Thursday, April 14, 2011

Marriage

Gary and I are attending a 4 week workshop put together by Family Life called `First 5'. It's a marriage workshop for couples in the first 5 years of marriage (actually, we are in the pilot group!). When we were getting married, we had just 4 months to plan everything and attended a Family Life conference as premarital counselling. I remember saying that we had to do something like that again in 5 years and this worked out perfectly! We can never attend weekend conferences as pretty much every weekend is booked up. It's just over an hour long and just 5 minutes from our home. Perfect!

Okay, so although we've been married for almost 6 years, we were `allowed' in and are the longest married couple there. So strange to be on that end of things:) I'm so glad we are doing it. It is so good to have that time set aside to work on us and to just take home a few things to think about each week.

One thing we had to write about our hopes and dreams for 20 years from now. Okay, sounds dorky but it made sense in the context (we have hopes and dreams that become expectations which can lead to disappointment.). When writing it, it's pretty much how our life is now, except with one more kid. I guess I am living my dream! The one thing that Gary and I both mentioned is that we want to have an overseas trip with our kids (Africa, South America etc). I would def. like more than one. I cannot wait. I just want to wait until we have our whole little family together and then we can start planning:) To be honest, I'm not trying to sound dramatic but my greatest hope/dream for 20 years from now is that I'm still alive and healthy. That was the age my mom was when she died.

I'm really glad that we are doing this and I would highly recommend it for other couples out there. Whether it's a counsellor, workshop, conference, mentor couple...whatever it might be, it's so good for your marriage and therefore your family as well. I'm so thankful for Gary in my life. Don't get me wrong, he can drive me crazy, and he does. Daily. But, we are a great team and I love where we are and the direction we are heading.

3 comments:

  1. Sounds nice. I am sure you drive Gary crazy too (I am speaking for Gary as he does not comment on blog or blog.) I hear you on the being alive part. I am glad you are happy and can't wait until you get another child to complete your family.

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  2. Hmmm...maybe I should go to this conference? :) I'm sure I could clear my schedule ;)....
    Do you think they'll do it again - for free? And what's the pre-marital one called?

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  3. Maria-I know I drive Gary a little crazy but have you seen that patience on that guy? Good thing I make him laugh and smile lots too:)

    Jackie-as my babysitter, you are not allowed to go to the workshops:) But, you should go to one of the weekend seminars that they do. That is what we did for premartial stuff. We went to one of the weekend conferences and they had special extra sessions for premarital stuff. They are in Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna etc. WE went to the Victoria one (only one that fit in our schedule).

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