Growing up, statistics were always around indicating children of divorced parents were worse off than children with married parents. As I have grown up and realized that odds have been and will continue to be against me, I am happy to report that I am doing just fine despite what media dictates. Here are some statistics that I have proven wrong:
- Children in single-parent families are six times more likely than children in two-parent families to grow up in an environment of poverty
- They are two to three more times likely to have behavioral problems
- More likely to drop out of school
- Be expelled or suspended from school
- More likely to become pregnant as a teen
- More likely to use drugs and become lawmakers
I am lucky to be one of the people who didn't face these issues. Instead, I grew up with an amazing mom who gave her children everything she could. She didn't let media and numbers dictate our futures. I am grateful for my mom who worked so hard to give her children a great future. As I work with children of divorced parents, I struggle with how they have so much anger and trauma from the divorce. It hurts me so much because I know they can reverse the trend if they choose to. I know they can choose to not repeat history. I simply hope one day they will.
(Pictures from Thanksgiving are coming...)
11.28.2011
11.09.2011
Fall and Birthdays
I love fall. When I was younger, I always thought I'd get married in October. Not because it was my birthday month but because the colors are so pretty. Well, Joseph and I decided to get married during a blizzard instead but that doesn't erase my love for the fall season. Here is why I love fall:
1. The colors are simply amazing. I love living near the mountains and seeing the trees change colors into reds, oranges, and yellows.
2. I like making homemade pumpkin pie. Joseph likes to eat it. It works out well.
3. My birthday is in fall! And so is Joseph's.
4. The weather is perfect. I could handle having October weather all year long. I love wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans. It is my favorite "outfit." Winter comes and I feel I have to bundle up so much to stay warm but fall has beautiful weather.
5. General Conference is in the fall, so that is an added bonus.
Last month, Joseph and I celebrated our birthdays. We are slowly reaching the age of retirement. He got some new tools, a game, a new white shirt for Church, and some new ties. I received a popcorn maker, gardening books, a movie, nail polish, cookbooks, and some sewing stuff. It was great to celebrate our birthdays at Joseph's family's home. We made some cakes and enjoyed being with his family. We also went up to Logan to visit Chelsea and Jeff and we celebrated up there. We went to a corn maze and carved pumpkins.
All in all, this fall was a wonderful fall. I just wish it could have lasted longer. It snowed last Saturday and has been pretty cold lately. I will just have to wait until next fall to enjoy it again.
1. The colors are simply amazing. I love living near the mountains and seeing the trees change colors into reds, oranges, and yellows.
2. I like making homemade pumpkin pie. Joseph likes to eat it. It works out well.
3. My birthday is in fall! And so is Joseph's.
4. The weather is perfect. I could handle having October weather all year long. I love wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans. It is my favorite "outfit." Winter comes and I feel I have to bundle up so much to stay warm but fall has beautiful weather.
5. General Conference is in the fall, so that is an added bonus.
Last month, Joseph and I celebrated our birthdays. We are slowly reaching the age of retirement. He got some new tools, a game, a new white shirt for Church, and some new ties. I received a popcorn maker, gardening books, a movie, nail polish, cookbooks, and some sewing stuff. It was great to celebrate our birthdays at Joseph's family's home. We made some cakes and enjoyed being with his family. We also went up to Logan to visit Chelsea and Jeff and we celebrated up there. We went to a corn maze and carved pumpkins.
All in all, this fall was a wonderful fall. I just wish it could have lasted longer. It snowed last Saturday and has been pretty cold lately. I will just have to wait until next fall to enjoy it again.
10.17.2011
Creative Creations
I've wanted to try some new things these past few weeks and finally got around to talking about it. Last January, I found this sled on sale and bought it. It started out as just a wooden sled but then I painted it to look like this. I am surprised at how well it turned out.
With the cold setting in a week ago, we picked all our tomatoes from our garden. When they ripened, we made homemade salsa. I made it yesterday and it tastes so good. I don't like salsa much but Joseph loves it and he loves this kind! It tastes great and I can't wait to grow tomatoes again so I can make it. I did learn an important lesson in making it: don't rub your eyes after your cut up a jalepeno pepper. It burns for a long time.
