If it's good enough for the birds....

"The male eagle leaves to find a female.  When he finds one, they begin a game of tag, which is actually a type of courtship.  The female eagle soars high in the sky in a figure-eight pattern and makes the male eagle chase her.  Now he is no longer flying his own course; he is following someone else-- someone who appears to be going in a strange direction.

After a little while she dives to the ground, picks up a twig, flies up to about ten thousand feet, and drops the twig.  He dives at approximately two hundred miles per hour to catch the twig in midair and takes it back to her.  What is her response?  She ignores him.

The female eagle repeats this process, and she makes the male's job increasingly difficult.  Each time she flies, the twig gets larger and she flies at a lower altitude.  That means the twig is going to hit the ground faster, and the male will have to work harder if he wants to win her over.

This game can literally go on for days.  Finally, the female gets a branch that is heavier than the male eagle.  This time the female flies only five hundred feet above the ground and drops the branch.  If he catches it, they go on together.  If not, she flies off and leaves him; she has decided to wait for a male eagle who has the tenacity to be her man.

Once he passes the final twig test, both eagles move from courtship to the final commitment test.  She flies high into the sky; he chases her; and suddenly she makes an odd move.  In midair, she flips over on her back and sticks her talons up.  The male moves over her and locks his talons with hers while they fall toward the earth.  At this point he has made up his mind.  He is committed, and he would die rather than let her go.  Now they begin to sing a love song.  They mate for life.  Neither of them ever has another mate unless one of them dies.  If the female dies, the male raises the young.

Even after the mating process is finished and she is his and they are in their nest, the male eagle continues to court the female for the rest of their lives.  Male eagles have been seen to stroke the feathers of their female companions and to bring green twigs home to them long after the courtship is complete."
                                   -Taken from "Never Give Up" by Joyce Meyer