As a primarily long-distance relationship couple, I think before Engagement Matters, we may have struggled on the communication front. If an issue arose while we were together, or apart, we may have just swept it under the rug for fear of ruining a treat of a time we got to see each other, but definitely some tension lingered. I think Engagement Matters stressed to us the idea of transparency and working through issues together. As a self-admitted stubborn-as-an-ox person, I have difficulty letting things go and moving past an argument when it's over. After our Engagement Matters, I really have made more of a conscious effort to view conflict as less of “me vs. you” and more “us vs. a problem.” Also, Engagement Matters prepared us for situations we didn't expect to find ourselves in so soon, like a deployment. The stress of transparency and communication and working through issues together helps us immensely during our separation, as we use most of our catch-up time (when we get the chance to speak) as an opportunity to be emotionally vulnerable and talk about our issues.