With the cold setting in a week ago, we picked all our tomatoes from our garden. When they ripened, we made homemade salsa. I made it yesterday and it tastes so good. I don't like salsa much but Joseph loves it and he loves this kind! It tastes great and I can't wait to grow tomatoes again so I can make it. I did learn an important lesson in making it: don't rub your eyes after your cut up a jalepeno pepper. It burns for a long time.
I wanted to make a fall centerpiece for our home so off to the Dollar Store I went. For three dollars, I made this lovely thing. It smells good too!
10.03.2011
General Conference Highlights
Joseph and I visited Nephi yet again for Conference Weekend. It began Friday evening with a BYU victory over Utah State. I really didn't care which team won since I like both schools a lot. But I was happy to hear BYU won.
Saturday morning is my favorite session, mainly because President Monson normally announces temples. I build up so much anticipation for the announcement that Joseph and I even made our predictions. Joseph had the closest with guessing Cedar City, Utah when President Monson announced a second Provo Temple. I'm quite excited to hear that Africa will be blessed with two more temples in the future. I thought it was humorous that President Monson was running late. Click on this article to read more about it. I enjoyed listening to Elder Scott and his encouragement to memorize scripture passages. I worked on memorizing the Articles of Faith and that took so long because I'm not the best at memorization. But I will try my hardest in the future to memorize some scriptures. They really do become friends in times of need.
I also enjoyed the talk about the importance of looking up, not down, in life. If you ask Joseph or my mom, they both will tell you that I am pessimistic about the world. I don't see many things going well right now with the economy, education, war, etc. Some days, it is tough to trust in the Lord and trust in His timetable. The talk helped me place all things in perspective and try to "look up" more often in life. I have so many blessings that I have no reason to look down.
My favorite talk, if I can say I have a favorite, was Sister Elaine Dalton's talk about raising daughters. It was meant for fathers but I loved that she spoke about the crucial need for parents to raise righteous children. With the world going awry around me, I feel more and more burdened when it comes to raising a family in the Gospel. It will not be easy and I worry and fear for my children in the future. I enjoyed listening to Sister Dalton and the sweet truths she stated about raising daughters to be loving and kind. I'm grateful to have a husband who holds the priesthood and will bless our children in ways we can't comprehend yet. Here is her talk. (Scroll down until you find Elaine S. Dalton).
We hung out at Joe's parents house Saturday and they picked apples- 8 boxes of apples. So we brought home two bags of apples and I look forward to making apple pie and more applesauce! We also celebrated my birthday on Sunday by eating cake and playing a game. I got a new hot glue gun! I wanted one really badly as I start being more craftier in our home. All in all, it was a great and uplifting weekend!
Saturday morning is my favorite session, mainly because President Monson normally announces temples. I build up so much anticipation for the announcement that Joseph and I even made our predictions. Joseph had the closest with guessing Cedar City, Utah when President Monson announced a second Provo Temple. I'm quite excited to hear that Africa will be blessed with two more temples in the future. I thought it was humorous that President Monson was running late. Click on this article to read more about it. I enjoyed listening to Elder Scott and his encouragement to memorize scripture passages. I worked on memorizing the Articles of Faith and that took so long because I'm not the best at memorization. But I will try my hardest in the future to memorize some scriptures. They really do become friends in times of need.
I also enjoyed the talk about the importance of looking up, not down, in life. If you ask Joseph or my mom, they both will tell you that I am pessimistic about the world. I don't see many things going well right now with the economy, education, war, etc. Some days, it is tough to trust in the Lord and trust in His timetable. The talk helped me place all things in perspective and try to "look up" more often in life. I have so many blessings that I have no reason to look down.
