Friday, June 26, 2009

{Date Night}

Well, as you may have already noticed, I am a huge advocate of dating your spouse...whether you are newlyweds or have 30 years of marriage behind you. Being married should never be a reason to stop dating...that's when the fun begins!


I recommend a weekly date night…I don’t plan to expand on the reasons why. There are entire books written about this and I don’t claim to be an expert. I have not completed years of research on the matter. However, I am a wife whose life has been blessed by weekly date nights with my husband. These date nights aren’t always (hardly ever, in fact) grandiose... but,

The more you date and the more new and different dates you try, the more opportunity you will have to talk, and the more things you will have to talk about. There is always something new to discover about each other. You just need the time to find out what it is!

Lisa Sussman, Redbook’s 500 Great Dates



Here are some excellent posts from fellow bloggers about dating. Check them out!
Becca and Enoch - Date Night

Michelle - Date Night Priorities



To help you with your date nights, I have put together a list of ways that you and your spouse can rotate the date planning, so it doesn't always fall on just one of you.



Date Night Rotations:



1. Have some sort of “item” that you can pass back and forth. Whoever has “it” is in charge of planning the date that week.



2. Date Jar: Take one date night to scribble down 6 ideas each on scraps of paper. Put the scraps in a jar. Take turns choosing at the beginning of each week. (The chooser is the planner)



3. Envelope Day: Super easy & fun idea (one of my previous posts)



4. This isn't really a rotation, but it makes dating easier!

Keep a Date Night Guide: Get a medium sized binder, pocket dividers, blank tab dividers, and some sheet protectors. On the blank tab dividers, write your categories (i.e. Dining Out, Take Out & Delivery, Movies & Theaters, Parks & Recreation, Nightlife, Hotels & B&B's, Shopping, Seasonal, Babysitter Info, etc.) Keep menus and brochures in the sheet protectors. Keep a "try it list" in each category, so you don't do the same thing over and over again.



My husband and I have had several versions of this throughout our marriage, but this is our latest rendition. I call it the "funizer" (fun+organizer=funizer). So, when I find some new cool thing I want to try on an upcoming date, I "funize it" so I won't forget.



{click to enlarge}



PS. I bought this at WalMart for under $5



So, there you have it. This Date Night discussion is by no means over....you know I have more to say, but I'll leave it for another day!



What's your best piece of "wisdom" concerning date night?

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