Date Night Jar

Jennifer at Life in the Green House posted a super cute idea on her blog.  I think I might make one of these for my little brown house :)

Using popsicle sticks and mason jars she made her own version of the Date Night in a Jar found here. 

It's color coded, easy to make, and takes the guess work out of  the "what are we going to do for our next date" question.

She has some fantastic ideas from at-home dates to dates that need advance planning.  Some of my favorites are: window shopping for the home, take out and board games, and the Chopped Challenge. 

Be sure to take some time and explore her blog...there is some yummy stuff on there!!!

Another fantastically fun idea!

The Dating Divas has featured guest blogger Stephanie from My Life as a Wife today.  Stephanie shared  a super funny date idea for your Valentine's dinner.  Be sure to check out her blog for the details, but I think this one is so funny, I have to share some of my favorite parts:

Each day leading up to Valentine's Day, text your spouse a question-depending on what answers they give you is how your date will turn out.  Some of the questions are:

Do you like it slow or fast?
Do you like it wet or dry?
Do you like it hard or soft? 

I think you could have so much fun with this idea.  You can also find several other date ideas on My Life as a Wife.  Check it out and get to planning!

Focus on the Family- Date Night Challenge

The church we have been attending is sponsoring a "Date Night Challenge" event on February 11th during National Marriage Week. 

The Date Night Challenge is two hours of fun and laughter for couples, featuring comedian Jeff Allen, singer/songwriter Michael O'Brien and bestselling authors Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley. 
  
Research shows that a date every month significantly strengthens and improves marriages. You''ll receive ideas for MORE dates every month for a year. This experience is one you won''t want to miss, no matter what season of marriage you are in.

If you are interested in attending and live in the Omaha area, you can contact me for more info.  If you don't live around here, check out the Focus on the Family site to see if one will be in your area.

Date Night Questions!

At Tara's request, I have compiled a list of date night questions from around the web.  As I was going through these, I think it would be fun to have both of you read the list and choose 5-10 questions that you want to ask each other on your date.  It could be fun to see what questions each of you pick and what the answers are.  You could also pick 3-5 questions and do a few each date!

Have fun and enjoy learning something new about each other!

Name three countries you would like to visit.

Which celebrity annoys you the most?

How would you spend $1,000?  $10,000?  $100,000?

If you could try out any occupation for a year, what would it be?

On a scale of 1 to 10 how cool are you?

What are your 5 favorite foods?

What are your 5 favorite desserts?

What are your 5 favorite restaurants?

What are your 5 favorite hobbies?

What is your favorite song?

What is the yuckiest thing you've ever had to do?
Who is the best teacher you've ever had?

If you could rewind to any point in your past, what would you want to relive?

If you could take lessons to become an expert at anything, what would it be?

How would you spend a perfect day alone?

What would you want us to do together for the next ten years if you knew they were our last?

What’s the most honest thing you have ever done?

Hollywood called, they want to make a movie about your life, who would play you?

Name something you love that no one seems to like. (Or name something that everyone seems to love except for you.)

What’s the one item you own that you know you should get rid of but never will?

Name one thing you miss about our dating years? (Then talk about how you can make it a part of your dating again.)

If you could bring one historical person back to life in order to make things better in the world, who would it be?

Who are the friends that you wish you still had?
Which one of the world's cultures do you find the most interesting and fascinating?
How has the world changed the most since you were a kid?
What do you wish hadn't changed in the world?
What are the top four places you would like to visit in your own country? In the world?
What are the top four places--in your country or in the world--you would like to live?
Who do you need to forgive?
What historical event would you like to have been a part of?
What kind of old person do you want to be?

What is your favorite bible verse(s)?

What makes you the most fulfilled or happiest as a woman/man?

What makes you the most fulfilled or happiest as a wife/husband?

What makes you the most fulfilled or happiest as a mother/father?

What makes you saddest as a woman/man?

What makes you saddest as a wife/husband?

What makes you saddest as a mother/father?

What do you fear the most?

What other fears do you have?

What do you look forward to the most?

What do you consider to be your skills?

What are your weaknesses?

What do you enjoy doing with me?

What things can I do that show my appreciation of you?

What things do you see by my actions that I place first in my life?

Last one, make it good! What’s something positive about me that you don’t say often enough? (Then decide to say it more.)

Bookstore Date Idea

I just LOVE this idea for The Bookstore Date that I came across tonight. I had seen it around a few places, but just finally read what it was about tonight. It is basically a scavenger hunt you do in different sections of the store. Matt and I both love bookstores, so I think we would enjoy this.   The idea came from The Dating Divas site that I have already posted about.  Be sure to check out their other date ideas and let us know if you find another that we must know about!!!

Here is another version of this date posted at Love, Actually.  

Let me know what you think of this date idea and if you think you might try it sometime!

How to Date Your Spouse Challenge

One of my favorite blogs, Tip Junkie, has recently started a new feature called the "How to Date Your Spouse Challenge". I just came across this today and will definitely be following along with them. Laurie is issuing a challenge every Monday with a date idea. She always has such awesome stuff on her blog so I am expecting lots of great ideas here. Be sure to check back in and see if you can find something that works for you!

Date Tips

I stumbled across this short little ditty of an article tonight at Marriage Matters Jackson.  Even though it is geared for the Jackson, Michigan crowd, it has lots of good pointers.  I also like that it is short, sweet, and to the point.  A couple of my favorite tips were "anticipate your time together" and "keep the business talk out of the date". They suggested sending a quick email or leaving a note for your partner that you are looking forward to date night.  I know that some of us feel like this dating thing might be a little corny at first, but making it into an important event I think will help get the ball rolling.  Date nights are few and far between with my spouse and I because we have a hard time not taking our son everywhere we go.  When we do get an opportunity to be on our own, we always comment on what a nice time we had, how we should do this more often, etc.  I have included us as one of the challenge couples because I know that we need to really work on time for ourselves!  Marriage Matters Jackson had mentioned keeping the "business talk" out of the date.  Many of us with children find that we could spend the whole evening talking about the little ones.  It is also easy to start in on money, bills, and other things that might need done and most of those topics are a real mood killer!  Try to make your date nights a time where you don't bring any of that to the table.  One of my favorite fun and simple dates they suggested on the site was the  road rally of fast food restaurants. Drive through and order one of your favorite items from each place.  This could be so fun and silly!  Be sure to check out their site and read the rest of the article here. 

The Dating Divas

 

Take some time to look through The Dating Divas website to gear up for your date night commitment.  Some of my favorites here are Ideas for Him, Ideas for Her, Quick & Easy Romance Ideas, and Anniversary Ideas.  Do you agree that it is easy to get in a slump and do the same old, same old?

At Home Date Ideas

Simply Modern Mom has a fantastic list of at home date ideas.  Also, be sure to take a look around their blog and check out Project 52- one date each week of the year!  You are sure to get some inspiration while there!

Alphabet Dates from The Romantic Vineyard

The Romantic Vineyard has a series of date ideas based on the letters of the Alphabet.  Click here to read more about their ideas.  They have several great ideas for each letter that would be fun to do!  If you look on their sidebar, they also have tons of other themed date ideas.