Blog Posts by Sarah B. Weir, Shine Senior Writer

Secrets to a happy marriage. (Photo: Thinkstock)In 25 years of studying marriage, Dr. Terri Orbuch, research professor at the University of Michigan and author of the new book "Finding Love Again: 6 Simple Steps to a New and Happy Relationship," has found that some of the best relationship advice comes from people who are actually divorced.

WATCH: Is this the Most Epic Marriage Proposal?

 In 1986, Orbuch embarked on a long-term study, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which followed the relationships of 373 newlyweds. By 2012, 46% had divorced, about the same as the national average. In interviews with Orbuch, people who had divorced or ended a serious relationship over and over again brought up the same five issues that they would improve if they had the chance to do it all again.

1. Money. Over the course of her research, one the biggest surprises for Orbuch was the role money played in marital strife. “Many divorced singles say that money was the number one source of conflict in the early years of

From What I RememberThe summer reading list that the school sends out each year seems like a wonderful idea until you are nagging your 'tweens and teens to get off the computer and pick up a book. We spoke with three authors (who also happen to be moms) to find out their ideas for new novels that kids-and their grown-ups-won't be able to put down.

Join: Shine's New Virtual Book Club

Melissa Kantor, whose most recent book is 'The Darlings in Love,' tells Shine that the best way to find out what your child will enjoy reading is to ask them to name just one book they think "is awesome" and then ask a trusted book seller or your local librarian for similar titles. "Want to ask me for a suggestion for your child?" Adds Kantor, who also happens to teach middle and high school English. "Email me at melissa@melissakantor.com."

Valerie Thomas, who co-authored the rollicking 'From What I Remember' with Stacy Kramer, tells Shine, "I find the school requirement that my fourth grader read 30 minutes a day

About 100 brides-to-be, fully decked in wedding attire, showed up for an unusual event in Serbia over the weekend. No, it wasn't a shower or bridal fashion show but an annual 150-meter race through the streets of the capital, Belgrade. This year, undeterred by her poofy, full-length skirt, sprinter Sanja Cigoja dominated the competition with a zippy time of 19 seconds. "My groom was waiting for me at the finish line, but [since I didn't win], the wedding is off this year," joked another racer named Vesna who came in second-to-last. The top finishers won the cost of their wedding and their gown, among other gifts.

What exactly is a hot dog? Baseball games, state fairs, all-you-can-eat contests, and wieners on a stick charring over a campfire. Frankfurters may be the ultimate summer food. Americans devour at least 150 million dogs on the 4th of July alone. They are meaty and juicy and pair perfectly with a frosty mug of beer. But what exactly is in a hot dog? Turns out, some of the ingredients aren't quite so savory.

Yahoo! Health: Best and Worst Hot Dogs

According to Ad Week, the most popular hot dog in the United States is the Ball Park brand by Sara Lee. Here's the ingredients list for their Original Classic Frank: Mechanically separated turkey, pork, water, corn syrup, salt, potassium lactate, sodium phosphates, flavorings, beef stock, sodium diacetate, sodium erythorbate, maltodextrin, sodium nitrate, extractives of paprika.

Watch: Butcher Serves Seven-Pound Hot Dog

Mechanically separated meat and poultry (MSM and MSP). The USDA describes these meat products as "a paste-like and batter-like meat [or

via: RedditEvery few years a new book comes out telling us why it sucks to be a woman. Wage gaps, glass ceilings, and, most of all, why in the United States, at least, its impossible to "have it all." Recently, a dad posted a note on Reddit, "My eight-year-daughter's unexpected response to a writing assignment" that reminds us is pretty great being female as well.

"We have veginas [sic]," writes the little girl in response to her teacher's query about why it's wonderful to be a girl. "We have jobs. We are creative. We have stuff that makes us preanet [sic]. We have milk in our bobes [sic]. We are smart. We have power."

Watching my husband scrape the barbecue to cook dinner, I'm amazed at how chill he looks. He's not inwardly seething about how he just put in a long day at work, stopped by our daughter's soccer game, and now has to flip burgers over a hot grill. He's just getting on with it. That's not to say women don't have a rougher road. A male executive has a new baby and it's a

Michaela DePrince (AP)As a toddler, Michaela DePrince, was ranked "number 27" -- the lowest, the worst of the children in her orphanage in Sierra Leone. "So, I got the least amount of food, the least amount of clothes and what not," she explained to the Associated Press. DePrince lost both of her parents in the West African nation's decades-long civil war which claimed the lives of an estimated 60,000 people. She was born with vitiligo, a skin disorder that causes uneven pigmentation, and was taunted by the other kids as "the devil's child." Fourteen years later, she is considered one of the most promising teenage ballet dancers in the United States. Recently graduated from the American Ballet Theatre's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, the 17-year-old debuts professionally on July 20, as a guest artist of the South African Ballet Theater and the South Africa Msanzi Ballet performing in 'Le Corsaire.'

News: Sadistic Nazi War Criminal Lived Openly in Budapest

DePrince recalls her early childhood as

Five-Second RuleHow many times have you told your kid (or yourself), that it was okay to eat something dropped onto the floor because of the "five-second rule?" Strictly speaking, items dropped on a contaminated surface will immediately pick up bacteria. "At the end of the day, this is a polite social fiction we employ to allow us to eat lightly contaminated foods," says Jorge Parada, an infectious diseases expert at Loyola University.

Watch: Pot Lucks, Picnics, and Food Poisoning

Parada suggests a new saying, "When it doubt, throw it out." And this is particularly important for the elderly or people with compromised immune systems. As for cleaning off a pacifier dropped on the ground with your mouth? "That's double dipping," he says. "You are exposing yourself to bacteria and you are adding your own bacteria to that which contaminated the dropped item."

Photo Gallery: Microscopic Monsters

However, Parada admits to using the five-second rule "on occasion" and concedes that sometimes,

via: Elfoto.orgAs bride Bridget Kelly walked down the aisle on July 7, a band played, "I can see clearly now, the rain is gone…" A decade ago, when she was only 24, her parents weren't sure if she would live or die, let alone see her wedding day.

"Tubes protruded from her mouth and her nose," her dad Michael Kelly wrote in a recent column for the Omaha World-Journal, "A machine helped her breathe...she had very nearly lost her life to three 9 mm gunshots from a stranger."

In 2002, Kelly was working as a first grade teacher at Fort Hood in Texas. One night, after returning to her apartment late after picking up a friend at the airport, a man kicked in her door, abducted her, and drove to a desolate field behind a subdivision. Raised a Catholic, she recited "Hail Mary's" to get herself through the horrific ordeal that followed. Her assailant raped her, shot her in the back, and left her for dead. Miraculously, she crawled to the home of Frank James, a retired veteran of Desert Storm, who wrapped