Twogether in Texas

We've  always known we would do some sort of premarital counseling. Both of us grew up with the mentality that divorce is not an option. Considering that the divorce rate in the United States is a staggering 50%, we knew we wanted some tools to help ward off those odds. It didn't hurt that our church also required it for us to be married, but they were incredibly flexible about where it was done!

Early early this morning (8am on a Saturday, ouch!) Mr. Manatee and I battled OU/Texas traffic up to Anthem in Dallas for our premarital counseling seminar. Texas has this fantastic (and completely free!) program for engaged couples called Twogether in Texas. Completely non-faith based, this program approaches touchy subjects like communication, anger, money, previous marriages and blended families. Surprisingly, sex was not really discussed! After completion of the full day program, couples receive a certificate of completion that earns us $60 off our marriage license! I actually found this program on the side bar of advertisements on Facebook.

We dragged out of bed at 7am, picked up some liquid courage and joined seven other couples in the most fantastic full backed leather chairs.

The class ran from 8:00-4:00pm, and it was surprisingly a lot of fun! The class was taught by a really wonderful couple who had been together for almost 25 years! They immediately got us up for several "Ice-breakers" that let us really get to know each other, including sharing our love stories. It was a really great mixed group! Because we got the awkwardness out of the way early, it was really amazing to get to hear and share personal stories and struggles we'd had in our relationships throughout the day. We also got a workbook with amusing pictures and interactive activities, a love language quiz and instructions to write an "Only You" love letter to our future spouse! Some of the discussions and activities were hard, but we learned so much! At the end of the day, this really tough-looking martial arts instructor shared his "Only You" letter with the group, and it was an incredibly touching tribute of his love for his future wife and incredible excitement about their child on the way. We all got a little teary-eyed! Mr. Manatee wrote me the sweetest letter that I can't wait to frame. 

Oh yeah, and we got free lunch!

Did you opt for premarital counseling? Was it a chore to get through, or an experience you enjoyed together?