April Date Night–in September

So we stopped dating each other. I love my husband, and he loves me, but we’re homebodies.  I had no idea this ‘one date a month’ idea was going to be so hard to do!  I’m sure I have new readers since January, so go check out our first date this year and see what I’m talking about. 

We’re not doing so well with our date nights.  The April ticket kept staring at us from the wall calendar, but we never planned anything.  (our March Date Night didn’t happen until July) It’s either because we’re too cheap to hire a sitter or buy dinner, or it’s because we’re too lazy to plan anything.  I bet it’s a good mix of both. 

For our April date (that happened in September), I decided to plan something really fun.  I found a site called Dating Divas that has a ton of great ideas for dates.  I found most of them to be more appropriate for extroverts or groups, but there are a few floating around their site for the introverts like Rick us. 

I decided to use their Bookstore Date idea. I printed their cards and didn’t tell Rick what we were doing until we were enjoying our elegant desserts (McDonald’s ice cream cones) in a romantic atmosphere (sitting in the truck in the parking lot). We really know how to do up date night right!

Once you’re in the bookstore, you search out certain types of books and bond over them.  It’s really fun.  Here is a BRIEF description of the tasks.

First, we found some recipes that we would like to fix for our spouse sometime.  I’m pretty sure we’ve forgotten all about these recipes and they’ll probably never get fixed, but it did prove that we know each other well.  I picked an enchilada dish for him and he picked a lasagna dish for me.

We needed to find children’s books that we remembered from our childhood, but that our spouse hadn’t read before. That was tough!  This is Rick’s book he found for me. 

And this is my book I found for him.  I couldn’t believe he’d NEVER heard of this book.  The whole time I was reading it, I couldn’t stop thinking about what a ‘downer’ this book is.  I’m surprised that I remembered it so well. 

Another thing we had to find was a book on somewhere we’d like to go someday.  I’ve been to Great Britain  before, but I’d LOVE to go back.  I do believe it’s my favorite place in the entire world.  I especially fell in love with Wales and all its castles.  (The castle on the Wales book I’ve actually been to).  .

Rick would LOVE to go to Ireland. He wants to see the country and visit the home of Guinness.

Finally, one of the tasks was to find a book that made you laugh.  That was much harder than I thought it should be.  After several failed attempts with some joke books, this book finally hit the mark.  It is so funny what text messaging autocorrect will create.  I recommend this book if you don’t mind a few bad words and you want a good belly laugh. 

This date was just what we needed.  It cost a whopping $3 for the whole evening (thanks to Gramma watching Jack), and it was a great time to just be together and reconnect.  Rick appreciated the thought that went into planning the date, and he said he’d try to plan the next one.  I’m not holding my breath, and I kind of already have the next one planned.  (Movie night to see Courageous).   

 

Triple Date Night & Recipe

Way back in January, Rick and I started something new.  We started dating again.  Each other of course.  I gave Rick some date night tickets for Christmas last year.  There was one ticket for each month.  We started off pretty well, but that lasted only about three months.  We haven’t been on a date since March! 

This past Friday, we made up for our lack of dating by doing a triple date with my two best friends from elementary school and their menfolk.  We met at Heather’s mansion home, ate lots of food, talked and laughed a LOT,  and played some xbox Kinect. 

This spread was for 6 adults.  We had a lot of leftovers!  Heather and Greg made burgers the size of my head that were stuffed with cheese.  They were delicious!  Beth and I were to bring a side and a dessert.  We each brought a couple sides and a couple desserts.  Perhaps it was overkill, but it was a yummy overkill.

Since we were all together, we decided to celebrate Mark’s birthday (it was Saturday).  We put candles in my famous Peanut Butter Pie.  It’s super yummy! Mark is Beth’s beau.  Remember Beth?  She has now met someone WONDERFUL.  We’re all excited for her and think this one is a keeper!

If you’re going to play xbox Kinect, (or any game on any game system really) the best way to play is with a projector screen.  Boy, was this fun!  We did a sports tournament game –girls against the guys – and I’ve never laughed so hard running in place or flailing my arms.  It was such a fun time.  Oh, and the girls won EVERY round.  Just sayin’.

My friends Heather and Beth have been in my life for 26 years.  We all met in elementary school and went through high school together.  Beth and I shared lockers every single year of middle school and high school and dyed her hair every color that Kool-Aid comes in.  Heather and I used to sing in my basement to Debbie Gibson using Lincoln Logs as microphones.  We also sang  in her room with her real microphone to any song we could find.   These two ladies have been and will always be a part of my life and I couldn’t be luckier to call them friends.  And at this point, I can’t de-friend them because they know too much!

Thank you, Heather, for hosting us and being such a warm and welcoming host.  I love your blond moments and all the laughter that comes out when we’re together.

Thank you, Beth, for bringing your Mr. Wonderful to meet your wacky friends.  He’s wonderful, and I hope we didn’t scare him away.  After all the laughing, how are your cheeks?

Honey, thank you for coming with me on this loud and crazy date.  It means a lot to me that you were willing to hang out with my crazy, loud friends. And thanks for snuggling with me on the couch during the games.  I loved that most of all!

