February Date

One thing is for sure: we are terrible at sticking to a bare bones date night plan. This month our date was supposed to be a simple, in town night.

FEBRUARY

Have you ever watched Supermarket Sweep? This month we are playing our own version! Our date will start by buying ingredients to cook a delicious dinner together. Your choice! Crab cakes? Steak and peppers? Whatever you please!

Then we will head to Wal-Mart for the fun part. We each receive a $20 bill and a 30-minute time limit to purchase gifts for each other. The moment we enter the door, the timer starts! You can purchase anything for the other person with this $20.  It could be one big thing, or 20 small things.  Anything goes! Are you up for the challenge?

Our first night off together wasn't until the end of the month, and again we were in a place where we wanted our date to be a bit more. Thus, we ended up Des Moines...again. 

Our evening began with little vitamin D. This winter has felt especially long, and we were both craving some sun! I hadn't tanned since before our wedding, so in my mind, we deserved it. Well, I guess we also deserved a reminder as to why this red head doesn't tan anymore, because the last part of our date involved rubbing aloe on each other, and not in a sexy way. 

Then we made a quick stop to get Adam some pre-workout, used some old arcade tokens to play some air hockey, and headed to Target for the gift exchange. It was so much fun! As we stood in the doorway, setting our phone timers, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. With 30 minutes on the clock, we kissed each other goodbye and went in separate directions.  Adam was faster than I was, and within 12 minutes, my phone buzzed with a text from him. He "wanted my opinion" on a gift, but I stuck to the complete surprise rules. 

Adam's loot: fishing line, Pirouline, Shout Wipes, almonds, and spinners

Molly's loot: Disney Princess push pencils, beautiful scarf, and Silly Putty

Finally we went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner and to exchange gifts. I'm curious what the wait staff was thinking as they looked at our table. We decided to guess the gifts first to prolong the fun. One by one, we would stick our hands in the bag, guess, guess again, and then pull out an item. 

Adam's drink had a shark shot in it! I had no idea how obsessed he used to be until this little guy showed up in his drink. I love learning new things about this man! 

Overall, February date was a winner, winner, crab dinner! 

January Date

Our first date of the 12 dates of Christmas almost didn't happen! I knew, when I got the gift together, that coordinating schedules would be a task, but who knew that our first weekend night together wouldn't happen until January 24th!

Every month of 2014 will bring Adam and I a preplanned, prepaid date. Some are active and bring us to Des Moines, and some are at home dates that have us playing together. The first date's envelope had the following letter in it...

JANUARY

Let’s get things started!

It seems like, since we have moved, you have brought up Fong’s Pizza at least once a month! I do not know if you crave the Kung Pao Chicken, Crab Ragoon, Fongolian Beef, or the basic Big Delicious! But on this month’s date, you get to devour your favorite!

After we’ve dined in style, we will move to another of your favorite pastimes…VIDEO GAMES! We will visit the newest Barcade – Up, Down! With 25 cent games, I’m sure even you could beat me in skee-ball once ;-)

What man wouldn't love pizza, beer, and video games? Apparently my wonderful husband had a little something extra in mind. This is how our first date was AMAZING, but also got off track. On our way to DSM, Adam mentioned that it miiiiight be nice to have a sit down dinner, and I wasn't about to give up on a chance to go to someplace yummy. So we decided to check out Cool Basil, a Thai place that I love but the hubs had never been to. YUM! 

Adam showing off his new Olympic shirt and meal.

So delicious! 

Adam's idea of a photo opportunity. 

Did I mention that the following day, we were supposed to be in Council Bluffs for Adam's family Christmas? Well, we did, and this fact came into play shortly. While we were devouring our spicy Thai, it started to snow outside. If you're from the midwest, you are aware that a maga-storm can come up and do some real damage in a matter of minutes. Before I knew what was happening, Adam pulled out his phone, jumped on Hotwire, and booked us a room for the night. Adam is a great winter driver, so we normally would have gone with it...however, he had a little something different in mind. Our date night, turned into a full weekend.

We still went to the local arcade after dinner (so many laughs), ended up at Fong's pizza for late night snacks (delicious), and made it to family Christmas on time (success!).

On our drive home from Council Bluffs, we stopped to get gas and snacks. While I was searching for the right type of tea, Adam came up and hugged me tight to his chest, right there in the frozen section. "I'm not ready to go back to reality," he said. "This weekend has been really amazing. It felt like we were back to the couple we used to be. Thank you."

I guess these dates were a good idea, after all :-)

wedding bands and wine

I Used to Write

I used to write. I would write about the sun, the moon, the way the song on the radio made me feel or the cattle in our family fields. I would write about my middle school crushes, my parent annoyances, and my big city plans. I would write letters to loved ones, world religion papers, and college essays. I would write on the best way to motivate students, the psychology of the teen mind, and my teaching philosophy. I even wrote a 50 plus page thesis on student achievement in the subject area of reading comprehension...and that is when I stopped writing for fun and started writing when only I had to.

But I miss it.

I've missed what the act of writing does to my heart. It is a release and a realization. Expressing my words on a piece of paper (or a computer screen) helps me to analyze and to understand what is going on in my world. And lately, there is quite a lot going on in my world.

Don't get me wrong, I write something every single day. I write grocery lists, emails and notes to my husband. I write things like, "Is this your best effort?" and, "I love the way you were thinking about this!" on student work. But I want to start writing for me; for enjoyment.  And that is what this new blog endeavor is all about.

Let the writing begin...