Wednesday, July 28, 2010

“The Dating Game" Date Night

When you find your relationship getting stuck in a rut, surprise your spouse with a new you...well, three new yous! You're both sure to get a laugh out of this dinner date based on TV's "The Dating Game" where a bachelorette would question three bachelors who were hidden from her view. At the end of the questioning period, she would choose one to go out on a date with.

To create a little anticipation, you can either give a card like the one below to your spouse or email it to them at work or school as a hint that Date Night is going to be fun tonight!

You can download my free invite by clicking the links below.
FOR HER - (if hubby is planning date)
FOR HIM - (if wife is planning date)

· Choose who your three bachelor or bachelorettes are going to be (based on generic personalities...however stereotypical they may be). Once decided, dinner will correspond to the selected person. Be sure that you have three dinner options ready based on your spouse's pick! The possibilities are endless. Here are some examples:

Bachelor/Bachelorette Personality

Dinner

Barbie (stereotypical "valley girl")

Burger and Fries

Foreign National

Cultural Food: Italian, Chinese, Indian, etc.

Redneck

Hotdogs

Cowboy/Cowgirl

BBQ & Baked Beans

Animal Lover

Vegetarian food

School Teacher

Bagged Lunch

· At the start of your date, have your spouse sit down while you act as the announcer for the game show. Explain the rules to them. Give him or her the list of questions and a notepad (just in case notes are helpful). Then, announce the name of the bachelors or bachelorettes and where they are from. Then, hide yourself and have your spouse start the questioning while you act the part of three different personalities. (Change your voice to help with the allusion. Remember, as much as you'd like to ham up these characters, make sure they all have appealing characteristics. If your spouse decides against all three, then you've got a problem!)

· Your job is easy. You'll basically have a script written for each question asked to each of the bachelor or bachelorettes. For example, when your spouse asks, "What is your idea of a perfect date?" you'll respond with a different answer for each:

Bachelorette #1 (Cowgirl): "I'd take me and my cowboy to the rodeo. Yee-haw!"
Bachelorette #2 (Teacher): "Prom! I'm chaperoning, but that doesn't mean I can't dance!"
Bachelorette #3 (Barbie): "Umm...I'd, like, go shopping or like, get pedicures together."

· Example Questions:
If we were marooned on a desert island, what would be the first thing you'd do and why?
If you could go on a vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Your house is on fire, what do you grab as you run out?
What color best describes your personality and why?
What do you wish you could change about yourself ?
You are driving and get lost, what do you do and how do you handle it?
If you were going to be famous for one thing, what would it be?
What is your idea of a perfect date?

You can Google "dating game questions" for ideas on more creative questions.

Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get this show on the road!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Love Everyday E-Book

You know, I have people email me often asking for advice about their marriage. The hard part about that is..... I'm not a marriage counselor nor am I an expert. I'm going on 5 years of marriage and I have lots to learn. So, it's not that I'm ignoring all of you.. I just don't feel comfortable offering advice when every marriage is so different!

But, I like to read books about marriage and occasionally, I stumble upon a little gem like this that I can pass on to you:

It's a mini e-book that contains great tips and reminders for all relationships!


You can download the book for free HERE courtesy of itmightbelove.com

Consider this my advice. :)

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Comedy Club Date Night

It's time to get you and your date laughing together! (something you may not have done since your engagement photos when the photographer suggested you laugh for the photo.....)


For this date, you'll be turning your home into a Comedy Club. So, let loose, laugh and be silly on this funny little date!

First, you'll need a catchy name:

Leah's Laugh Factory
Cher's Comedy Club
Jeanna's Joke House
Hailey's Ha Ha Cafe
...or whatever (just have a little sign with the Club Name on it as your date starts)

Then, you'll want to "pre-order' tickets and give your spouse their ticket early, since they'll be "meeting you there".
(Free Tiny Ticket Template Source)

Keep your "club" dimly lit (white Christmas lights help to create the effect) and always have upbeat music playing until Act 2. Be sure to serve up some good drinks and have a few appetizers on a tray.

It'll go down in Three Acts:

Act One: MadLibs.

You can find these comedic fill-in-the-blank books (with all sorts of themes) for cheap at any bookstore...



...or you can use a free online version HERE. (I tried them...and they're just as good...you've just got to sit around your computer).


Act Two: Stand-Up Comedian

Bring the comedian to you...courtesy of YouTube. Here are some great video favorites of ours...click each to take you to the video.

Hilarious Ventriloquist:

Hilarious Stand-Up Comedian:
Brian Regan - there are all sorts of clips from him.
*three of my fav sound clips about HERE and HERE and HERE

Of course, you can type in your favorite comedian's name in YouTube and you're sure to find a clip or two.


Act Three: Laffy Taffy

Enjoy some Laffy-Taffy candy together while taking turns reading your wrapper jokes.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Sweet Sayings with Ice Cream

I found a great idea the other day while browsing One of a Kind Gifts--these girls have lots of cute ideas to browse! So, I've borrowed one of their ideas to share with all of you.

You may have noticed that Ben & Jerry's has many fun, non-traditional flavors of ice cream...

For the ice-cream lover in your life, look no further!

(click to enlarge)

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Winner, Winner!!

Okay, people... I'm terribly sorry that I've been such a slogger lately. Slogger? You know, slacker + blogger = slogger. Yes, I did just make that up. But, it works, you know? (insert sly smile here)

I wonder when my life will ever SLOW down and let me catch up? If it doesn't, sadly, this blog is the thing that suffers the most. Maybe it's just the business of summer that has me spinning...either way, I'm just trying to take it for all it's worth. Hubby & I are doing a weekend road trip to Quebec, Canada this weekend so I won't be prepping any posts for a little bit... (I'll be busy brushing up on my high school french and talking like a crazy american to the french- canadian citizens of Quebec)

BUT.... I have a giveaway winner to announce and many of you have been waiting.

The winner is................

Ben & Lacy Cox

Congrats you two! Please email your mailing address to me at loveactuallyblog @ hotmail.com


Don't worry, the rest of you aren't leaving empty-handed... Check this out!


Be sure to tune into Laura's free weekly audio show. It's one of the few safe places to receive insights on all things "intimate." You can find it at www.TheMaritalIntimacyShow.com

Thanks again so much to Laura for offering this fantastic giveaway. I hope you will all get a chance to pick up her book in the near future. It's an investment you won't regret.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Tech Support for Installing a Husband

When marriage get's frustrating, it sometimes works to have a little humor. Every once in a while, try laughing at the things that irritate you, because you should know, we all deal with our share of marriage frustrations.

Here's a funny for you...

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?

Signed,

Desperate

———————

Dear Desperate,

First, keep in mind that Boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment package while Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Please enter the command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html, download Tears 6.2 and be sure to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If those applications work as designed Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, please remember that overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (It runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0-program. This is an unsupported application and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck!

Tech Support

Source:
StrengtheningMarriage.Com, author unknown