Cultural Identity

Aspects of Deep Culture: The "real" Courtney

We are a Christian family. It is very important to keep God in your marriage and always put him first.

I believe in the sanctity of marriage. I made a commitment to my husband to always stand beside him, through good and bad.

My perception of self is strong, bold, and courageous, no matter how little I may appear to be (I'm 5'5 and 110 lbs.)

Although my husband and I are not perfect at this, we try to instill nurturing to our children along with positive reinforcements in place of negative actions.

I cannot stand how our society views women in such a sexual tone or celebrities such as Miley Cyrus portray themselves. I want to teach my daughter that she is smart and strong without focusing on outer beauty. The seven things listed in this blog is what I want my daughter to understand about herself: http://wearethatfamily.com/2013/03/raising-daughters-in-a-world-that-devalues-them-7-things-we-must-tell-them/

My 11 year old son suffers from attention deficit disorder. It went unrecognized until he was in 5th grade. He had teachers pick on him and teachers that had very little patience with him. His self esteem was greatly affected by this behavior. Now that I know about his disorder, I am spreading awareness among my teacher friends to learn to spot the symptoms.

We tried the medication normally prescribed for ADD and did not like the side effects. We decided to help him without the use of medication. I believe that some, not all, children that suffer from ADD/ADHD might be able to overcome it without the use of prescriptions.

Watching my son constantly battle with his ADD symptoms taught me something as a future educator. Children like my son can go unrecognized or misdiagnosed. It is a teacher's job to try to spot the symptoms and help these children early on so we can help ensure academic success.

My husband has been on active duty with the Marines for almost 13 years. Through all of our struggles, I feel military members are not getting the salary they deserve. The current administration keeps cutting the military's budget. I find it highly offensive and feel the administration could do a better job than pinpointing the military.

My husband has spent the last three years as a Marine Recruiter. He will spend the rest of career(until retirement in seven years) as a career recruiter for the Marines. Although deployments are tough, recruiting duty for Marines is second, if not first for some, to deployments. I am thankful for all his hard work and dedication. We know longer have to deal with deployments. Although the job is tough, I know my Marine is coming home at the end of everyday.

I have never been a very social person. Although I love all of my dear friends, I enjoy being by myself the majority of the time. It gives me time to reflect on life and all the blessings God has given me.