Marriage

Today's trends we find that there are fewer people marrying, more people cohabitating, and that marital trends seem to follow societal trends. We find that a relationship and a marriage requires work from both people. They must both feel comfortable enough to lean on the other. Working together and loving each other truly does bring out the best in the couple:) Although, marriage is fun and totally worth it, is not always easy. It takes effort and dedication to make the family and household run smoothly. Some adjustements couples have to go through are: adapting to living styles, learning effective ways to communicate, personality differences, financial budgets, decision making skills, schedules, handling in-laws, daily discoveries-how to handle and manage the little things, and budgeting time! These take work, but can be overcome! Everyone is different, but when two people are in love and willing to do anything for the other, happiness, acceptance, and true love and joy outweigh everything else!:)

Love

The defintion of love includes four greek terms, Storge(parent/child love), Philia(friendship love), Eros(man & woman love, also where the word erotic comes from), and Agape(love for someone's well being). Love is such a wonderful thing! Not only do we all want love, but we should do what we can to express how much we appreciate and love others. Before we jump into love though, we should follow the stages of dating, courtship, engagement, and then marriage. We should also choose to date rather than just "hang out." As girls, we shouldn't put so much pressure on the boys to do everything. It takes both to put in effort and commitment:) I really enjoyed this topic in class and it made me feel so blessed to have the gospel in my life and to have such an amazing husband, family, and friends!

Gender Roles

In class we learned about the different gender roles men and women have. For example, women are naturally more nurturing, they're more expressive, verbal, emotional, and contain more white matter which is connective tissue in the brain to help memory etc. Men on the other hand, according to A Proclamation to the World states that they are to provide, preside, and protect the family. Men are also naturally more aggressive, they're more likely to supress their feelings, and they contain more gray matter which is more open space in the brain allowing them to be spatially oriented and retain more information. I believe in equality, but that does not mean men and women are or should be the exact same in all aspects. We all have been blessed with our strengths and weaknesses and I think we're supposed to be different to balance each other out. Whether male or female, we all matter and our roles are important!

Social Classes

Tonight in class we discussed social class and cultural diversity. Our society has defined three social classes: upper, middle, and lower. We expressed that classes are defined by how much money an individual has, or seems to have, their possessions, appearance and actions, education, employment, and associations. Our culture is defined as a way of life or our traditions and a similar set of values and principles related within a certain group. We all seem to fall somewhere between the three classes and I think it's important to understand that one is not better or more superior than another. It may seem this way, but working hard and understanding the importance and value of money is crucial in every class because it impacts not only our individual lives, but our current and future families, and our society as a whole.

All Blogs!

Annelise Bean http://familythroughtheeyesofannelise.blogspot.com

Cierra Beck
http://cierralifeisgrand.weebly.com

Halie Cook
http://12halie2011.blogspot.com

Hailee Coulson
http://haicoul.blogspot.com

Maddison Dillon
http://maddisondssweetdreams.blogspot.com

Marina Eliason
http://threeblissfulmonkeysandamomma.weebly.com

Laura Espinoza
http://espinozafamilyof7.blogspot.com

Shane Esplin
http://johnshanesblog.blogspot.com

Aubrey Forbis
http://aubreyforbisfr.blogspot.com

Kelly Furrows
http://mrandmrsfurrows.blogspot.com

Brittany Halstead
http://marriagethoughtsbybrittany.weebly.com

Hilary Hawkins
http://hhilarym.blogspot.com

Angela Hendrix
http://angiehendrix.wordpress.com

Kiera Hinkson
http://kieramachelle.weebly.com

Kim Kim
http://jihyunkim1972.blogspot.com

Susie McHan
http://susieqatbyu-i.weebly.com

Emily McIntyre
http://ablogtotheworld.blogspot.com

Josh Mitchell
http://mitchellfamilyrelations.blogspot.com

Aryan Moarefdoust
http://funandfam.blogspot.com

Eryn Nelson
http://sunnydaysatbyyu.blogspot.com

Emma Rodrigues
http://emmarodrigues.blogspot.com

Ashley Rupp
http://ashbobash88.blogspot.com


Susannah Scheuermann

http://happyfuturefamily.blogspot.com

Jamie Shelton
http://jamiepslifeisgood.blogspot.com

Grace Skidmore
http://graceskidmore.blogspot.com

Brian Tait
http://dafamilyman.weebly.com

David Walker
http://davesfamilyrules.weebly.com

Kamryn Watt
http://kamrynwatt.blogspot.com

Jacob Wilhite
http://jakewilhite.wordpress.com

Teralyn Young
http://teralynsmarriagefamilymusings.weebly.com

The Family System

In a family, everyone affects each other. Each individual plays a certain role and it is important to work with one another and to do what we can to make the home run smoothly and function as best as it can. Family system>individual parts!:)

Family is Key

Something I've learned recently is the importance of Family Trends. What we see happening in the world today is cohabitation, delaying marriage, birth rates decreasing, the amount of employed mothers are increasing, more unmarried births, and family sizes are significantly smaller. All of these are interrelated in the fact that choosing to do one, may lead to the other and eventually, they all start to snowball together. I believe families are key and the basic foundation for which we build upon. We should understand what it means to have family and how great of a blessing it is! Everyone deserves to be brought up in a stable and loving home so, we should strive to do what is best for not only ourselves, but for our children.