Marriage Retreat

Yesterday George and I spent 12 hours at Notre Dame, learning what it's going to be like when we're married. We both went into it with an open mind and ready to--quite honestly--out-couple everyone there. We were going to communicate circles around everyone. "Eat our compromising dust!" The day went like this:

8:30am: Checked in. And cut a check. Learning how to be married is not free.

8:31am: Looked around the room of couples. Figured out we had to be the most "seasoned" couple in the room. Average age--24.  We were also the only couple that did at some point in the day say "We're Domers."

8:35am: Got one of the 4 bagels that were left. :(

8:40am: Meet our 1st friends of the day. They were seniors at Notre Dame, very nice, very "the world is full of options," and best of all--the bride-to-be was from Hastings, Nebraska! What are the odds?

9:00am: Retreat got started with introductions and ice breakers. We wowed our small group with our how-we-met story. We met our 2nd and 3rd friends of the day and realize they must have purposely put us all together, as the "senior" couples.

9:45am: Time to communicate one-on-one with George. Luckily George and I love to communicate and had already discussed most of the topics, so we hit the high points and then fought about who loved each other more.

We listened and then communicated the rest of the morning and then went to South Dining Hall for lunch. I've never seen a more outlandish spread of food. All I could think about, walking through the no-rhyme-or-reason setup, was how much food they must donate. (I hope they donate the leftovers and don't throw it away. Yikes)

12:55pm: Bolted to the on-campus Starbucks for an afternoon jolt before getting started listening again.

2:00pm: Watched a how not to communicate video, full of Everyone Loves Raymond clips. Actually laughed.

I have to be honest: at some point, it all just became listen, communicate, listen, communicate. Which was good, because we talked about great stuff. But by the end, we both pretty sore from sitting all day and rehashing conversations we've had before. We walked out at 8:30pm with a certificate and a high-five.

High fives...our favorite form of communication.