Engagement Encounter: Second Session

Again, so sorry for the absence of my being. I was sick with the worst case of "stomach flu" ever imagined. But now, I am happy to say, I'm 100 percent back into the blogging game.

Believe it or not, a lot of wedding stuff has happened since being sick. {i know, right?} So let's start at day one of my sickness.

Last week Wednesday was our second session of marriage prep and I must admit, I was not my "happy go lucky self". I was sicker than a dog. This was my first day of the stomach flu and I refused to miss my second session of marriage prep. I would just hate to be labeled "that couple" who doesn't show up to class. lol

So I went, in pure utter grossness. I felt like crap. Literally. But some how some way I made it through the night feeling like a better person.

Any who, this class was all about communication. How our communication was, is and how we hope it will be.

Our instructors directed each couple into our own private area throughout their home. We were given this booklet to work from.

Each of us had to carefully read each message, fill in the blanks and discuss each answer. Being that Ramon and I have been together since high school and were raised pretty much the same, it wasn't a surprise to hear a lot of the same answers we had. It was actually a relief. However, there were a few answers that both of us disagreed on and had a few deep discussions about. Such as: what would we do if we had a mentally challenged child? What would we do if one cheated on the other?, would we stay and work it out. Would we stick to our sacramental promise to our Lord; For richer or for poorer, for good or in bad, through thick and thin till death do us part? There were some toughies but we seemed to have made it through the night.

In between the readings and discussions, Ramon helped himself to our instructors treats. They served us cold water and cute little heart shaped cookies. I snaked on my home brought Canada Dry Ginger Ale and Fat Free Crackers. {<- was a must. Don't know what I would've done without it}

I was so proud of capturing a few glimpses of Ramon taking all seriousness into this course. To me, communication is the key. And to see him having such an open mind to our little discussions on each topic really gave me a sign of relief.

While he was able to stay on the straight and narrow, I found myself taking little breathers in between. At some points, I just felt like I was going to explode.

All in all, we finished the night feeling better as a couple. Feeling like we accomplished another chapter in our life. No wonder why the church requires these courses. Its filled with tons of information that a couple rarely ever speaks of. It really opened our world to something we've never considered. For that, I am grateful!

Engagement Encounter: First Session

First, I want to apologize for being MIA to the blogging world. Life has been a little hectic for us lately.

Any who, Ramon and I had our first Encounters of the Engaged night. Ramon and I are Catholic and are getting married in a church. One of the church requirements are that we either go on a religious couples retreat {just for a weekend} or that we take a 6 week class with other engaged couples. With the cost difference in effect, we decided to venture out in the 6 week course world.

Last Wednesday was or first session.

Fist things first... the compatibility test. HA!

They made of the couples split up and go in different parts of the house to take the "Focus Test". This test is a fill in the bubble type test consisting of 187 personal questions. Some of the questions I would have preferred to leave blank, but the instructor reminded me twice that i had to chose one :/ So I did {yikes}

Ramon was being a bad Catholic boy and interrupting his test time to capture a few snap shots of me taking my test.

Our instructors {John and Jan} were so welcoming. They made homemade cookies for us to nibble on.

The glass water pitcher was cutely displayed with matching tumblers.

and they also provided us with a little assortment of fresh fruit. {pls don't mind the browning bananas. Jan instructed us not to touch those because she had plans on making banana bread with. lol}

After the test, all the couples regrouped and did a short introduction about us as a couple. One couple met on e-harmony another met at work. When it was our turn to introduce ourselves, I started off by saying we met in the 4th grade. They all laughed. {{whatever, I thought it was cute. lol}} So then I proceeded with "We HAVE NOT BEEN TOGETHER SINCE THE 4TH GRADE, we just met in the 4th grade". All of a sudden we heard a sigh of relief. {HA! Again, whatever} And then I smacked them with "we are high school sweethearts and have been together since my junior year and his senior year. Approximately 8 1/2 years of good lovin'. They seemed so shocked to hear our long history together. I'm guessing it's because we are the youngest in the class with the most time under our belts {but for the third time, whatever!}

After the introductions we all had the chance to mingle with one another. This was an exercise to get us all comfortable with one another before we start digging up the real deets within the next 5 upcoming weeks. This, by far, was my fav part of the night. Just call me your social butterfly =)

To say the least, I love our instructors. I love our fellow engaged couples. I can't wait to see where this class will take us mentally, physically and knowingly.