Part of getting married in the Catholic church is, you have to attend a marriage encounter weekend. It’s a great way for the church to teach you about marriage, what to expect and also the role God should play in your lives.

I’m really looking forward to it as it feels like the first step we are taking into marriage. Most people I have chatted to are pretty negative about getting married (well in a joking way) - but I had a great chat to Dominic (Karina’s cousin) the other evening and he said he is really happy for the 2 of us and will be praying for us this weekend. Really cool coming from a guy.

On a separate note, we just had 11 family members arrive from Madeira. 9 of them have never been off the island and there were over 50 of us at the airport to greet them! One moerse Porchie family I’m in! I was in Madeira in 2005, so I know them very well, so it has made their arrival that more special.

So in a couple of days time, my house is going to be filled with 11 extra people for a week. Can you spell party 24×7?

Once we back from the weekend away, I’ll write some more about the weekend and partys and hopefully get some photos up on this site!