Hey Mister, you got change?

First off, I just took a nap and it was awesome.

Ok, so this week when we read that article about the families who had immigrated from Mexico, and all the changes their family had to make, I kind of thought about my own family, and the changes in the family structures I have encountered, particularly since I have moved out and gotten married. (Im really not that narciscistic, I promise)

My "family of origin" lives about 3 hours south of here, in good ol' Preston Idaho. I am the oldest of 5 kids, the youngest is now 4. The distance from them didn't allow much time spent getting to know my husband when we were dating. However, we spent a lot of time with his family, who lives in Rexburg. Because my mom was far away, we did a lot of wedding planning over the phone, as well as on our own. She took care of the food and I did the decorations. I really didn't know exactly what she was doing for food until the day of the reception. And she did great. For decorations I really wanted to fold 1000 origami cranes to hang from the ceiling (think twice if you ever consider doing it, because it is sooo much work!) For some reason though I went through with the plan and ordered 1000 sheets of blue, orange, and grey paper from the internet. The next 5 months I got to spend a lot of time with my husbands family folding cranes, and we grew really close. I spent more time at their house than my apartment. I missed my parents and siblings a lot and it was nice to have my in-laws to hang out with. Now whenever we visit my parents I feel like my role has changed in that family, simply because in not around them as much anymore. I also feel like my in-laws have had to change their family structure to let go of their son, as well as let me into their family. I didn't have too hard of a time transitioning into the newest family, the one with me and my husband, but it has definately been interesting. I am thankful for the information I get from this class, and that it lets me see my family structures in an clearer light so I can understand and make the most of them.