First Lady/Marriage Week/Expert Solution/Postponing Marriage/Buy the Milk? /7 Habits Success/Financial Stress -11/14/08

Fri Nov 14 18:58:42 EST 2008

- FIRST LADY
- MARRIAGE WEEK
- MY EXPERT SOLUTION
- ANOTHER BIG CHALLENGE: POSTPONING MARRIAGE
- WHY BUY THE MILK? WONDERFUL NEW TOOB FOR TEENS
- 7  HABITS OF SUCCESSFUL FAMILIES IN FLORIDA
- HOW-TO SITE
- MARKMAN: COPING WITH THE CRUNCH OF FINANCIAL STRESS

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- FIRST LADY
Diane, 
As you think about how to get the marriage education messages out there, I
hope you're thinking about how to position the coalition with the incoming
administration. Here is a pertinent clip from an article that outlines the
First Lady's focus. You might want to get information to her on the
military's success with marriage education.  - MWM

> Those who have watched her political ascent up close say she may not try to
> redefine the role of first lady but instead will lend her name to causes that
> resonate for all Americans -- including work issues, health care and the tough
> challenges faced by MILITARY FAMILIES.
> 
> While campaigning for her husband in Florida this fall, Michelle Obama said
> the country must do more for military families.

Yes, we will do everything we can to get information to the new
administration about how strengthening marriages can help them reach so many
of their goals.  Ideas? Send them.  - diane

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- MARRIAGE WEEK
It's time to start planning your Marriage Week Celebrations - what you'll do
in your community to use this special week to highlight and celebrate and
strengthen marriage.  Several of you have already emailed me with plans.
Send me what you'll be doing and I'll add your celebration to the list.
See http://www.smartmarriages.com/marriage.week.html

IT'S also time to think about what you'll do to celebrate and strengthen
YOUR OWN MARRIAGE.  Like a Love Your Relationship Marriage Retreat with
PREP's Howard Markman at the historic and romantic Broadmoor Hotel in
Colorado Springs. Or if you can't make it on Valentine's Day, surprise
him/her a gift certificate for the same Marriage Retreat in Sweden in June!
 http://www.smartmarriages.com/directory/62

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- MY EXPERT SOLUTION

I'm sharing this blog post to remind you that Blogs and these
internet-available radio shows are another wonderful way to 'get the info
out there' - which is our biggest challenge: we've GOT the information about
how to strengthen marriage, the challenge is  to reach folks, and especially
to reach the new wired generations.

We'll have workshops in Orlando on how to use all the latest: Facebook,
twitter, widgets, RSS feeds and feed readers, etc. etc etc.  The internet
keeps  improving and we have to stay on the cutting edge.  Hope to have more
than one such workshop so all of you can find a way to attend at least one.

This post also shows the power of the conference in SHOWCASING talent so
that bloggers, organizers, denominations, the army, and policy folks know
what's available.  Pat Love, for example, in addition to being featured
here, just returned from Singapore where she presented numerous
standing-room-only trainings and was all over TV and radio.  There are
always attendees from dozens of countries at Smart Marriages - a chance to
really get the information "out there" - all over the world.   - diane

> IMPROVING YOUR SEX LIFE - 11/11/08
> Do you want to improve your sex life? This upcoming Monday during my weekly
> radio show ³Community Talk Time² I will be interviewing Dr. Pat Love. Her name
> is very appropriate as she truly is a love doctor. This past summer I met Pat
> at the annual Smart Marriage Conference in San Francisco and was very
> impressed with her fun humor and depth of knowledge about sex and
> relationships. I attended one of her seminars ³Hot Monogamy² and decided our
> listeners at MyExpertSolution had to have some exposure to Dr. Love.
> 
> Dr. Pat Love is the author of many books (The Truth About Love and How to
> Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It). She is a nationally known
> expert on sex and love advice. This upcoming Monday morning November 17th at
> 11:00 a.m. (est.) you can listen to my interview with Dr. Love at
> www.myexpertsolution.com. If you want to call in and ask a question you can by
> dialing 1-866-535-0840. Also, if you would like to ask a question before the
> show you can do so at the MyExpertSolution website.
> 
> Some of the topics we will be discussing include:
> 
>     * Whether hot monogamy is an oxymoron
>     * Why sex such a tough issue between two people
>     * How you can be a great lover
>     * And much moreŠ
> 
> Sexual intimacy, or the lack of it, is one of the most important challenges
> that couples deal with in their relationships. If you want some help in this
> area please join us.
> 
> If you cannot listen to the show live, you can listen to the replay during the
> week of Nov. 17th- Nov. 23rd at the following times:
> 
>     * Tuesday 6:00 a.m. (MST)
>     * Wednesday 6:00 p.m. (MST)
>     * Thursday 11:00 p.m. (MST)
>     * Friday 1:00 p.m. (MST)
>     * Saturday 2:00 a.m. (MST)
>     * Sunday 6:00 p.m. (MST)
> 
> Have a great day!
> 
> Filed under: Relationships, marriage | Tagged: Improving Your Sex Life, pat
> love | No Comments »

