Week 6

When engaged and getting ready for the wedding day or even when dating I think that it is important to talk about what you plan on doing about certain roles. For example you need to talk about who will lead family scripture study and prayer if you decide on doing that. Other things for the wedding like how much to spend, and who pays are other things that need to be decided early on in the engagement. Another thing, find out how they sleep. There were a lot of things that we talked about in class that I never even thought about, but I know that if I just did my thing not knowing how it affected my spouse, that I would feel terrible finding out that it hurt him. I would never want to hurt my spouse. Budget, budgeting is another important thing that should be talked about and who spends what money, or if you combine accounts and share. My parents' accounts were combined, and every time we went shopping with mom for things that we needed dad would scowl. Yet mom let him buy all the junk that he wanted at yard sales that would fill our back yard and it would turn into a junk hole. There were some things that were useful, but at least half the time we asked where he wanted it and every time his response would be "in the backyard". I love my dad, and I love my mom. Some of the things though, I just didn't understand. It comes down to need and want. To my dad it was that is super cheap!, you can't get one of these for that price very often. (I think that's where I get it from) And he also says, I could use that down the road, so I guess he's pretty smart. In my future marriage, this is one of the things that will definitely get discussed because I want to be able to play in the backyard with my children without having to move everything out of the way before we can do so. There are so many things I learn in this class, and I love it!

Week 5

We talked about dating, and marriage this week. There were so many things that I learned, and connections that were made that just made sense. It was like Mr. Gru from Despicable Me when he said, "Light bulb." I had never thought of it like that before, and it was awesome! Here is a little something I learned.
We learned about the three P's of dating, which are Paired off, Paid for, and Planned. By dating you are accomplishing different things. You are able to practice marriage commitments, you are learning to be partners by pairing off, you adapt to norms, you are socializing, and it helps you realize changes that you need to make. The three P's of dating go hand in hand with the three P's of marriage which are: Preside, Provide and Protect. That's where I had my "light bulb" moment, it clicked in my mind. By going on planned dates with someone you are able to make decisions together, pay for each other, and look out for one another. You also do all these things in marriage, and believe that after you are married you should continue to go on dates with your spouse.We also talked about the difference between dating and courtship. Dating is with a variety of different people and a variety of activities. Courtship is dating one person exclusively and you both are ready for marriage. We talked about who was the best judge of who you should marry. Is it you or your roommates and family? Its been proven that it's roommates and family, but if I let my roommates decide who I date I would need to "have my head checked" as my sister says. I completely agree with family, because family is important and you grow up with them. You live with them for 18 years or more and your family would know you best. You are going to live with your family and you and your spouses' family forever. You don't necessarily get to live with roommates for the rest of your life. Between you, the Lord and your family I think that those are the opinions that truly matter. I believe that dating really does prepare you for marriage, as well as how you are raised, and that the opinion of your family matters a lot when it comes to who should I marry.