premarital counseling

Dare I say...premarital counseling was a lot of fun! There were parts that were necessary and not so fun (finances! ugh. very necessary and good info but man, it makes my head spin.) But any time I spend with Ryan is usually fun, and time that brings us closer together & to the Lord is the best kind of fun!

So here's the run down of what we did...

Fri night: Started with dinner, sat with an older couple and a younger couple (I thought we were young! These kids are still in college and not getting married until next yr). First session was our church's Pastor talking about the Biblical foundation. He referenced the first marriage, Adam & Eve, and then looked at Ephesians 5 regarding marriage roles, love & respect. After that we did my favorite part: the flag page! We both took this 5 min test before counseling and it told us a lot about ourselves, how we find success in our lives, what motivates us, etc. Check out our flags & how very different we are!! I guess it's true...opposites attract! The only thing Ryan & I really have in common, personality-wise is that we both call "Fun" our adopted country (my home country is Control and his is Peace) and we both consider optimism as one of our driving character traits. If you want to know more about the whole flag shebang, let me know. I think it's really cool, and the inventor dude is actually coming to our church the weekend before Thanksgiving. I can't wait to hear him speak!


Saturday: Started with breakfast, then moved into "10 things we wish we'd known before we were married" by the Young Marrieds Pastor & his wife. My favorite from their top 10 is "If you win, you lose." For those of you who know me, I love to win. I love to be right. I hate to admit that I'm wrong. It's so easy for me to get in a fight or argument and "win" it. But if I win, that really means our relationship has lost. Why? Because we're going to be a team, it's not me & Ryan any more. The pastor asked a very good question: Do you want to be right or do you want to be one?

After that, we split into girls & guys for coaching time. We got these books:

And what we did after counseling was trade books so that Ryan can read & highlight what really applies to him as a guy, and I can do the same for him. Then we'll trade back books, read them and discuss. Ryan's already finished reading/highlighting...I'm a little behind because I've gotten caught up in the Twilight books. (thanks Lauren!)

We actually have a long reading list now...starting with those books, we also were suggested to read Love Languages by Gary Chapman and Intimate Issues by Linda Dillow. We also have a devotional, Before You Say I Do from my friend Raegan that we've been going through...just hope we can get through all this reading before Aug 29th!

Anyway back to counseling! After lunch, we had the finance session. Like I said, not my favorite but a definite must. A lot of the concepts are from Dave Ramsey/Financial Peace so it was good stuff! The guy who taught it said that b/c we went through the course, we could come to him any time and get financial help for free. yay! Then the last session was back to spiritual matters - how to make God the foundation of our marriage. We looked at marriage as a triangle - the 3 points being God, Ryan, and me. So as we strive to grow closer to God, we equally grow closer to each other, and the triangle gets closer as the points move closer together.

So that was our weekend. Good times :) And we can now get a discount on our marriage license. Yippee! Funny last thought - our pastor told us that several couples have asked to take a picture with him for their wedding scrapbooks & blogs. Nice, but we didn't do that. We're not THAT extreme ;)

Love y'all! keep us in your prayers :)

all the news that's fit to print

We finally got our engagement announcement in The Citizen. Yay! So that takes care of that. Engagement announcement in both hometown newspapers has been eliminated off the to do list!

Just a little update

So it's been a little while since I've written anything. Since getting laid off back in March, I've been looked at for a couple of opportunities here and there. I'm currently in the 2nd round of interviews for a company called Red Ventures that is based out of Charlotte, NC. I traveled up there the other week for the first interview, and really liked Charlotte (though it's no Atlanta). My 2nd interview with them is next Wed.

Also, I have a first interview with a company in Alpharetta, GA tomorrow morning. I'm really excited about this one, because the type of marketing is more my style, and its really a lot closer to home.

On another note, Corrie and I have pre-marital counseling (through our Church, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church) this Friday and Saturday. Keep us in your prayers as we go through the counseling, that we may grow closer.

That's all for now. I'm off to bed for the long journey from Newnan to Alpharetta ( over an hour, without traffic). Adios for now!

funny

Any Grey's watchers out there?

I just saw on E Online that they've made a wedding website on The Knot for Mer & Der's wedding - supposedly airing this Thurs on ABC. Truth be told, I stopped watching Grey's about halfway through this yr. Just wasn't as good any more. But this wedding website is just too cute! I can totally see Izzie writing all of it. Plus, it's for a good cause - instead of a registry, they have charities you can donate to. Anyway, I thought it was cute & funny and wedding related, hehe.

a personal note

So about 2 months after we got engaged, Ryan got layed off from his job. It was a shocking & difficult day, but we have total faith in God that everything will work according to His plan. And His plan is the best plan! Far better than anything we could come up with. Of course, planning a wedding, you're always wondering about the unexpected, and this certainly through us for a loop. I give thanks that God has blessed us with two sets of incredibly supportive parents, and we are moving right along to August 29th.

Which brings me to the reason for this post. We just wanted to throw Ryan's job situation out there and ask for your prayers & thoughts during this time. Ryan is going to Charlotte today for a job interview! Pray for his safety on the road and for a good experience up there tomorrow.

Another request - Ryan's grandma is coming home from Warm Springs Rehab center tomorrow! Praise the Lord! Keep her & the Duckworth family in your prayers :)

making the news

So today our engagement announcement ran in the Augusta Chronicle :) Yippee!

For those of you not in the Augusta area, you can check out our announcement online here. You have search for our names (Navarro or Duckworth). And if anyone knows anyone that works for the Fayette Citizen (Ryan's hometown newspaper), let me know. I have emailed them unsuccessfully about getting an announcement in their paper! Ryan says he's going to call them this week, so maybe he will have better success than me!

an exciting day!

I just listened to my voicemail and guess what?? My wedding dress has arrived in Augusta! :) :) :) Yippee!!! I can't wait to go home & try it on! It came so much earlier than I expected...we were estimating 5 months from when we ordered. I guess we ordered it early Feb? So definitely wasn't expecting it to arrive this month!

Wanna see it? Haha! Just kidding! You'll have to wait til August 29th.

I have to say it's been so great working with Elegant Bridals. They make you feel like family. Our first visit, I was confused because you don't see any of the dresses. They keep them all hidden, and your consultant talks to you about your dream dress. Then she pulls dresses and you try them on in rounds. It was a different process from any of the other bridal salons I went to, but I really enjoyed it. Our consultant, Sara, was also so sweet and fun. The dressing rooms are private and large, and there's also a big stage area outside the rooms where you can try on your favorite dresses in a big, big mirror. I hope the rest of the process (alterations!) goes just as smoothly and fun-ly (is that a word?) as finding the dress! I wasn't planning on having bridal portraits done before the wedding, but now that my dress is here so early, maybe I will!

What an exciting day :)