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College students have a lot to think about: Exams, books and how to get to class in the snow to name a few things. It seems not many would think about how two college students might need to balance school and marriage.

As MG Dobreski says, “When you go through a buffet, people don’t ask ‘what did you leave back there?,’ they ask ‘what did you get?’”

MG and Suzi Dobreski, based out of Santa Barbara, California, visited Pullman on Friday night to give insight on how to maintain a strong marriage, based on their experiences within their own marriage. The event, “Love Talks,” was hosted by Pullman Christian School and held at The Seasoned House, a recently renovated event venue.

“What we’re trying to do is identify topics that are of interest not just to our own people in our own school but to the broader community,” Principal of Pullman Christian School Sherri Goetze said.

Pullman Christian School is a kindergarten through 12th grade private school that also hosts events for the community. The Dobreski’s were part of their speaker series, which will also include a talk about financial preparation after high school, Goetze said.

Daquarii Rock co-owns The Seasoned House with Sara Joplin. Rock said The Seasoned House was built in 1892 as a parsonage to a church on the corner. The church burned down, was rebuilt and then taken down again, and the house stayed open for residents.

In 1977, the house became the most premier restaurant in town called “The Seasons.” The business lasted until 1999, and then sat empty until April 2016, when Rock and Joplin bought the property.

“A lot of people have fond memories of this building,” Rock said. “They got engaged here, they had their first dates here … if you were to come to WSU this is the place where they would bring you to wine you and dine you.”

The Seasoned House went through several renovations, including new wallpaper, coin-decorated flooring and new windows. The house still has that vintage feel to it, complete with floral and fuzzy wallpaper, old pictures and goat heads mounted above the door.

Rock said she and Joplin plan to use the house as a venue for light catering and small events, because they have a strict 49-person limit for room capacity.

MG and Suzi Dobreski have been married for 18 years and recently started traveling to larger venues with their “Love Talks” sessions. They said they do these talks to benefit the couples who might need an extra boost in their marriage.

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“Maybe you’re not on the brink of divorce, but things could be better,” Suzi said.

Suzi said it’s their experiences that qualify them to talk about marriage. They take their “Love Talks” sessions to share stories and be open and vulnerable, with the hope that the people who attend can take something home with them.

Throughout the night, Suzi also played love songs on an auto-harp, including “Annie’s Song” by John Denver and “I Will” by the Beatles.

MG discussed some of the hardships he and Suzi went through. They lost their home, a child at birth, and MG lost his job and grandmother in a short time frame. Suzi said it has gotten easier to talk about these tough subjects, and it becomes part of their healing to tell those stories to other people.

“As horrible as it is that our son died at birth, I’m happy we had that time when Suzi was pregnant,” MG said.

Another portion of their talk was the “Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. These are words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch. Love languages are the ways one feels the most loved and how they show that love, MG said during the lecture.

As an example, MG said his love language is giving gifts while Suzi’s is acts of service. To compromise the two, MG gives his wife gifts that serve as acts of service, like a queen-sized electric blanket.

At WSU, there are families that have parents going to school and needing to balance that school life with their responsibilities at home and to each other. MG said the ideals of a relationship are still the same, even in college.

“If you do that even with just our friends,” MG said, “just watch and give each one of them a compliment over the next week or so. It’s amazing to watch how it changes relationships.”

Goetze said “Love Talks” is not just for married people. If two people are in a relationship, the points MG and Suzi bring up can help. The talks that Pullman Christian School hosts are meant to focus on things the broader community can tap into.

The Dobreski’s bit of advice for people in relationships is to keep doing things for each other. Keep the little things going, even if it’s something reminiscent of high school, where the couple celebrates their one-month anniversary.

“Keep it going. Keep doing what you’re doing,” MG said. “Don’t stop putting a note in the lunchbox, keep bringing flowers, whatever it is.”