When two people take their wedding vows and promise to love and honor one another until death do they part, they are hopefully taking those vows with pure sincerity. Unfortunately, the everyday trials and tribulations of life can get in the way and the couple can grow apart and ultimately end up divorced.   Utah’s divorce rate is approximately 50% higher than the second highest state in the US.  Many believe that is due to the specific demographics of the state. 

In Utah, 70% of the population is said to be of the Mormon faith. Mormons tend to marry and produce children at a younger age than normal.  The average age at marriage in the US is 25 for a female and 27 years old for a male.  Compare those numbers to Utah stats, where the average age is 21 for a female and 23 for a male. 17.6 % of the brides in Utah are less than 20 years old.  Utah divorce attorneys often find themselves representing these young adults.

For every thousand people in Utah, 4.6 people end up in divorce, and the statistics continue to rise. 72.5% of the divorces are first time marriages for both, while 26.5% are remarriages for either the bride or groom. Of those first time brides, 60% have had at least one year or more of college. 18% of these marriages find themselves seeking the services of a Utah divorce attorney within the first year of marriage, 50% within the first five years and 70% within ten years of saying “I do”.  This can be compared to the national average in the US, where 20% of first marriages are divorced within their first five years and 33% within their first ten years.

Because many of the couples seeking divorce are so young, they have not reached a high level of income. Yet their cases are complex, having to deal with children and custody issues. Over 10,000 children a year are affected by divorce in Utah. These issues make their cases more expensive, which makes it difficult to afford the services of a Utah divorce attorney. At least one party in 70% of the Utah divorce cases does not have legal representation. Judges encourage attorneys to help those unable to afford services with help in the most vital areas.

I found an amazing service on Twitter tonight called Bloggled and they offer a service that will allow me to print my blog.  I know all of my friends who run family blogs on the Blogger software (powered by Google) who worry all of the time about Google deleting their blog.  It actually happened to Google.  They deleted their own blog.  If they can accidentally delete their own blog, they can delete yours.

The reason I share this information about printing your blog though is because this service will do much more then just print your blog they will also help me archive my blog and so much more!

I was thinking it would be cool to print off my family blog and have a book that I can put on my coffee table for when family comes over.  These days the younger families don’t have picture albums anymore.  All of their pictures are digital and that is one thing that I miss - having something to hold and look at away from the computer.  Something that you can do with your kids for a family home evening.

I am glad I came across this site on Twitter and I just wanted to make sure all the readers of this blog were aware of Bloggled and the services they offer.  Thanks Bloggled - you guys rock!

Have you ever read any of the circulating stories detailing situations where an over-zealous blogging woman accidentally erases the family blog. Of course, her first reaction is to call on her husband for some electronic heroics. Hence the title of this blog… if I imagine my family in this situation… I can just hear my wife screaming save my blog!

I’d assume most bloggers are fairly unaware that one of the risks of keeping the family journal via blog is that it could accidentally be erased. Or worse, the free hosting service you use becomes interrupted or canceled.

Last night I pointed these facts out to my blogging addicted wife and she quickly replied, “How can I archive my blog?” To appease the little lady, I did some research and found out about a few solutions. One of the more interesting options, probably because it is local, is the launch of a new product/service called Bloggled. Bloggled is a free service that allows families to easily archive their blog. Better yet, the archiving is automatic with each new post.

So, to my dear wife, and all other blog crazy readers go take a look at www.bloggled.com.

Change can be a frustrating time for young kids whose world often gets rocked with even the simplest of changes are made. If you are going through a change like painting your house, or getting new floorings make sure to let you kids help out so that they know they are special, and that the change is not a bad thing.

You want them to know that what is going on is a good thing, even if your house is like a construction zone for a few days. The only way they will feel comfortable with what is going on is by you including them.

It can make for some fun family time too! I had a blast painting one of our walls with our three kids. It was a mess, and it took a lot to clean up, but the memories we made, and the pictures we have to prove the fun that was had is priceless! The kids are also proud of the work they put into the wall, and let everyone know that they put the “first coat” of paint on “that wall”.

When you take the time to let your family know they are special, and you involve them in projects, they will want to be a part of your life later on when they are older (as teenagers) and just may come and talk to you at a critical time in their life.