What Catholics actually want and need from marriage preparation

Keep the lines of communication open, and buy gold. Those are the two things and the only things my husband and I learned in our marriage preparation classes 25 years ago. It’s hard to say which bit of advice was less helpful. We already knew communication was important, but what we really needed was practice. And the financial advice was sound, but we had exactly enough cash for one month’s rent…

I say to him, “Baby are you okay?” Only to hear, “Yes! I’m so happy. I’m more okay than I’ve ever been. I love you. I love your heart. And I shouldndon’t listen to love songs alone in the truck because I’m a mess over here.”

 Tonight we’re road tripping down to Monterrey for the weekend and I couldn’t be more excited! Brad and I have never been on a vacation, or even a weekend getaway, together. (Then again, who are we kidding; according to me, our lives are quasi-vacations to begin with. Well, most of the time, at least, but most definitely excluding this morning when I had the most dramatic meltdown/ cry-fest on…

It was still very much a beautiful day in the late afternoon of Sunday April 14th when we finished with Engaged Encounter. We walked through the Fan back to the VCU campus for one final meeting, and afterward decided that we would really like to have an outdoor dinner.

First, we walked by a place called Buddy's that looked like what we were wanting, but the patio was teeming with college kids (http://buddysplace.net/). Just one block away, there was a practically identical looking joint called Curbside that wasn't busy at all (http://curbsiderichmond.com/). I'd love it if somebody more familiar with these two places could explain why one seems so preferred.

Instead of taking this as some kind of indication, we took our tired little selves to the patio and ordered dinner. Rob had the chicken salad club, which merged homemade chicken salad with slices of roast turkey, cheddar and Swiss cheeses, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and unnecessary slices of bread that make club sandwiches what they are. Pretty good!

I took a much less dainty approach and had a plain ol' cheeseburger. They had a pretty impressive burger selection, cleverly named after towns in Virginia (e.g. "The Williamsburger"). I don't know why I didn't get the Unicorn Burger, which mixed ground beef with ground bacon, but for some reason I just needed it straight. All in all, this was a pretty straightforward, cheap American food restaurant, and it was just what we were looking for to put the stamp on our official completion of marriage preparation.

Yesterday, John and I received our confirmation letter for our Catholic Engaged Encounter.

A couple weeks ago we went to Mass and afterwards met with Father Leo here in Hollywood about our impending nuptials. We had done a little research prior to the meeting and knew more or less what to expect. Aside from having interviews that Sunday, in the coming months we have several additional meetings with Father Leo and other things to attend, one being the engaged encounter.

Before our meeting John was pretty set on attending a one-day encounter, with the alternative being a weekend get away. Well after our meeting, we were convinced enough to sign up for the weekend encounter. So in early May we will be spending part of Friday, and then all day Saturday and Sunday in Montebello, CA. A married couple guides the retreat, and it will be us along with several other engaged couples. It’s used as a time to get to know each other better, and discuss things like financials, faith and children.