Happy 2010!

Mike and I are wishing you wonderful and safe happy new year! It's going to be a big year for us and we couldn't be happier. See you all soon!

The results are in!

A couple of weeks ago we met with Mr. Dick Phillips (our contact at the church who reviews the results of the Marriage Prepare test) and learned quite a few things about each other. More than we thought we would just by taking this test. I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't keen on the idea of taking some test to determine our strenghts and weakness. Partly because I'm stubborn and the other being that a member of my own family had reviewed results with other couples at one time and I remember thinking, "How awful that you have to tell a couple that they shouldn't get married or that they will have a tough time with their relationship if they do decide to get married". As usual, my perception (and fears) were skewed and I'm happy to say that I'm extremely glad we did this. I *highly* encourage couples to take this test before they are married.

Both Mike and I learned that we rank very high overall on having a healthy relationship (among the other 2,000 couples that have been married for XX amount of years). Both of us also scored high on good communication within our relationship and with each other (yes, those are two different things). Both of us are very independent (can be good or bad) and we both have a very low tendency on avoiding topics, discussions, problems, etc. One of us (I won't name names - OK FINE, me)is very stubborn. The other (Mike) is also stubborn but not nearly as much as I am. Something we both already knew, I just didn't realize how much more stubborn I was than Mike. I'm also very unlikely to lean on someone else for help. This makes complete since to me because that's how I was raised but, it didn't really hit home until I read how we answered on certain questions. That's a definitely a weakness that can be worked on.

We both didn't realize that although we've talked about children, we'd never REALLY talked about what our roles as parents would be. How were we going to handle discipline? Would one of us be overprotective and the other one not so much? How would we handle? What were the roles and responsibilities of being parents?

We came home with some homework but not dreadful homework by any means. We also learned it's not the quantity of time you spend with each other that makes you stronger as a couple, it's the quality and the communication. Great lessons learned:).

It's planning time again!

Yes, it's been awhile since we've posted about our planning process! Here is where we are thus far... (We also promise to start posting more often :-)).

I know we've been saying this a lot, but we OFFICIALLY, officially got our church. After a 3 month process, it's ours on our date. The stress and process was well worth it, but at the same time, I can see why some couples opt for another location after they learn St. Mary's guidelines. We can't wait to be married in the cathedral.

After interviewing many photographers (and realizing how different each style (and price) is), we've chosen our person. She meets both our style and our budget! Next up, booking her and our engagement/bridal portrait sessions (don't get too excited about seeing those photos just yet, we won't have these taken until my braces are off in June!).

Our guest list is just about complete and we're currently finalizing the addresses. We'll start looking at "Save the Date" cards and invitations in the next couple of weeks!

Mike has been tasked with finding a DJ that not only meets our music taste, but is fun as well. After all, the DJ is the MC of the reception! Our current candidate describes his voice as "Smooth like butter". More on that from Mike later on :-).

And finally, reception site. We've looked at a few venues and the only place that has met a lot of our expectations (pie-in-the-sky and down-to-earth) is the Stephen F Austin Hotel at 7th and Congress. This location represents lots of milestones within our relationship and we think it's absolutely perfect for our reception and guests. It's not exactly in our budget, but with any wedding reception venue manager, they want to work with us and "make our dream come true". This is where my Mexico haggling skills come into play. He gave us an offer and we countered back. Let's hope it's a little more realistic!!

Hopefully this post will satisfy your curiosity about our plans for now! We have an appointment to review our marriage prep results on Thursday so stay tuned for an exciting post on that experience..as with anything with Mike and I, there is always a fun story :).

A 165 question test about us...

