I'm know you're probably thinking...really Brooke another personal post #sorryimnotsorry ;) Blogging is an easy way for me to explain myself to lots of people at once and I also really like blogging. I'm sure many of you are curious/nosey (aren't we all) as to why after living together for 2+ years we are now moving back home to live apart from each other. *disclaimer* this post contains religious material and is fairly really long :)

As many of you know Andy and I are getting married through the Catholic church, which means we have to go through various marriage prep classes. I'm sure you guys are all cringing at the thought...trust me we were too until we took them.

Our first main class, Love Life Engaged Weekend, was a game changer. We talked about communication in marriage, how much our families shaped who we are, what we want our family to look like, finances and what it means to be married. Couples shared their stories and it was an awesome experience. After that weekend we were totally on the same page about so many things we normally would have never touched because we actually openly communicated. We learned how to better communicate with one another and how each one of us wants to be communicated to. Looking back, it seems like such a simple process, right? It is and I'm so thankful it was brought to us.

The second class we took was God's Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage, which is mainly about sex and marriage. I'm sure many of you are gasping, jaws dropping to the floor. I mean what can Catholics possibly teach about sex and marriage because they don't believe in sex before marriage. I think we've all thought this before, but we were in for a huge surprise. We knew the 'rules' about sex and marriage, but we didn't know why they existed. It is crucial to understand the why when you are trying to live your life based on a faith because it is so difficult to believe and follow the teachings when you don't even know why they are in place.

I sat down with the priest at the class and as he was talking about moving out I got sad and scared because it all became so real that I don't want to live apart from Andy...ever. I've gotten so used to him being there, his presence and our everyday lives together. We are finally in a beautiful place in our relationship, why can't things stay the way they are? Earlier in the day we talked about selfishness and thinking about where you are still selfish in your relationship. As soon as I asked myself why can't things stay the same the answer was easy...because that would be selfish and God's plan for us became crystal clear. We are going to move out and move back in with our parents, separately. It is it ideal? No. It is going to take sacrifice? Yes. It is scary? Yes. It is possible? Yes. Is it the right thing to do? Yes.

After accepting everything it actually kind of makes me laugh and excited. We're taking our relationship back to the early days of both of us living at our parents house and commuting to each other, talk about flashbacks :) The more we talk and think about it the more benefits that arise, we are going to save so much money (bonus!), we'll be closer to family and friends and we'll be living exactly how God wants us to live.

I am built to serve people. It is why I became a wedding photographer because I love serving couples and providing them with images that are memories of the most important day in their lives. Throughout our entire marriage prep journey it has became more clear to me that marriage and wanting to help couples is a deep passion of mine that I didn't know existed. By making these decisions I hope to inspire other young couples to reconsider the decisions they make about sex and marriage. I was reading last night and came across this quote from Mother Teresa, "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples." I know that our decision isn't going to change the world's view on sex and living together before marriage, but I hope that when couples see and hear our story they will be impacted.

If anyone has any questions about anything I've talked about please reach out, I would absolutely love to help you!

XOXO

Brooke

Why We Are Moving Back Home | #andyandbrookegethitched