Abi & Andy

Last weekend we had a really good, yet busy weekend in Baltimore. Andy came up for the weekend so that we could attend a marriage counseling workshop together. We both have known since we got engaged that we wanted to do some type of marriage preparation/counseling. Unfortunately, since Andy moved very shortly after we got engaged, the distance has made marriage counseling a little more challenging. Andy had found out about a counseling group called PCSM (Pastoral Counseling Services of Maryland) when he was working as a minister in Maryland – he liked and thought highly of the services they offered and was planning to recommend them to any of his parishioners who needed counseling services. He never ended up needing to refer anyone to them, instead, we ended up trying them out ourselves when we found out about their marriage preparation program called “Marriage for a Lifetime.”

The “Marriage for a Lifetime” workshop was a one day event that we attended on Saturday. It was a good experience for both of us, as we learned more about each other and ourselves. It was a smaller group (5 other couples) and there was a good mix of group time vs. just the two of us time to talk and discuss things. We did Myers-Briggs personality tests – which was fun. We found out that we have similar personalities, but with a few good differences. I am an

ENFP

For ENFPs the dominant quality in their lives is their attention to the outer world of possibilities; they are excited by continuous involvement in anything new, whether it be new ideas, new people, or new activities. Though ENFPs thrive on what is possible and what is new, they also experience a deep concern for people as well. Thus, they are especially interested in possibilities for people. ENFPs are typically energetic, enthusiastic people who lead spontaneous and adaptable lives.

This has always been what I have tested as and I feel like it is a really accurate description of what makes me tick. I am a people person who always has big ideas like trying new things. Which is great since I have a lot of new things coming up (being married, moving to a new state, getting a new job….), and we will most likely be moving around and doing a lot of new things for the next few years of our life!

Andy ended up being an:

ESTP

For ESTPs the dominant quality in their lives is their enthusiastic attention to the outer world of hands-on and real-life experiences. ESTPs are excited by continuous involvement in new activities and in the pursuit of new challenges. ESTPs tend to be logical and analytical in their approach to life, and they have an acute sense of how objects, events, and people in the world work. ESTPs are typically energetic and adaptable realists, who prefer to experience and accept life rather than to judge or organize it.

He is also definitely a people person (he had absolutely no introvert answers on his test – all extravert!), but will hopefully balance me out with a little more analytical side. He said that he thinks his current job with the Red Cross has made him more adaptable than he maybe once was.

Other things we did/talked about at the marriage workshop were marital expectations, communication, how to handle conflict, and how our past and our family backgrounds affect us. There wasn’t really much that either of us were surprised by or felt like we needed to work a lot we needed to work on right now – we had previously discussed a lot of the big topics and how we plan to handle them. We both know that marriage takes a lot of work, but we both think it’s worth it! We did learn/were reminded of some good tools and strategies for the future and were glad that we completed the workshop – mostly for the reassurance that we are really ready to be married!

Perhaps the bigger thing we did last weekend was the binding (well somewhat binding) commitment of starting a new cell phone contract together with a family plan! We joined up with Verizon because we both have heard good things about their nationwide coverage and also because we both know so many people IN the Verizon network. Free IN network calling is a great feature – especially for me! And we’re excited to be on the same calling plan so that we can more easily get in contact with each other throughout the day without worrying about using too many minutes or anything. Andy has already had fun calling me in the morning as he’s driving to work….I’m barely awake, sluggishly getting ready for work, so we don’t have much of a conversation – but it’s still fun to hear from him at the beginning of the day. And thanks to Andy’s discount by being an employee of the American Red Cross, we are going to be getting a percentage of our bill taken off each month and we got a great deal on two brand new phones! I got the purple one and Andy got the black one with a bluetooth headset. All in all, a great and productive weekend!

only 80 more days until we get married! …abi