Date Night: Date Your Mate
August 29, 2008 · Posted in Uncategorized, date night by anne
Some of the best advice we received during our engagement period was “Date your mate!” Written somewhat sarcastically by a single friend, the phrase stuck in my mind. We have not missed those opportunities during the first two years of marriage. A date gives each of you a chance to sit down and talk. To ask, “How are you?” instead of “Why the &&*#%@ are linen rentals so expensive?” Dating reminds us why we are doing this: for the relationship, not the wedding day! At some point, you run out of creative ideas for dates. EAD is here to help you with this! Consider this the inaugural version of EAD’s new feature: Date Night! Each week we’ll be posting a new date idea.
For various reasons, the hubby and I are on budget right now. So this first Date Night feature will be a budget date. This will not always be true, so expect some fancier (my new favorite word) dates that might be a little harder on the wallet.
First up, a romantic picnic for two. Quality time, F’s second love language*, is the key to the success of this date. We’ll be picking up sandwiches instead of making them to save time and energy.
Location - Your favorite place to watch the sunset.
What to Bring - Bug spray, Picnic Blanket, Camping Chairs, Portable iPod speakers, Dining Utensils.
What Not to Bring - Cell phone, Blackberry, iPhone or anything else that could electronically connect you to your Mom, Bridesmaids or Event Planner.
Menu - Gourmet sandwiches and sides from your favorite grocer/deli, a good inexpensive wine, chocolate and/or fruit for dessert.
Topics for Discussion - Anything you think of that isn’t related to wedding planning.
Cost - $20 for the sandwiches, $10 for wine, $5 for dessert.
Enjoy!
A.
If you have not read The Five Love Languages, you should. We read as part of our pre-marriage counseling and it singlehandedly is responsible for heading off some serious conflict in our home. I highly recommend it to anyone, even those not currently in a relationship.
“I am going to love reading about this series! I am a firm believer in this..and you actually reminded me that we need to crack back open “The Five Love Languages” that we received at counseling as well. Thanks ladies!”
and as the married mom in the group, let me just say that married parent dates are even more of a must-do. Without them, I doubt I’d have made it to 5 years (today!) married, 30 years old (today!) and I wouldn’t be the mom of a living breathing 4 year old little darling monster girl! A break to be together outside of your normal life is always important no matter what is going on in your life. It’s totally worth the money no matter what kind of budget you’re on.
You couldn’t be any more right on. My husband and I have been married for 6 1/2 years and we do one date night a week and one family day a week (with our boys). It makes the hugest difference in our relationship with each other. We didn’t do it the first two years of marriage and it was the worst two years of my life with him. I hated him then, but I love him more and more each day now, thanks to God and open communication and time spent together. Thanks for this post!
Date Night sounds fun!
And I’ll have to look up and find a copy of that book…
