"Keep your courtship alive. Make time to do things together -- just the two of you. As important as it is to be with the children as a family, you need regular weekly time together. Scheduling it will let your children know that you feel that your marriage is so important that you need to nurture it. That takes commitment, planning, and scheduling."
-Joe J. Christensen
I believe in marriage. And I believe that love in marriage needs to be constantly nurtured and cared for. We go on date nights as often as we can, we take vacations away just the two of us, and we try to do small thoughtful things for each other. Here, I wanted to share some of our date ideas . . . .
2011 - A Year of Dates
The Date Basket - a Christmas gift to Scott
January - IMAX movie and dinner
February - Spa Date at home
March - rock climbing and lunch
April - temple and thai food
May - our date envelope included a special at-home date . . . so, instead here I share our date to see Riverdance
June - dinner at a local restaurant and card games at a park
July - a sleepover for two!
August - 9 holes of golf
September - Picnic lunch and hike
October - Wii game night at home
November - movie and blizzards
December - mall shopping date
Sharing More Ideas -- a Link-up Party
On the first of the month I share one of our recent dates and invite readers to link their own creative, ordinary, on the town, or at-home dates.
February 2012 - Anniversary Date in Las Vegas -- sushi, Bellagio fountains, and frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity's
March 2012 - Dinner out and pizookies & a movie at home
April 2012 - It's British night! Fish & Chips and Downton Abbey for an easy & enjoyable at-home date.
May 2012 - Saturday morning walk and a breakfast date
More Dates
13th Anniversary - Las Vegas date - sushi and frozen hot chocolate
11th Anniversary - bowling and cupcakes
10th Anniversary - at home date (dinner, music from the year we were married, traditional 10th anniversary gifts) and the going out date (frozen waterfalls and dinner at an Inn atop the Columbia River Gorge)
Laser Tag - with the youth from church
Dinner and a Show - a fancy dinner, including calamari, and tickets to Phantom of the Opera
7th Anniversary - Benihana with a 3 month old
Getaways
Sun Valley, Idaho - July 2011. the theme for this getaway was "quiet"
Maui - September 2009. This trip happened to coincide with my 30th birthday.
Seattle, Washington - March 2009. To celebrate our 10th anniversary
Maui - October 2006. We always plan a getaway after our babies turn 1 to celebrate their being weaned from breastfeeding and our new-found freedom!
Las Vegas - February 2004. Our first "the baby is weaned and we're going away!" vacation. This was before I started blogging.
Links
Love, Actually - tons of fun, creative date ideas and ways to love your spouse
Texas is for Lovers - more date ideas from a girl in Texas.
Friday We're In Love - cute couple who KNOW how to date!
The 5 Love Languages - take the test