I’m hoping that we’ll be able to make this Triple Date Night happen at least once a year for all of our years to come.  I love you guys!!

I hope you have friends like this in your life.  Friends like these are rare treasures. 

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Now, for the recipe for my mom’s SUPER YUMMY Peanut Butter Pie.  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Pie 

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth if you’re me, crunchy if you’re my mom)

2Tb milk

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tub (8oz) Cool Whip

1 graham cracker pie crust (chocolate in you’re me, regular if you’re Beth)

Mix cream cheese, pb, milk and sugar until smooth.  Fold in Cool Whip.  Put in pie crust.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

March Date Night

This date was much like the first date we had in January.  We went out to eat, wasted some time doing whatever came to mind, then ended the evening at Bob Evans for their yummy desserts.  It was as exciting as it sounds. 

We really need to change things up a bit!  We are planning a big change in April if plans work out.  My fingers are crossed. 

Here are the highlights of our March Date Night:

We went to the restaurant where they serve you peanuts in a can.  Woo-Hoo!

We hadn’t been to Texas Roadhouse in a long time.  It was a nice change.

These were our yummy dinners we devoured in no time flat.  Very yummy pulled pork for me (I didn’t eat the top portion of bun to try to be healthier) and angus burger for my man.

To waste time before going to Bob Evan’s for dessert, we went to a nearby county airport.  Rick loves to look at planes. 

Look, Jack can come next time!

Rick actually took one or two lessons here. He loved it!

There’s a museum at this airport as well. I have never been, but maybe someday we’ll take Jack to see the big planes.

This might possibly be a clue to what our April date may be. 

Rick loves guns.  He loves to look at them.  For long periods of time.  I took pictures because I wanted you to see what I had to go through on our date. 

And this is our son STILL awake after our date.  That boy hates to go to bed! 

Our wonderful babysitter (and former student and player of mine – Love that girl!!!) tried to get him to go to bed, but he was not having it.  He came down and said “I just want to talk to you for a while, Mommy.”  He wasn’t allowed off the steps, so he kept having me move closer and closer to the bottom step.

All in all it was a fine date.  Rick and I got to spend some time together, enjoy each other’s company, and have great food.  But, we can’t do many more of these dinner dates.  It’s too boring for us. 

Progressive Dinner (a.k.a. February Date Night)

Since we missed our February Date Night because of being sick for the second half of the month, we needed to make it up in March.  Unfortunately, we’ve been sick most of March as well, so we had to make do with a planned church group outing as our date night. 

Our date night was a progressive dinner with 6 other couples.  We didn’t have to plan or fix any food, but rather four couples from the church hosted us for 4 parts of the dinner that night.  It was a way for the ‘older generation’ to connect with the ‘middle generation’.  We are a group of 30-somethings who just started getting together for fun monthly activities.  It gives us a way to get connected in the church. 

We traveled as a big caravan from house to house that evening.  We started with an appetizer at the first home, soup and salad at the next, the main course at the third, and desserts at the final home.  Boy was the food good!  All of our hosts were gracious and great cooks!  I forgot to get pictures of some of the food (I was too busy eating), and I couldn’t get a house shot of the final home (it was too dark by then), but here are the highlights of our Progressive Dinner/February Date Night.

 (you may have to click on the image to view it larger)

Joan had fixed (yummy) meatballs, a dip served in a bread bowl, and veggies, crackers and cheese.  It was yummy!  Jay collected Royal Doulton mugs, which I had never seen before.  He also brought out some of his vintage model cars that he collects.

Ruth served an (yummy) arugula and pear salad with a nice vinaigrette.  The arugula was a bit peppery, but the pear was a nice pair for it. HA!  The mushroom bisque had a lot of parsley in it, so it almost looked like pea soup, but it was very good.  Not a very strong mushroom flavor at all, even though I don’t mind mushrooms. Ruth collected frogs, Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, and I’m sure lots of other things. 

Our pastor and his wife served us the main course.  Diane made (yummy) individual meatloaves, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, and rolls.  MAN was that good food!  Later, I asked for the recipe for the meatloaf.  I tried it with some ingredient substitutions and it wasn’t nearly as good as hers.  I will try that recipe again for sure!

Betty is an amazing dessert maker.  She is famous among the church members for her desserts.  I wish I was brave enough to have tried a little of it all, but I was on my good-girl behavior so I only had the (yummy) coconut cream cake and (yummy) cheesecake with strawberry topping.  She also had oatmeal pie, apple pie, blueberry pie, cherry pie, chocolate cream pie, and another pie I can’t remember.  All reports were glowing!

If you ever get a chance to participate in a progressive dinner, I say go for it!  Though, I know this was not the ‘normal’ way they work, since we didn’t have to cook any part of the meal.  That was such a nice treat! 

Our actual March date night will be this week!  We’re going to try out a Bistro downtown that has a farm out by our place where they grow their own food.  It looks yummy and I can’t wait to go out again with my hubby.

February Date Night

There wasn’t one.

