Journey to Jager: Sweet Dreams

Last night I dreamt about cake. Cake. Not a bad night's sleep, if I do say so myself.

This is what happens to you when you are three months from your wedding. Both your waking and your sleeping ours are consumed with cake, budget, decor, and the list goes on. For the most part, though, I haven't been having as many wedding dreams as I did in the beginning. The venue nightmares were the worst! Or maybe the most recurring and nightmarish type fantasy has been the one where I am about to go down the aisle with no shoes, my hair and makeup are not done, and I can't recall putting any of the details of my wedding together (music list, etc.) My sister, the psychologist, would likely say this is my FOMO in action. In my dreams, I am weepy that I didn't take full advantage of my wedding. Good grief, Beth.

I am happy to say that Matt and I have been fully enjoying the engagement period to its fullest. We had a moment to reflect at our recent Engaged Encounter retreat, a part of the pre-wedding "requirements" when marrying in the Catholic Church. It was honestly one of the most amazing retreats I have ever been on. We really had no idea what to expect when packing our bags and making our way to the Vincent De Paul retreat center in Montobello. All we knew is that it was run by the Catholic Church, there would be other couples, and we would have to sleep dormitory style in women's and men's only bunkers.

When we got there, the weekend before Thanksgiving, we were shocked to find out that there were 60 couples in attendance. The program was led by two couples, married over 30 years, and a Bishop. Each session began with one of the couples talking through a topic and how it applied in their marriage, the Bishop would then give an overview of how the topic applied to the Catholic view of marriage as a sacrament, and then delved into dialoging - we were given a prompt and a set amount of time to write. After the time was up, we met up with our partners, shared a kiss, and swapped notebooks. After reading through what the other wrote, we set to talking about it. The topics ranged from discussing our personality types, the way our upbringing shapes the person we are today and the decisions that we make. We talked about forgiveness, the daily decision to love, finances, and communication. The experience enriched the way I view this journey Matt and I are on together and completely changed the way I view marriage. It was an extraordinary experience and I am so glad Matt and I got to experience it together. I wish every couple had the opportunity to participate in a retreat like that! It's not often you get that time, away from all the hustle and bustle to just spend time together. And have the perfect excuse to put the phone down and be present. It was also really nice to be around so many people who are in the same exact stage as Matt and I, all experiencing the joys of the engagement period. It was also fun being able to talk about the details of wedding planning and all of the silly stuff as well :)

I am more excited than ever to be making this commitment with Matt. Attending this retreat, the last weekend of Ordinary Time, right before the Advent season, seemed like a fitting way to enter the final stretch of our engagement period. Life isn't perfect and I am sure there will be curveballs along the road ahead, but I am excited to be making the journey with Matthew. Enjoying every minute of our present as we prepare for the next big step!