Quatro

In class this week, we have been talking about dating, love, marriage, and all that jazz. At the beginning of the week I thought, "well, I'm already married, so I don't really need to pay attention in class or do any of the readings." Wrong-O! As I listened in class and did some of the readings, I have been able to better appreciate what my wife and I have and I have found things that I can do better to strengthen our relationship (because it's not like you say "I do" and then you're set for life, marriage is something that you have to work at).

Something that I thought was interesting when talking about love was the 4 different kinds of love: Storge, Philia, Eros, and Agape. I had never heard of these kinds of live, but I knew they existed (if that makes any sense). I think it is important in a relationship (especially with your significant other) that all 4 of these types of love exist and I think that if you don't have and work at these 4 types of love with your spouse, your marriage will not live up to its potential.

Tres

Hey everyone. So something that I have been thinking a lot about is culture. We have talked about cultures in class for the last few classes and also how gender can effect family culture. Something that I have been thinking about is how my family culture differs/will differ from my older sister's family culture. We were both raised in the same family and were taught and raised the same (obviously there were small differences, but for the most part we were raised the same), we also have both been married for a little over 2 years.  Growing up, my sister was the girly girl of the family. She never liked getting dirty or doing things outside, she didn't like playing any sports, and always wanted to look nice/pretty. I loved (and still love) sports. I played basketball, football, and baseball in junior high and high school. I wasn't really in to guns or motorbikes, but I did like hanging out with my guy friend and camping or watching action movies. I would consider myself a sport guy. Our spouses are very different from each other. My wife is a girly girl who loves fashion, shopping, making crafts, looking good, and making things look good. My brother in law is a manly man. He loves riding his dirt bike, snowmobiling, paint balling, doing any extreme sports, and pretty much anything outside. Since we have been married, I have become a little less of a "manly man" and become more sensitive (I still love sports and action movies, but I don't do those kinds of things as much because I know that my wife doesn't enjoy them). Instead of going to watch a basketball game or going to throw a frisbee around, we will go to a play or a classical music concert. Or instead of going on a hike, we will go walk around the mall. My sister on the other hand has become a little bit more likely to go for a ride on the quads or go for a hike (things that she never would have done before she was married). It is interesting for me to see these changes in myself and my sister and to wonder what our family culture will be like when we have kids, and how our children will interact with each other. Neither of us are pregnant, so I will have to wait to see how these interactions will happen, but I am curious and excited to find out.

Dos

Hey everyone. Okay so something that we talked about in class this week that I have been thinking a lot about is boundaries. A boundary is like a fence that we put up around ourselves or around our relationship with others. There are three main types of boundaries: a rigid boundary (which is like a brick wall or fence), a clear boundary (which is like a picket fence), and an open boundary (which is like fence posts in the ground, with no actual fence up). It is important for us to have boundaries in every relationship that we have. The type of relationship (the closeness we have with the person or the amount of information that we share with the person) will determine what kind of boundary we have in our relationship. I have been thinking about my relationships and the boundaries that I have in them, and I challenge you all to do the same. It has been an interesting experience for me to evaluate my relationships and see areas where I can be more open with someone, and also areas that I might need to close the relationship up a little bit. I hope your findings are as interesting to you as mine are to me.

Numero Uno

Hello. Okay so this is my first official post discussing families. I think that the family is the most important thing in the world today. More important than money, cars,a house, or anything else. Without a family, life is not worth living. Now I know that there are people out there who do not have a family for some reason or another (death, poor decisions, etc.) but that does not mean that you do not or cannot have a family. I think that a family is more than a Dad, Mom, brothers and sisters. I believe that a family is much more than that. I believe that you can have close friends who become your family. I believe that total strangers who come into your life and help you or make a difference in your life can become family. Just because you don't have a typical "family" this does not mean that you do not have a family. We are all a part of the family of an Eternal Father in Heaven. We are His children, and therefore we are all family and I think we need to treat each other as such. Too often we spend our time fighting with our neighbors or competing with those around us and looking down on those who are less fortunate than us. We (the world) need to stop judging others and comparing ourselves with everyone and just be ourselves. We need to love those around us and look at the good in them. I know that as I have tried to do this I have been happier and my life has been better. That's not to say my life is easy or that I don't have challenges, because I do, but it means that I have a different perspective on how I view things, and I love it! I know that if you try to do this, your perspective with change and happiness will come into your lives.

Me

Hey everyone, welcome to my blog. My name is Kennedy and I LOVE my wife! We were married on July 23, 2010 in the Cardston, Alberta temple.It was the best day of my life, and I have loved every minute of being married. We started dating in high school and then she wrote me while I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Argentina. I got home in February and 5 months later we sealed the deal. I am a student at BYU-Idaho majoring in Marriage and Family Studies and minoring in Photography. I love sports, especially basketball and football, photography, movies, and spending time with friends and family. What I hope to do here is share some of my thoughts and insights about life, and specifically families and how to strengthen them, and how the gospel of Jesus Christ can help us accomplish this. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to ask and share what you have to say.