The last two weeks of February were pretty rough for us.  Jack got pretty sick, then since he’s learning how to share, he gave it to Mommy.  Then, being the good example to my son that I am, I shared it with Daddy.

(We watched a lot of Bob the Builder that week!)

We were supposed to visit Rick’s parents in Florida last week, and we REALLY could have used a warm, sunshiney vacation, but it was not in the cards for us.  19 hours in the van would not have been fun for these sickies.

So, we’re planning to have two date nights in March.  Yippee!!  We may try out a new Bistro I heard of recently.  They have a farm in my town and use whatever is in season for their menu each day.  It looks great, and we’re excited to try it out. (It also looks expensive, so we’ll need free babysitting that night. Hint! Hint!)

We also may go to a shooting range and shoot some stuff one day.  Rick loves shooting and since I’m a Woman in the Outdoors, I enjoy shooting a gun every now and then too.

I need to write these ideas down because there was a third idea that came to our minds the other day that I can’t remember now.  Shoot. (naaa, I already mentioned that one) :)

We’re off to IHOP tonight (with Jack) to enjoy some free pancakes.  Today is National Pancake Day, and since it’s one of the few foods Jack is sure to eat, we're going to celebrate it tonight for dinner.  I can’t wait!

(picture from Amanda’s blog I Am Baker)

Date Night #1!

This Christmas, I gave my hubby a thoughtful gift.  Time with me!!  I gave him 12 handmade cards, each with a “redeemable for one date night” note on them. 

We are to use one each month to guarantee at least 12 dates this year.  The entire year of 2010 held only a handful of date nights for us.  Probably a whopping 3 nights total.  Now, we did make up some time by taking a weekend away on our anniversary in August (Thanks, Aunt Beth for watching Jack that whole weekend!).  But this year I really wanted to invest more time in our marriage.  With a thriving 2 year old begging for our attention, Rick’s job and hobbies pulling at him, and my love for all things on the internet taking up my time, making time for each other isn’t something we end up doing a lot of.   I plan to change that by making  him offering him a chance to go on a date with me once a month.

This month we chose to go to a new restaurant just down the street from us. It’s a small Italian place that some friends of mine recommended. While we enjoyed being out –alone- together, and the atmosphere was pretty quaint -though we do prefer booths to tables- we didn’t exactly love  the food.  It was good, but as we were walking out, we said,

“That was pretty good.”

“Yeah, I’d come back here again'.”

“But I wouldn’t order that dish again.”

“Me either.” 

So, did we like it?  I’m not really sure!

After dinner, we decided to drive across the intersection to a tried and true restaurant for dessert.  Bob Evans.  Nothing fancy, but it was YUMMY!  We never get to eat dessert there, because we’re always too full from our meals.  It was the highlight of our date night, for sure! Just look at these:

They were as good as they look.  We might have to make all of our date nights end at Bob Evans.

Since we’re trying to get all our carbs eaten in just one hour (thank Dr. Atkins), we had a lot of time left to spare, so we drove to the local mall and walked and talked for the last hour or so of our date.  I drug Rick through the kitchen gadget stores and he drug me through the sports stores to look at guns and ammo.  When we arrived home, our babysitter (first ever that wasn’t a family member or close friend) said Jack did great.  He cried a little when we left and again when he had to go to bed, but other than that, the night was successful for him too!

We’re encouraged for our next 11 dates.  We don’t want to spend this much every month, so we’ll try to use family and friends who would like to spend time with Jack for an evening or afternoon, and we’ll probably change up what we do when we go out.  We’re thinking next month we may sit at the library and work on stuff we’ve been ‘meaning to get to.’ 

What ideas do you have for creative dates?  We don’t want to get in a rut, so what else could we do?  Any recommendations? 

Happy Valentine’s Day

My husband and I don’t do much for Valentine’s Day.  Every year we do less and less.  Last night he jumped in the shower at 4 pm after a day of nothing-ness, and I asked “what are you doing?” He said, “I have to shower before I go out and get a card.  I figure you’ve already gotten me a card, and I need to get one by tomorrow.” 

Romantic

But I told him that I had in fact not gotten him a card, and that all I had planned to do was bake him a little heart shaped chocolate cake. 

He put his sweats back on and relaxed the rest of the evening.

But, today, we do have a date planned.  Thanks to my BFF Beth!  She got us tickets to the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game today and is kicking us out the door, so she can stay and play with Jack.  She says it was a gift for us, but I’m sure it is just a ploy to get Jack all to herself for the evening.

So, we’ll be cheering on the Blue Jackets as they play against whoever they’re playing against today. (I have no clue). We’ll have our Arena food and my super yummy –but oh so super expensive- slushie, and we’ll try to enjoy each other’s company while wondering how our Boozle is doing with his first (in 11 months) babysitter.  *Sure, my sister watches him when I go to the dentist, and my BFF Heather watches him when I go to the Chiropractor, but those are all for such a short amount of time I’m not sure they count. 

So, we’re off to our second date since Jack’s birth.  We really should work on this.

Go Jackets! 

Thanks Aunt Beth!!!