create a new family.  The new family can only survive if they are united.  I just don't feel like Laura's gotten that, yet.

According to our wedding planner, we have until November before we need to start doing anything else.  In that time, I will make sure that Laura understands my feelings and my fears.  I want to continue going on dates with her.  I want her to know that I am in this for her and that she should be in this for me.  We're going through all this together and that at the end of this ride it's just gonna be her and me and that's exactly why I'm doing it.

I hope this isn't just the calm before the storm.  I hope that since we've declared a truce that she'll actually start listening to me and understanding me.  I hope that she can respect my independence as I respect hers.  I hope that she can understand and not get hurt when I say that my life doesn't revolve around the wedding.  I hope that she and I can reconnect and get closer than were before the engagement. 

I'm gunshy.  I've told her so.  After the summer I've had and the fights we've had about her mother, the wedding, her insecurities and demands, I just want to get to a