February 20th

The prep work this week talked about transitions into marriage. I think the transitional period in anything is difficult but marriage especially difficult. You have to go from living on your own to being committed and sealed to someone else and suddenly they are like your second half. You have to share a house, a bathroom, a bed, a kitchen, etc. with them and so it is something really difficult to transition to. Then once you finally get settled you start talking about having kids and once you have kids you have to share everything with them too. You have to go from having a semi-clean house to a mess because you have a toddler running around.

There is also a transitional period when you start a new job. If you had a job before you are still used to there way of doing things but once you start the new job, then you have to transition to a whole new way of thinking. One big transitional experience I have had in my life so far is moving out of my mom’s house and moving into college with roommates. I went from being quarantined with just my mom and I to living with 5 other fresh out of high school girls and we had to figure out how to survive on our own. It was hard cause I went from basically being an only child (while my brother was on his mission) to having what turned out to be basically four sisters. It was a tough transition, but I have had so much support from friends and family back home as well as friends I have made up here at college who are willing to help me when I am in need. One thing that I enjoy about learning to live with roommates is it is essentially going to teach me how to live with my future husband.

I have had my ups and downs with my roommates, but they have taught me so much. They have taught me how I want things to be, but they have also taught me how to compromise. I have learned to choose my battles because sometimes it is more important to keep the piece than to get mad over a stolen piece of food. My communication skills have also improved because I am able to voice my problems and concerns when something is bugging me or not running smoothly, it makes the apartment run better when we can talk things out. Although it will be different with a husband it still has taught me so much that will help me transition into a husband- wife setting when I finally(hopefully) get married.