Congratulations! you are engaged to be married. You are at door steps of most exciting time in your life. Enjoy it! Chronicle it! Put your journey in a journal! and include your thoughts and feelings. Or better yet, transform your journal into a Wedding Scrap Book.

Create a family legacy to share memories of your engagement, wedding and life together with your children and grandchildren.

Keep a diary of actions taken, experiences and feelings as they occur or shortly thereafter. Put your ideas, dreams, goals desires and aspirations on paper. Write about family happening about activities you participated in, about your friends and your loved ones. How you feel and whatever is important to you at that moment, and by all means add pictures.

Keep a little pad and a pen handy in your pocket, purse or bag at all times and write in it. This will assure that what you write is fresh and is not written from memory.

Actually keeping a journal will help you prepare for your wedding and beyond. The action of putting your experiences, thoughts, feelings, ideas, dreams, desires and aspirations on paper will accomplish more than merely a record to look back to and share with following generations.

When you make your journal, your "best friend", it will help you reduce stress that builds up as you prepare for your wedding. If you continue after your wedding, mere act of journaling will reduce stress that comes with married life. Additionally your journal will help you set goals, get organized and focus on task at hand.

Lessons in Shooting Hoops Alyice Edrich 3/01/04

No matter where we look or what life throws our way, there is always a lesson to be learned, if we just take time to look for it.

On February 27, 2004 our family was fortunate enough to take a mini-vacation, courtesy of our 13-year-old son. The week before this big event, our son entered a local “Hoop Shooting” competition and won first place, four tickets to University game, and a chance to win regionals. So Saturday morning we packed our bags, booked a hotel, and headed down to Green Bay, Wisconsin to join many other aspiring basketball shooters for a chance to move forward to state championships.

My son anxiously watched teen after teen take his or her turn at shooting hoops. He observed every technique as he waited for his turn. After waiting nearly an hour for his chance to shoot, my son went to hoops. His first basket was a miss. We could see frustration in his eyes. He looked down at floor, swirled basketball in his hands, looked up at hoop, and tried again. Another miss. We cheered him on; reminding him to relax and just have fun. But he wasn’t there to “just have fun.” He wanted to win!

He shot another hoop and missed again—this time shaking his head in disbelief. Finally, a few balls make it in hoop. It took a total of 20 seconds, but it might as well have been hours. My son walked away from his hoop frustrated, disappointed, and knowing that he didn’t make it to regionals—after all, there were several guys before him that had double hoops he had.