As a part of our ongoing marriage preparation (in order to be married in the Catholic Church), Mike and I visited Fr. Louie recently to take the “PREPARE” test. The run down on the PREPARE test: A 165 questionnaire to identify a couple’s strength and growth areas. After a quick guide on how to take the test (For example, you shouldn’t take the questions too literal, you can’t be in the same room while taking the test and you can’t discuss your answers until you’ve finished), we went to our respective areas and began. 20 minutes later, I hear my phone vibrate from text message and I knew it was Mike, who was already done (while I’m still on “How many kids do you want” question). 15 minutes later, I finish up and walk by Mike’s room (in stealth mode) and take a peek. Mike was in the office right next to Fr. Louie while I was down the hall. Fr. Louie meets with us again and tells us we’ll go over the results when he receives them in 2 weeks. Of course, the first thing we both ask each other when we get in the car is “What did you answer for this question? Did you agree? You didn’t? I did!!” and so on. We’ve been told by many of our friends that this test was a helpful tool in discovering and learning more about each other. Both of us look forward to leaning just how many kids we want, how many years we’ve been together (I rounded to 3 and Mike put 2) and even more about each other. After all, isn’t that what life together is all about??

Registry

Last night Steph and I headed down to the Macy's at Barton Creek Mall for their "Sip and Scan" event.  They advertised it as a date night with free food and drinks.  Sounds innocent enough - right?  We headed over to the registration desk and I was given the scanner while Steph was handed a big bag of random stuff.  Before I was allowed to start scanning, we had to come up with a plan.  Not much to it really.  I wanted to move thru each isle with surgical precision.  Steph wanted to wander around and scan everything.  Our compromise turned into going down every isle (except the china which we saved for last) and scanned just about everything.  You'd think that since I had the scanner, I'd have at least a little control in the process.  Nope.  I just got to scan what Steph pointed at.  I scanned things we had, things we wanted, and things we might want some day. Pots, pans, OXO utensils, spice racks, coffeemaker, blender, sheets, pillows, luggage, etc, etc.

After a little over an hour, we finally made our way to the china section.  I could see the finish line!  Unknown to me, this was going to be the toughest decision of the evening.  How many place sets?  What brand?  What style?  Classic or Contemporary?  What about placemats and flatware?  Those have to match too.  The bright side, I could sit down.  30 minutes later, we were done and on our way home.  This morning, I'm sad to say my thumb is a little sore from pushing that scanner button, my eyes are still squinting from trying to line up the bar code reader beam, and I keep flipping random objects on my desk checking for bar codes to scan...

Fr. Louie

Yesterday we met with Fr. Louis (Fr. Louie as Mike likes to call him). He performed all of the Catholic sacraments on me and had always created warm memories of the Catholic Church. I hadn’t seen him in over 10 years and he hasn’t aged at all. After I had told him my story from the past 10 years it was Mike’s turnJ. As Mike described his entire life story (and it was a long one!), I couldn’t help but look at him and smile. We had prepared for this meeting over the last two weeks and really felt we were ready for any questions he was going to throw our way, including the ones we absolutely knew we couldn’t lie about (use your imagination)! When he asked us who was the strong willed person in the relationship, Mike was quick to clarify stubborn vs. strong willed. We both knew who was more stubborn (me) and who was stronger willed (Mike) but we both were in agreement that it depended on the situation. When Fr. Louie asked Mike to describe why I was different than any of the relationships he’d had previously, tears streamed down my eyes and Mike’s face got a little flush. It was an extremely sweet and real moment for both of us.
All in all, our visit with Fr. Louie was a positive and encouraging one. We’re looking forward to taking the journey through the Catholic Church and hope our bridal party and guests will be ready for an amazing ceremony!

Our Blog

Steph and I got engaged a few weeks back (August 22nd, 2009) and we couldn't be happier. Most everyone knows by now, and if you don't, I'm not sure how you found this blog. Part of the wedding planning was to setup a website - mikeandsteph2010.com. We're using WeddingTracker, which has just about everything you could possibly imagine. One thing we thought it lacked though was a way to keep everyone up to date on the latest news. Sure, we could use some other social networking channel, but there's something to be said for keeping things organized and separate from other more random thoughts. So here we have it - our wedding blog. Updates to come hopefully weekly.