TELE-Conferences: Grants & TOOBs | Call for Articles & Radio | Cartoon | Alabama Conf | Pittman tips | No-fault update - 9/24/07

Mon Sep 24 14:11:19 EDT 2007

- GRANT INFORMATION TELE-CALLS: OCT 4 & 5
- FREE MARRIAGE GARDEN AND LOVING IT! TRAINING: OCTOBER 25TH
- REQUEST FOR ARTICLES AND RADIO TOPICS
- MARRIAGE CARTOON
- ALABAMA MARRIAGE CONFERENCE: SEPT 25 - 27
- PITTMAN MARRIAGE TIPS
- LATEST FROM THE 'NO FAULT DIVORCE' FRONT LINES

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- GRANT INFORMATION TELE-CALLS: OCT 4 & 5

Diane, Please post this notice on your list. We need marriage folks to win
some of these grants that will allow them to expand their skills-building
and community networking.  Most of the groups that do marriage work are
capable of winning these but don't even know they exist.  - Chris Gersten

On October 4th and 5th, Chris Gersten's group, FAMLI, is hosting two FREE
conference calls to prepare community groups for the 2008 grant
announcements. (Only cost is their own long-distance charges.)

FAMLI has identified 15 different grants that you may want to apply for.
These include grants for small organizations, skills-building, marriage,
mentoring, and prisoner reentry programs and include Federal funding streams
from HHS and also from the Departments of Justice, Labor and Education.

The small grants are for $50,000 a year, and the large ones will run up to
$500,000 a year for 3 to 5 years.

You must sign-up for these calls at http://www.famli.us where you can also
find a list of the grants.

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- FREE MARRIAGE GARDEN AND LOVING IT! TRAINING: OCTOBER 25TH

The Marriage Garden and Married and Loving It curricula, Oct. 25th, 1:30-3pm
EST.

Register now for this free telephone class for two TOOB programs that
received highest ratings at the Denver Smart Marriages Conference. You have
time to listen to the recordings of these sessions to insure that you get
the most out of the teleconference trainings.  The MARRIAGE GARDEN is not
only great, it's FREE. Download these 90-min workshops for only $9.95 each
at http://www.iplaybacksmartmarriages.com

> 757-414 (Denver Workshop)
> Married and Loving It  TOOB
> Barbara Petty, MS
> This 5-week, skill-based program always has full classes and waiting lists.
> Learn what makes the program so successful and how to replicate it in your
> community.

> 757-707 (Denver Workshop)
> The Marriage Garden  TOOB
> Wallace Goddard, PhD, James Marshall, PhD
> Easy to teach, innovative, flexible, FREE (!) and based on new discoveries in
> positive psychology and Appreciative Inquiry. Includes commitment, nurture,
> and communication activities.

Learn about two exciting Extension marriage education programs and the new
National Extension Relationship and Marriage Education Model through this
free online Breeze training sponsored by the CYFERnet.

Seats are limited, so register today at:
http://cyfernet.ces.ncsu.edu/mn/training/user.php?r=47

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- REQUEST FOR ARTICLES AND RADIO TOPICS

> Dear Diane! It was so nice to "see" you at the Smart Marriage Conference in
> Denver. We were one of the thousands in the audience.  My husband and I
> enjoyed it immensely. We came back with a much heavier suitcase than we left
> with. We are hooked, and have shared our enthusiasm with many other marriage
> ministers in our area (Chicago).
> I am hoping that you will do me a favor and post the following paragraph on
> the website. You helped me out last year and we received some really good
> articles as a result. Thank you, in advance. Crystal Sullivan
>  
> The Family Ministries Office of the Archdiocese of Chicago is in need of good
> writers for both their First Years and Forever E-Newsletter that is sent out
> to 15,000 newlywed couples monthly and for Catholic Couples, their
> specifically-Catholic 16 page insert to Marriage Partnership Magazine. Very
> interested in, though not limited to, faith-based reflections or insights on
> marriage, articles that will also help couples as they develop skills in the
> areas most needed in their relationship. Pay varies, depending on length and
> use of the article, in the not-for-profit range of $100-$250 if used. Check
> out samples of the E-Newsletter at
> http://www.familyministries.org/FirstYearsForever/Vol.06/iss.02.htm. Please
> email Crystal Sullivan at crystalnkevin at comcast.net  if you are interested in
> writing an article for either publication.   312-751-8351
> 
> We also have a monthly half hour RADIO SHOW on Relevant Radio called Catholic
> Families Today where either Elsie Radtke or Andrew Lyke, both Smart Marriages
> presenters, alternate co-hosting with Frank Hannigan,
> addressing topics of interest to families. If you are interested in being a
> guest on the show, or have ideas for topics, please email Kim Hagerty at
> cceditor at archchicago.org.    Www.archchicago.org

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- MARRIAGE CARTOON

Cave-era couple stand looking at the hindquarters of huge dead beast that
towers over them.  Four spears stuck into it.  Wife, with arms folded, says
to the husband. "This is mastodon.  I told you to get mammoth."
Sept 2007, The New Yorker Magazine

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- ALABAMA MARRIAGE CONFERENCE: SEPT 25 - 27

> The ACHMI will feature a speaking lineup that includes the likes of Alabama
> First Lady Patsy Riley, humorist and AU graduate Jeanne Robertson and Judge
> Glenda Hatchett of "The Judge Hatchett Show." . . .

> The ACHMI is the result of a grant proposal by AU¹s Francesca Adler-Bader of
> the College of Human Sciences. The grant was for $8.2 million.

Annual conference offers tips for a strong marriage
Donathan Prater
Opelika-Auburn News
September 23, 2007

When it comes to building strong marriages and healthy families in Alabama,
they¹re taking some initiative to see to it that just that happens.

