Lauren's Family Blog

  This week we talked a lot about stress. Stress is something that we all deal with. Some people stress less than others, and some people who have anxiety seem to stress all the time. Since everyone has this emotion, it can have an impact on a marriage. There are a lot of stressful things in marriage such as planning a wedding, finding a place to live, having children, finances, etc. I have anxiety so I tend to be stressed a lot more than my husband does. I find myself freaking out about things even when I don’t know what I am stressed about. It’s important that we know what to do when we find ourselves in stressful situations, and how to comfort your spouse when they are stressed.  One thing that was really stressful for my husband and I was finding housing in Rexburg. So many people get married at BYU-Idaho, so housing is tricky. We thought we would get ahead of the game and look a whole year in advance. We got on as many waiting lists as we could and waited to hear back for...

This week we talked about intimacy. Intimacy is so important in a marriage. A marriage must include an emotional and physical relationship. It’s important to keep your physical relationship healthy. Our whole lives we’ve been taught to stay away from being intimate in a sexual way with another person before marriage. The moment we are married, everything becomes available. This is a scary feeling. I also know of some couples that struggle with it when they get married because they’ve been told it is bad their whole lives, so they feel guilty after marriage even though there is nothing wrong with it. Although it can be overwhelming, it’s a sacred thing. I love how the scriptures talk about intimacy and sexual intercourse. It is so different from the world’s view. Worldly standards have turned it into a casual thing that everyone does. That takes the seriousness and feeling of being special away. God meant for sex to be between a married man and woman. The world has also altered this. In...

  I couldn’t decide on just one of the topics we discussed in class this week. We talked about the details of planning a wedding, relationship changes with friends of the opposite sex, and things you experience at the first stages of a marriage. I felt a strong connection with each of these topics. Planning a wedding is so fun and exciting, but also comes with a lot of decisions to make which can often be stressful. The average cost of a wedding is $28,000. My husband and I spent $6,000. I had no idea that weddings cost much more, I thought 6,000 was a lot. I loved how our wedding turned out. We bought a fairly cheap wedding dress, but it was the only one I wanted. We made pasta and bread for the luncheon, and we had a reception in a church building. We made our own cake and did not serve dinner at the reception. My husband’s mom did all the flowers and made me a flower crown. A lot of people probably thought it was a very simple wedding. I loved it because I was never picky about ...

This week we discussed dating. Dating is so important when it comes to finding your forever person. Chances are, you aren’t going to marry the first person you like. Going on dates with lots of people allows you to find people with your shared interests, standards, and values. I had a boyfriend in high school and so we went to every school dance together and we never really dated other people. Looking back on high school, I wasted so much time because we ended up not being compatible. I highly recommend high schoolers to date around and not have a serious relationship with a single person. Dating is so much more fun when you’re young. It’s important not to get into a serious relationship if you’re not ready, and don’t have dating experience. I have a friend who has asked me a lot of questions about dating and asked questions like “How did you know he was the one?” “Isn’t it scary before you get married since you are going to be with  that person forever?” “What if you choose the wr...

  This week we talked about several things. One topic that stood out was gender roles. I know that last week we talked about roles in the family, but gender actually plays a major part. Studies show that children are in the best situation to be raised by two biological parents. One man and one woman. I know this is true because that is how God intended it to be. In the Family Proclamation to the World, it says that marriage is between a man and a woman. The world is extremely controversial when it comes to this subject. Gay marriages are legal in the United States, and lots of children are being raised by parents of the same sex. That does not mean that the child is not going to be raised correctly, or that the parents are going to do a bad job, it is just not how God intended it to be. This is a very important subject to me because I have a sister in my family who came out as bisexual. My family is strong in the church and my parents did an amazing job raising us. My sister has ve...