Dating in January

Two years ago, I planned a Christmas themed date for each week of December. I thought then what a wonderful thing it was to take intentional time outs for each other weekly and how nice it would be to do it every month. And then I promptly forgot about it after Christmas. Until recently. No matter how long you've been together, most couples could use some help with date night which is where I come in. Once a month this year, I'm going to give you a date idea for each week of the month. Some of them will require money, some won't, some will have something to talk about, some will be a service type project, hopefully all of them will inspire you to date your spouse! Without further ado, here are four date ideas for January.

Ice Skating - Most of us probably aren't expert figure skaters which means this date night is the perfect excuse to hold hands all night long.

The Chronicles of Narnia Date Night - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a great wintery movie. Copy the Beaver's meal of fish, potatoes, marmalade sticky rolls and tea and curl up while you watch this together. Great option for a week you can't get a sitter!

Coffee and Goals - Grab a new clean notebook and head to your favorite coffee shop to talk about your goals for the new year. Make sure you cover both your family goals and your personal ones.

Play in the snow - Indiana is bound to have another good snow left in her this year. Reach the inner child in you and get outside to build a snowman and have a snowball fight.

(Image via Shine Dae and Night)

Date Night: Bastille Day

Today is Bastille Day! I first celebrated Bastille Day with a friend, making French flag cupcakes. Since then, the date has been on my calendar because it's the perfect excuse pretend you're French. Plus, people will be really impressed with you're knowledge of history when you're able to tell them what Bastille Day is. My favorite is when I get to make the French holiday into a date night. Because themed date nights rock! While we actually celebrated it yesterday for a friend's birthday, I thought I should still give you a little inspiration for your own Bastille Day Date Night. To really get the feel for it, you'll need these four things.

Top 5 Summer Date Ideas

At last, I've changed the flannel sheets off the bed and I don't think I'll be putting them back for several months. Summer is here and with it comes the search for date nights that are summer appropriate. It seemed really easy to think of dates for Fall because Fall is my favorite season. But what do you do when it's hot outside? Well obviously these five things...

Have some ice cream at the park. Whether it's a couple of cones or a pint of B&J's, a cool treat outside in that summer sun will give you both a chance to just sit and enjoy a treat together while you talk about the day or dream of your upcoming vacation.

Take care of the yard together. You might be wondering how much of a date this actually is, but I count it as one! Mowing, pulling weeds, mulching, planting, pruning, it will get you both working towards a common goal. When you're finished and your yard is looking spiffy, have some cold lemonade on the porch and enjoy your hard work together.

Go for a hike. This has been one of my favorite date ideas since Dearest Carl and I started dating because it usually involves a road trip and a picnic and a whole day together to talk and adventure. Go to a State Park you've never been to before, or revisit one of your favorite spots. Don't forget your camera!

Visit the Farmers Market. We're lucky enough to live close to two different Farmers Markets and if you get up early enough on a Saturday morning, it's usually worth the trip! It's a chance to hold hands and pick up some fresh produce for your meals that week.

Go to the movies. You know the feeling of opening a door and getting this blast of wonderful arctic air in the middle of a sweltering hot day? The movie theater is the perfect place to escape the heat for a while. Lucky I've given you some movie ideas for the summer!

What are your favorite summer dates?

(Images 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5)

St. Patrick's Day Date Night

Happy St. Patty's Day! I realized this morning I don't even have green to wear today. But I have an Irish Date Night planned for tonight so that ought to make up for it, right? In case you've missed past date nights, At Home Date Night for us is a themed dinner and a movie. Today it's all Irish, obviously. So first, here's what we're eating!

St. Patty's Day is definitely a great occasion to make beer bread and this is my favorite recipe. When I went searching among all the cozy Irish recipes on Pinterest for a main dish, I came across this Dublin Coddle. Sausage, potatoes and bacon? I can dig that! In past years, I've made Irish soda bread and Please May I Have Some More Soup (sausage, cabbage and potatoes, remember?) so I'm excited to mix things up a bit this year!

Ah The Quiet Man. This is my all time favorite Irish movie and I've watched it every year on St. Patty's Day since the first time I saw it. It's about an Irish born American boxer (John Wayne) who moves to his old family home in Ireland and falls in love with a fiery red head (Maureen O'Hara). It's hilarious and witty and romantic. Like fifty stars. Also, you can find it on Netflix!

If you'd rather watch something else though, here's a few other Irish related movies: Leap Year, Far and Away, P.S. I Love You, Darby O'Gill and The Little People, Brooklyn.

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

(Top image via Redbubble)

Dating in December

I loooooove date night. Love it love it love it! We don't have them very often, so when December was rolling into view, I decided to use the opportunity to think up a fun Christmas-y activity for each week of the month. Here's why. One, there's some really fun Christmas activities and when you call it a date, it makes it even more special! Two, the month of December is fraught with parties and events and activities, so having a specific date night planned makes us stop and connect amidst all the merrymaking.

We're smack dab in the middle at the moment and we've had some great fun! So I thought, if you need a little inspiration for some Christmastime dates that don't involve present shopping for your kids, here's how we're dating this month.

