Marriage Prep and a Fun Night Out!

There was never a question that D and I wanted to have a Catholic wedding in a church.  We quickly decided that we wanted that to be in Denver since we want to build our lives here so the choice of the church wasn’t even a choice, really, we just knew that we would get married in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church- where D’s family has been going for decades.  

Now, for any of you who don’t know, Catholic churches require a certain amount of prep prior to your wedding day.  I’ve learned this can vary from church to church but our requirements included completed a Focus with our priest {175 question survey/test}, taking marriage prep courses, and taking Natural Family Planning (NFP) courses.  I’ve been excited for all of these things because of the conversations I hoped these courses would spark between D and me.  D and I have always had great communication skills and we make it a point to talk to each other about pretty much everything, but I knew that there were topics that would be discussed through these classes that hadn’t come up in our relationship yet…but would come up in our marriage.  So, why not start these conversations now!? 

Last week we had our first NFP class and met with our priest.  I really enjoyed the NFP class once we got past the High School Sex Ed portion of it.  I think we all know the anatomy of the reproductive organs by this point, and if you don’t, read a book.  Anyway, the couple that runs the class was fantastic- they were incredibly open and honest and seemed 100% comfortable together.  They could take about these semi-awkward-TMI topics together without batting an eye, and they made everything feel very relatable instead of overwhelming.  D and I have not completely decided when we’d like to have our first baby {although I will say I don’t want to wait too long!!} but I am really excited to learn about NFP methods and how we might want to incorporate them into our lives.  I hate being on birth control and I haven’t for some time, so I think it will be really great to see how we can “postpone pregnancy” as they say, naturally. 

The night after our NFP class, we met with our priest to go over the results of our Focus.  He was very pleased with the results {we answered 87% of the questions the same} and we had a lot of great discussion about the questions that we answered differently.  D and I were completely on the same page and understood where each other was coming from on the questions we answered differently and I think we were both very pleased with the results.  Our percentage would actually be a little higher because we each had one question we read differently so our answers really would have been the same.  I have never had any doubt that D was meant to be and would be my husband one day, but starting these classes has solidified that for us even more, and I feel very content about everything. 

On Tuesday night, we started our marriage prep courses online and I definitely think we will enjoy those as well.  They are way more focused on the Bible {which I am super rusty on} and different questions/discussion topics from various passages that they assign us to read.  I think these will be a fun thing to work on together and I look forward to the quality time it will give us together as well. 

Last night, we went to Dave and Busters to meet up with some friends of ours.  I haven’t been out with friends in months so I was really excited to start catching up with people again.  Our financial situation put us in a bit of bind for a while {frankly the timing of it happening during Winter could not have been better, because I love hibernating in the cold months anyway} but we’ve decided to set aside some money to get out of the house and enjoy ourselves every once in a while…it is sooo important for us and our relationships with our friends…and I’d bet money that the occasional beer is good for the soul as well :)  We had an absolute blast and I really hope we can make this a monthly occurrence!

-T-