the first of many

    Hello Everyone! I created this blog for the Family Relations class. It is kinda exciting but also very nerve-racking. I am from Mesa, Arizona and am currently going to BYU-I. Being an Arizona girl, I had never seen snow fall or even been in negative degree weather until I moved up here last January and I love it soooooo much. I am currently a Marriage and Family Studies major and I am loving my classes so much. I am wanting to be a Marriage and Family Therapist so this definitely the major for me. I wanted to talk a little bit about the dating culture and how marriage is these days. 

    In my intro to family studies class, we talked about how the dating culture is so strange these days. We talked about how people aren't really going out on dates anymore. Instead, it goes more like do you want to hang out and then after that you ask them on a date. We were asked why we thought that was, a few of the female student explained that there is so much pressure around the word "date", a few other talked about how they feel safer that way and getting to know the person before committing to going on a date with them. But, then people also talked about how "going on a date" and "hanging out" do not have the same boundaries. When going on a first date, most of the time (of course not always) but there are certain boundaries and expectations but when hanging out those boundaries kinda get fuzzy and sometimes things happen. But, I am bringing this up because according to some statistics I have seen show that the marriage age is going up a lot and many people aren't finding marriage as important. 

    Marriage is something that is become not as important in everyday life. Especially with their being higher taxes and other penalties that go along with getting married. I have noticed that some of my friends back home are having kids and living together but not committing to marriage. I asked one of them and she said that if anything were to happen that she would have an easier out. Not quite what i was expecting but there is such a bad connotation around the word divorce, which I understand because for some people that can be seen as embarrassing or a failure. One of the best things I have ever been taught has been that you choose to love your partner everyday. My parents got divorced when I was about five years old, so I have never seen a successful and happy marriage. So, as dumb as it sounds I was shocked to hear that marriage doesn't solve all your problems and that you have to choose to love that person everyday to keep the love. Now that I have seen family members and friends get married, I have seen true love and sadly in some cases it not end up being true love putting them in sad and terrible situations. It is amazing to see someones true self come out after marriage. That is something that scares me so much, thinking that I truly know and love this person and then BAM, they are just a completely different person and sometimes do such terrible things.

    I am so grateful for this class and that I get to research and look into so many things about marriage and the way that a family can function. I am excited to learn and be able to share with you all. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog!