thick, rich, and dark syrup matches beautifully with the spiced flavors of a good oatmeal raisin cookie. This fantastic cookie takes all of the joys of a good oatmeal raisin cookie and blasts it with a fresh, spiced, and always delicious burst of sweet Indian spices. Add the following spices and, if you're really feeling culinary, let the raisins steep in a cup of chai tea for 15 minutes as well:  1 teaspoon each of cardamom, cinnamon, ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon each of ground ginger, nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper. Both sweet and savory, the addition of vanilla salt, often sold as "vanilla fleur de sel," will bring out a richness and slight saltiness that will elevate the cookies from simple desert to decadent snack. The texture will stay roughly the same, but you'll get the sweet, slightly tropical touch of coconut flavor that will take any guests by welcome surprise. You can add as much or as little as you want, though at least 1-1/2 cups of oats is best to help the cookies keep their shape. You won't need the hand mixer, and can instead mix by hand. Add the following ingredients together and mix until it forma a paste, then mix in everything else like normal:  1/2 cup applesauce 4 tablespoons almond butter 4 tablespoons ground flax seed
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Add a little more than just raisins to the batter. Add 1-2 tablespoons of molasses, removing the corresponding amount of brown sugar, for a more tangy, maple taste. Spice up your cookies with an invigorating chai spice blend. Add 1 tablespoons of a vanilla salt, or triple the salt in the recipe, and add dark chocolate for an incredibly subtle treat. Consider adding in a cup of shredded coconut in place of a cup of the oats. Make vegan oatmeal raisin by substituting out the butter for flax, almond butter, and applesauce.