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- ANOTHER BIG CHALLENGE: POSTPONING MARRIAGE

Teens Have Positive But Changing Views of Marriage
Brief by Mathematica® Researchers Notes Increasing Acceptance of
Cohabitation Among Teens and an Increasing Desire to Postpone Marriage
Press brief and links to the full studies are here:
http://tinyurl.com/5ql2r2

It's a good thing, of course, when TEENS postpone marriage.  The problem is
they can postpone it indefinitely.......   Scott Stanley and Galena Rhoades
will tackle this at the Orlando Smart Marriages Conference with a  keynote:
Living With Cohabitation based on a huge research study and which will
provide lots of guidelines for what we can do about it.  - diane

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- WHY BUY THE MILK? WONDERFUL NEW TOOB FOR TEENS

And, speaking of reaching teens and young adults, this great new TOOB (teach
out of the box) program looks fantastic.  It's from Dibble, so you know it
speaks in their language - WILL reach them.  And, it's based on Rutgers
University Marriage Project research, so you know it's solid - the best.
Get free shipping for orders placed by Nov 30, 2008.
http://www.dibbleinstitute.org/why_buy_cow.html

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- 7  HABITS OF SUCCESSFUL FAMILIES IN FLORIDA

Hi Diane,

At the following link
http://www.franklincoveyresearch.org/documents/textsearch?criteria=families
scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will find a brief from the
Special Report: The 7 Habits of Successful Families in Florida, a
government-commissioned study on the effectiveness of the 7 Habits in
improving families.  As this Jacksonville website says, " So impressive is
the work of the Jacksonville program that it should and will serve as a
model for community leaders worldwide."

I encourage anyone interested in attending The 8 Habits of a Successful
Marriage training and certification institute, or The 7 Habits of Successful
Families workshop at the July Smart Marriages conference to read the report
- the curricula were developed with the same engaging methodology studied in
this report, and are all based on Stephen Covey¹s best-selling works The 7
Habits of Highly Effective Families and The 8th Habit.  (Read about the 8
Habits training and certification institute July 7 & 8, here, #106:
http://www.smartmarriages.com/institutes.html)

We¹d like to commend Robyn Cenizal for the outstanding work she, Rev. Pete
Jackson, and the Jacksonville Network for Strengthening Families has done
with this initiative!

See you in Orlando!
Durelle Price
Capacity Building Consultant
801.836.4669

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- HOW-TO SITE

Fascinating: e-How is a site with instructions for, as they say: How To Do
Just About Everything including this one: How to Avoid Divorce and Save Your
Marriage which offers 10 steps and has a difficulty rating of Moderately
Challenging.  :)
http://www.ehow.com/how_4552194_avoid-divorce-save-marriage.html

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- MARKMAN: COPING WITH THE CRUNCH OF FINANCIAL STRESS

DENVER - Center for Marital and Family Studies Co-director Howard Markman,
Ph.D. knows what sometimes happens when families are stressed out over
financial issues.

"Too often, when there's increased stress in a relationship, people fight
more. And that's the worst thing people can do," he said.

Markman should know. He is part of a multi-million dollar research program
at the University of Denver. Aided by government funding, it helps families
deal with the effects that money can have on their relationships.

The program is called FRAME, which is short for "Fatherhood, Relationship
and Marriage Education."

"You want to team up against the harsh environmental times. Team up against
the stress," he said, "and work as a team."

The research program began in June. Its goal is to evaluate programs that
help couples learn skills to strengthen their relationships, even in tough
financial times.

Participating families can be compensated more than $300 a year.

The program is focused on low-income families. Typically, that would include
a family of three that makes $35,000 a year or many more families who
qualify for some type of government assistance.

"The data are pretty clear that a harsh economy affects lower income people
more than higher income people," said Markman. "Everyone's affected but
lower income people are more squeezed out of the job market, have more
financial stress to start out with and have less resources."

Markman says, so far, his research has found that good communication skills
can keep families together, even when finances are low.

Primarily, it's up to the couple to acknowledge financial problems and talk
about them.

"Parents need to pull together and be able to talk without fighting about
their current situation," said Markman.

He suggests setting aside time to calmly talk about the troubling things.
Just as important, he adds, is reserved time to enjoy the fun moments.

"When you're eating dinner, playing a card game, going to the zoo or taking
a walk together, that's not the time to deal with (financial) issues," said
Markman.

Markman discourages detailed talk of finances in front of children but
encourages parents to at least let kids know how financial troubles will
affect them.

"If the child's not going to get the best possible Christmas, talk about
that," he said.

In his research, Markman has found that many families can come up with free
and low-cost entertainment options for children.

"I remember with my kids," he said, "what they really enjoyed was playing in
boxes!"

Workers with the FRAME program are looking for new families, who fall into
the low-income range, to participate in the program. It includes three
weekend days of education and periodic surveys.

For more information, call 303-871-3028 or log on to
www.du.edu/psychology/frame.

The University of Denver's Center for Marital and Family Studies also offers
family counseling programs for all income levels, many on a sliding fee
scale. For more information call 1-866-601-LOVE or log onto
www.loveyourrelationship.com.

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13th Annual Smart Marriages® Conference, Shingle Creek Resort,
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Pre-Conference Training Institutes July 6-8
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