My Top 5 Fall Date Ideas

Raise your hand if you get stuck in a date rut. Us too. Going out to dinner is an easy pick and if there's a movie you've been wanting to see, bonus! It makes it hard to get out though when you have a month with little to no date money. Since Fall is my favorite season, I've been thinking about some fun ways to spend time with Dearest Carl without needing cash and I kept coming back to these five ideas. So I thought I should share the wealth and maybe help some of you get creative with your Fall date nights!

Go for a bike ride together! Fall has some of the BEST weather of the year so it shouldn't take much convincing to get you out there. Take an evening after dinner and enjoy the evening light and the colored leaves while you glide on the pavement. Bike rides are also a great time to dream and plan together. Just a tip. :)

Go to the apple orchard! Usually their smallest bag doesn't cost much if you want to pick your own or you can just munch on a caramel apple. The little orchard near us serves apple slushies which is a huge favorite for a few quarters. The bottom line, it's a fun Fall adventure with little expense.

Have a bonfire! Is there anything cozier in the Fall? Make some hot cider for the two of you, grab the coziest blanket you can find and spend an evening snuggling against the chilly air and watching the stars come out. More dreaming and talking time can be inserted here. ;)

Go for a picnic! Not only is it an excuse to have sandwiches and fruit for dinner, it makes the meal much more fun. Pick up some really good bread for those sandwiches and a bottle of your favorite soda the next time you're at the store. Then whether it's in your backyard or at the park, your picnic will seem like a real date night.

Play video games! You have to admit that sometimes the Fall weather just doesn't agree with us. If it's freezing and spitting rain outside, pop some popcorn and snuggle up on the couch for some good ol' Mario Cart. Dearest Carl and I love playing Minecraft and Age of Empires on these nights. Whatever you play, not only will it be a fun different evening, your husband will be happy.

Obviously date night means no kids, but if you're in a spot that you don't have a sitter, that is the nice part about these five picks. You can make each of them a family date night!

What are some of your favorite Fall date night ideas?

(Images via 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5)

A Pirates Date Night

So I know you're dying to hear all about me and Dearest Carl's pirate-y date night from this past weekend. You might have even caught a glimpse on Instagram. While it wasn't anything super fancy, it was pretty fun! We watched The Pirates of Penzance which is an old family favorite of the Watkins and I drummed up a pirate-y dinner!

While I was planning our feast fit for a pirate, I did a little research on what pirates actually ate. I found out that they would have fresh produce and cheese for a little while after making port but from then on, it was salted meat, hard tack and rum. If you're wondering why, it was because of the expiration date on those things. Things don't stay fresh when you're at sea for long periods. ;)

Anyway, I based my menu off my discoveries! We had beef jerky (which is the closest I could get to salted meat), parmesan cheese, ciabatta bread, apples (because that's what Captain Barbosa eats) and root beer. It was all very tasty and perfect for snacking while we watched our musical pirate movie.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I love doing themed date nights around movies! I did a special dinner for each of the Hobbit movies when they came out and we've also done date nights for Nacho Libre, The Phantom of the Opera and The Princess Bride. If you've never had one, you need to! :) I look forward to creating themed family nights with our kids someday too.

So now I'm taking suggestions! What are some good classic movies that you'd love to see made into a date night? I'm open for just about anything!

(Top image from IMDB)

Date Night

This date night was too fun not to share! I had been looking around for ideas for something to do on Halloween and this movie jumped out at me. So we had a Phantom of the Opera themed Halloween Party!

Our Menu

Appetizer: Baked Brie and Crackers

Entree: Sausage, Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Grapes and a French Baguette

Dessert: Shortcakes and Pumpkin Ice Cream with Caramel Drizzle

Since the story of Phantom is set in France, I did a little research and came up with an easy French menu. Then I covered the house in candles and dressed up fancy, sporting a sparkly mask. We ate our meal to the sound of the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack and then watched the movie! It was really fun and made our Halloween night quite enjoyable. :)

I hope maybe this gives you some ideas for a date night with your spouse?

You are loved so stay happy!

Date Night

Okay maybe I'm too young to be posting about date nights. Maybe I haven't been married long enough. But! I want to get in the habit of dreaming up creative date nights while we're still child-less! I'm hoping that when the babies do come along, it will be easier to think of creative things because I've been doing it for a while. And I thought, I should share some of my ideas for all you wives out there trying to romance your husbands!

So! To start out, I want to tell you about our movie night we had a week or so ago! We had a Princess Bride themed night. I nabbed the idea off of The Dating Divas website (which is pretty spectacular by the way!) and it was fun!

I made fried chicken and we had root beer and magic pills (aka, chocolate covered pretzels). And of course, we watched The Princess Bride, one of our favorite movies. :) It was quite nice! And this kind of movie themed evening could easily be adapted when kids arrive. I'm looking forward to planning more!

Maybe you have some creative date night ideas that you really enjoy? I'd love to hear about them!

You are loved so stay happy!