My favorite talk, if I can say I have a favorite, was Sister Elaine Dalton's talk about raising daughters. It was meant for fathers but I loved that she spoke about the crucial need for parents to raise righteous children. With the world going awry around me, I feel more and more burdened when it comes to raising a family in the Gospel. It will not be easy and I worry and fear for my children in the future. I enjoyed listening to Sister Dalton and the sweet truths she stated about raising daughters to be loving and kind. I'm grateful to have a husband who holds the priesthood and will bless our children in ways we can't comprehend yet. Here is her talk. (Scroll down until you find Elaine S. Dalton).
We hung out at Joe's parents house Saturday and they picked apples- 8 boxes of apples. So we brought home two bags of apples and I look forward to making apple pie and more applesauce! We also celebrated my birthday on Sunday by eating cake and playing a game. I got a new hot glue gun! I wanted one really badly as I start being more craftier in our home. All in all, it was a great and uplifting weekend!
9.23.2011
General Conference Prep
I am busy trying to create an activity for my nursery kids on Sunday. I want to do something with General Conference but there's only so much you can do with kids 18 months to 3 years in age. While I was looking for some ideas online, I found this! I really like it!
9.20.2011
Where will it be?
These past two weeks, Joseph has been extremely busy with school and finding an internship. He's met with ExxonMobil (his #1 choice) a number of times and has applied to many engineering companies. The Career Fair is this Thursday at BYU so he will meet all the recruiters then. Hopefully some interviews will come his way. He's even applied for an internship in Australia. Se here are my top picks for him and why:
I think it would be cool to work/intern here because I have a feeling we would get TONS of free stuff like shampoo, toothpaste and whatever else they make.
Joseph knows I love the pharmaceutical companies the most. I feel the job there would be so rewarding. But Joseph doesn't feel his strength is in biology. But alas, it is still my favorite. He might humor me and apply.
Joseph loves Dow and so do I, mainly because their headquarters are in Michigan, which is close to Wisconsin. They are a chemical processing company, whatever that means... But he likes them and they always have free stuff at the Career Fair so I like them too. Last year, they gave us a water bottle.
ExxonMobil is probably Joseph's favorite. It became my favorite this past week. If we interned here, we'd be in either Fairfax, VA or Houston, TX. The recruiters said Houston costs 40% less to live there than Provo, which is a relief. The recruiters also said they only paid $75 in medical bills when they had a child because the health insurance is the best. ExxonMobil is considered the #1 chemical engineering company in the U.S. so it would be an honor to intern there. Joseph had lunch with them last week and has breakfast with them today.
Joseph's dad worked at BP for many years in Alaska so Joseph contacted his dad's co-workers and applied. We would probably go up to Anchorage for the summer if we interned there. Joseph tells me that the summers in Alaska are amazing and I would love to go visit where he grew up. It would be far from anything I know but a great experience.
I think it would be cool to work/intern here because I have a feeling we would get TONS of free stuff like shampoo, toothpaste and whatever else they make.
Joseph knows I love the pharmaceutical companies the most. I feel the job there would be so rewarding. But Joseph doesn't feel his strength is in biology. But alas, it is still my favorite. He might humor me and apply.
Joseph loves Dow and so do I, mainly because their headquarters are in Michigan, which is close to Wisconsin. They are a chemical processing company, whatever that means... But he likes them and they always have free stuff at the Career Fair so I like them too. Last year, they gave us a water bottle.
ExxonMobil is probably Joseph's favorite. It became my favorite this past week. If we interned here, we'd be in either Fairfax, VA or Houston, TX. The recruiters said Houston costs 40% less to live there than Provo, which is a relief. The recruiters also said they only paid $75 in medical bills when they had a child because the health insurance is the best. ExxonMobil is considered the #1 chemical engineering company in the U.S. so it would be an honor to intern there. Joseph had lunch with them last week and has breakfast with them today.
Joseph's dad worked at BP for many years in Alaska so Joseph contacted his dad's co-workers and applied. We would probably go up to Anchorage for the summer if we interned there. Joseph tells me that the summers in Alaska are amazing and I would love to go visit where he grew up. It would be far from anything I know but a great experience.All in all, I am proud of Joseph and the work he is doing with this. He will get a great internship and we should know by mid-October what his options are. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
9.09.2011
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