Final Blog Post Assignment 8

When I first heard about this web site Blogger and that we would have to post and respond to other classmates post I have to admit I was worried. I had never heard of this website blogger before and skeptical. After working out a few kinks and along with Professor Falcone's help I was on my way. The experience has been positive and I have enjoyed reading other classmates posts. I am someone who does not go on the internet much other than for school. So this experience has been new to me. I am glad I tried it but I probably will not continue to blogg but I  now know that it exits. Who knows in the future I might pick it up again. I like that it is an avenue for people to share their thoughts, ideas, and visions. This is a good thing.

Marriage Experts Assignment 7

My marriage experts where my parents Tomas and JoAnna Iriarte. The both of them have been married since May 9 of 1965. They got married when they were 17 years old and my mother was pregnant with my brother. So they come form an old fashioned back round where if the girl gets pregnant you have to get married. My parents started dating when they where in junior high. I know this assignment is entitled Marriage Experts but my parents  do not feel like they are experts by any means. My mother's challenge was having to be such a young wife and a soon to be new mom. Although she wanted to marry my dad because she felt like she had loved him forever she was facing the unknown. This was really scary for her. My dad said the same thing as my mom, he wanted to marry my mom because he loved her deeply but was scared if he would be a good husband and father.  When my father was 18 he enlisted in the US Army and was then shiped off to Korea to fight in the Vietnam War. He said he did it because he was having trouble financially supporting his family with only odd jobs and no health benefits. The military offered him a steady reliable income along with health benefits for his wife and son. Dad also said he like the idea that he would be able to travel because he grew up on a tiny island in the pacific called Guam and never left the island since his birth in 1948. My parents had never been apart up until my father's enlistment into the Army. My mother wrote letters to my father while he was away everyday and took pictures of my brother so my dad could see him because my brother was just and infant when he left. My father said he wrote when he got a chance and this is how they stayed connected to one another. The other challenges they faced where financial issues because my mother could not work because she had epilepsy and although it was controlled by medication most employers did not want to higher her. She just became a stay at home mom and my father along with being in the military would work a second job. My mother said never go to bed mad when you or your spouse have an argument. When you fight in your marriage its healthy. She feels its healthy because each person is communicating what is upsetting them and this is good, rather than pretending everything is fine and not saying anything. This is bad for a marriage she said. My father said he would rather not fight with my mom so he would always tell her in a disagreement they were having that she was right. He realized this was bad because he was not expressing his true feelings and that she needed to know what was bothering him with her so she could try and fix it. My parents have learned that communication is the most important thing to a sucessful marriage, along with mutual attraction, and common interests. You also must work at being one person, not each partner making their own decisions because this just will not work, you will be fighting all the time, and in a bad way that you will grow apart and want to end the marriage by getting a divorce. In their opinion divorce should not even be an option if you truly love your partner and you both want to make your marriage work and stay together.

Stress Reduction Assignment # 6

My Technique for stress reduction is listening to classical music or something soothing like Jazz. This past spring I took a class called Music Appreciation and this class exposes you to various types of music. I was really surprised how much I liked the classical portion of the class. When I am stressed and in the car I can tune the dial to a classical station and I just turned up the sound and let the music wrap around me. I clear my mind of negative thoughts and the things that I am stressed about and take deep steady even breaths. If I am at home I turn my tv on to the music channel and choose a classical station to listen to. I sit down at the kitchen table and again focus on the music and take in deep steady breaths. Usually after about  minutes I feel calmer and happier inside. The stress just leaves my body and a calmness comes over me and I feel an emotional peace set in. Sometimes I change this routine up and drive to the beach and walk for about an hour. I like to take my shoes off and walk in the water  or I will just walk on the strand. Being able to be that close to the ocean just calms me down right away. I feel the stress leave me and again this calming, relaxing feeling takes the stress away. I think that me being able to identify when I am stressed, and having these techniques really is helpful for me it allows me to take my mind off what I am stressed about and allows me to just center myself internally and create a calm, peaceful feeling for myself. I have come to rely on these techniques and I use them over and over again to help me de-stress.

Live in the moment, Laugh, LOVE Assignment # 5

I went to the http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/ and it was really easy. I typed in my 6 words put in my email and password and hit publish and their my words were. I chose  for my 6 words to describe me as this Live in the moment, Laugh, Love. A very wise man told me that tommorw is not promised to me, that I do not know how long I will live and therefor how much time I have on earth. I have lost loved one's and I would have given anything to have one more day to spend with them had I had know that I would loose them so soon. So now I try to be present  and live in the moments of my life and pay attention to what's going on around me and I choose to love and laugh in my life's moments because I might not get tommorow with people that are close to me.

Assignment # 4 Love Language

I scored high on Quality Time, which did not surprise because I love to spend time with people who are close to me. I can get so caught up in my everyday life that I forget to take a moment and enjoy my friends and family. Basically being so busy is no excuse to not make time for thouse people in your life who are special to you. I was surprised at my score for words of affirmation. It was like I need to be praised all of the time and I do not feel that is the case for me. I do not like it when someone is negative and they tend to stay in that bad head space. I am more prone to give someone a compliment as a way of encouragement to help them to feel better. I don't really see myself needing to hear all the time how well I do something, thats so not me. Huh this test was interesting, but I don't take it to seriously.

Kids of Drugs Assignment # 3

As a parent I try to be open about the use of drugs and the down fall they can cause in your life if you choose to use. I have had several family members who have used and are addicted to drugs. These family members are actually helping my sons to avoid drug use. They have seen the negative and distructive consiquences to their loved ones lives. I am thankful that my sons are educated about drugs in school and I encourage them to be aware of the down falls of drugs and substance abuse. Although their family members are great examples for my sons I believe communacation is key. I believe if you do not talk about the adverse effects drugs can cause and you don't educate yourself your in the dark and blind to the issue and that is not a smart place to be. So I have routine conversations with my children about drugs and ask them for their thoughts and idea's to help keep them off drugs and myself.

Movie Review "Food Inc"

I was shocked to find out the amount of control big companies like Tyson, and Con Agra have over America's food supply. I know they are just filling America's need for food but for me it was how they go about it that I found alarming. The segment with the chickens and how they were being raised was sad, pent up in cages and kept in the dark and being fed feed that allows them to grow at a faster rate that their bodies can not support this rapid growth. These companies seem not to care how they were preparing america's food and it all seemed to boil down to money and the huge profits they stood to make was all these companies cared about. I have a better understanding now of the importance to the animal and the enviroment of "free range" for livestock. I have realized that I can use my voice as a vote when I go grocery shopping and be a little more selective of the foods I buy. I have never been a label reader on the products I buy but this movie has shown me that I need to be more aware of whats in my food, how it is made and where it comes from.