On Tuesday, The Alabama Community Healthy Marriage Initiative will host its
inaugural state conference.

The initiative represents a collaboration between the Auburn University
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, the Alabama Department
of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, the Children¹s Trust Fund and the
Alabama Cooperative Extension.

It¹s a collaborative effort that is sorely needed - if statistics are
correct.

According to the ACHMI Web site, trends suggest that the marriage rate
continues to drop and the probability of divorce or separation during one¹s
lifetime remains close to 50 percent.

The ACHMI will feature several guest speakers and workshops that address
issues like healthy relationships, fatherhood, youth development and
parenting strategies.

"The great thing about this initiative is that all the information that will
be discussed in the workshops and programs can be applied at the community
level," said Charles Jackson, public relations coordinator for ACHMI. "But
it all has to start with raising public awareness."

Resources for single-parent families, adolescents and teens as well as a
couple contemplating marriage will also be available.

The ACHMI will feature a speaking lineup that includes the likes of Alabama
First Lady Patsy Riley, humorist and AU graduate Jeanne Robertson and Judge
Glenda Hatchett of "The Judge Hatchett Show."

And while several agencies, community-based organizations and attendees are
expected at the ACHMI, there is a common thread that Jackson says unites
everyone involved with next week¹s event.

"What it all boils down to is all these groups have the best interest of
Alabama¹s children at heart," Jackson said. "We aren¹t trying to make folks
run out and get married after attending this initiative," Jackson said. "The
focus is on strengthening already existing marriages and families."

The ACHMI is the result of a grant proposal by AU¹s Francesca Adler-Bader of
the College of Human Sciences. The grant was for $8.2 million.

If You Go
What: The Alabama Community Healthy Marriage Initiative
When: Tuesday through Thursday. Opening remarks begin at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Where: The Marriott at Grand National; 3700 Sunbelt Parkway; Opelika, AL

For additional information or to register for the conference, visit
www.alabamamarriage.org or contact Teresa Wagoner at 334-844-3238.

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- PITTMAN MARRIAGE TIPS

Here are Frank Pittman marriage tips from an article in yesterday's
(9/23/07) Marin Independent Journal (California) :

"For those who stay married for a lifetime, divorce would be unthinkable,"
said Dr. Frank S. Pittman III, an Atlanta psychiatrist and author of several
books about marriage, including "Grow Up!: How Taking Responsibility Can
Make You A Happy Adult" (St. Martin's Press
http://www.smartmarriages.com/app/Media.Booklist).
"We don't talk about it, we don't think about it, and it's never threatened.
It's really strange, the difference between those people who come in talking
about divorce and those people who come in talking about some problem or
some decision."

Divorces run in families. If you didn't know marriages when you were growing
up, find people who are married and find out how they do it.

Common courtesy plays a big role in happy marriages. People who are
permanently married are polite to one another. They don't want to hurt one
another's feelings, and they don't try to make the other one feel
humiliated. People who are married for life are extremely kind to one
another.

Arguments are a natural part of any relationship, but cruelty is not. Above
all, happily married partners see each other as allies, not as adversaries.

You can't be right and married at the same time. If you're trying to be
right and prove your partner wrong, you've stepped outside the marriage.

To go without sex is to endanger the relationship. It's very easy to build
up an incest taboo in a marriage. If you go without sex, your instincts
recognize this person as part of the family but cease to recognize the
person as a sex partner. The response can kick in surprisingly quickly - in
as little as six weeks. People make a terrible mistake in being angry with
their marriage partner and cutting them off sexually as a way of arousing
great passion. It used to work in the ninth grade. But it doesn't work in
the ninth decade.

Caressing and contact is always a good thing. The great thing about sex at
this age is it ceases to be great, and it becomes funny. It feels good, but
you never know what's going to work and what's not. Which brings up another
trait that long-lasting marriage partners often share: a sense of humor.

Humor is vital, but it is vital to be happy, too. A happy marriage is a
marriage between two happy people.

You're not going to be in love all the time, but if you want to recapture
that magic from when you were in love, be loving. Being loving to your
partner makes you feel so good about yourself, it doesn't matter if you're
in love or not. The marriage is making you feel good if you are loving in
it.

There's no point battling age in yourself or in your partner. No one has
ever won.

Always keep your pants zipped in public.

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- LATEST FROM THE 'NO FAULT DIVORCE' FRONT LINES

Hi Diane,
Here's the latest effort.  The links connect directly to pdf documents that
have been scanned.  There was so much deceit in this project that it's
almost toxic to deal with it. I've been gathering these things from around
the country for the past few years.  There are still more to get, but we
have enough to make a case.
Judy Parejko

The Divorce Law Debates
Was the American Family Sold Down River?
http://www.uniformdivorce.com

No-Fault Divorce was conceived forty years ago, the result of a convergence
between  California¹s major law reform and a national endeavor known as the
Uniform Marriage and Divorce Law Project.  Since then, more than 3,000 pages
of documents from the national project have surfaced, revealing little-known
details from behind the scenes.  Correspondence, minutes of meetings, and
reports are part of this archive.  The web site is dedicated to sharing this
information with the public, to give a clearer picture of what it was about.
You be the judge.  Was the project carried out in an honest manner and did
it live up to its promises? Or, was it the biggest scam in U.S. history?

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12th Annual Smart Marriages® Conference, Hilton San Francisco Hotel,
July 2 - 5, 2008  
Pre-Conference Training Institutes June 30-July 2
Post-Conference Training Institutes July 6

Details: http://www.smartmarriages.com/conferencedetails.html

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