Future Home

Being on a budget can make it hard to go out with your spouse. I know for me, things come up and the money for date night is gone. But, you don’t have to spend a lot to go out with your spouse. My husband and I really enjoy looking at houses. So when our budget is tight, we go on drives just to look at houses and dream of our future home. Recently we went to a few open houses. It was so fun for us to look at these staged homes and get ideas for our future. 

Now grab your spouse and go for a drive around the neighborhood and look at the beautiful homes. Or if you have the time, go to an open house! This can help you learn about each other’s styles. When my husband and I went, I learned that he likes one big open room, so he can do the dishes and watch TV at the same time. (Let’s be honest, I do the dishes. Good excuse though!)

Here is a link to the “Open House Finder”. This site gives you a list of open houses to go see. It shows when and where it is located. You can filter by specific dates, property type, price, size, and location. 

http://web.har.com/openhousefinder/#maplist

Relationship Reconnection:

Share which house you can see each other in together. You can also share which house best resembles each other. I find going on drives, being a good time for my husband and I to just talk. It can be anything from deep to lighter conversations. It is important to communicate in a marriage and share what is on your mind instead of holding everything in. Happy House Hunting!

Family Secret Recipes

 

 Family Secret Recipes

It is no secret that we all have crazy schedules and busy lives. Sometimes it gets so busy that we don’t have time to cook together or even eat together with our spouse. Or some may have children at home that they can’t leave or get a babysitter. Some families have top secret recipes and some may not. Either way, set a time for you and your spouse to cook a secret recipe that came from each of your families. As you are cooking your secret or not so secret recipes together think about how this can be a symbol of joining your families together. Maybe even start your own family recipe together. 

Relationship Reconnection

While sharing family recipes and cooking together it is a great time to share family memories with each other. Memories of cooking with parents, grandparents, children etc. Also Share memories when you first cooked together as a couple while dating or newly married.

Bon Appetite!

Dress Up and Dine In

Sometimes there are date nights when you just feel the need to put on your best clothes, get all dressed up, and have a special night out with your spouse. There are also those times when you want to do that but circumstances make it almost impossible. Well, here is an idea: Why don't you dress up all fancy and get looking good for your spouse, and then dine IN?

Whether you make the fancy dinner yourself, or you order take-out from your favorite restaurant, dining in can be just as rewarding and fun, if not more, than going out and doing the same thing. I personally love getting fancy food and then bringing it home to share a fancy date night with my spouse. This will give you a chance to talk uninterrupted, and you will also feel more comfortable because it is within your own home. This gives you the best of both worlds: you get to dress up and have a fancy dinner, but you get the comfort of your home and you get to save a little money this way too.

Don't Forget To Reconnect!
This date night leaves a lot of room for conversation, so take advantage of it! The challenge for tonight is to leave the cell phones and computers and tablets on silent and in another room so that they won't be a distraction, and really see where the conversation takes you. Technology has lead to some great discoveries and many wonderful opportunities for consumers, but it has also been widely known to hinder the conversations and relationship that we have within our marriage. Take time to be with each other, without technology, and you will notice how nice it is and will want to do it more often!

Fondue For Two

Any chocolate lovers out there? I personally love any reason that allows me to indulge in my chocolate addiction!

There may be some weeks that date night seems virtually impossible and time seems to be granted to everything except for you and your spouse. These weeks are hard and often associated with stress, but if you are willing to find the time, it will present itself. This is a date night for one of those crazy weeks where it seems like nothing will go right and time is against you!

If you don't have a fondue fountain, don't worry, that just makes it fancy and a little harder to clean up, a bowl will work just fine :) For this date night, all it takes is a simple quick trip to the store for some melting chocolate in the flavor that you desire, and some little snacks for the dipping! Once you have all of this ready, it takes almost no time to melt the chocolate, prep the snacks, and be on your way to a relaxing, chocolate-dipping filled night!

Don't Forget To Reconnect!
One of my favorite things to do when I get some downtime with my spouse it to just talk and see where the conversation leads us, and this date night provides the opportune time to do that. Get the fondue all melted and ready and start snacking together, and then just start talking, either about your week or something that happened that day. Just get the juices flowing and see where the conversation leads. I have found that it is times like these that we come back to evaluating our goals and where we see ourselves now and later and how to get there. It can be very rewarding to just talk and listen to our spouse, to help them feel appreciated especially when things seem like they won't slow down and wait for us!

P.S. ..... If you need some ideas of what to dip into the chocolate, here are some of my favorites!
- Marshmallows
- Potato chips
- Fruit (strawberries, bananas, blueberries, apples, grapes, melons, etc.)
- Rice krispie treats or some variation of cookie
- Candy pieces

Don't worry about the calories, worry about the connection! :)

Word Association: A Night Down Memory Lane

Do you ever hear someone say a simple word and then immediately it brings up another memory? This happens to me all the time. I could be talking with my husband and he will say something completely normal, but then it will spark a memory of something that we had done in the past.

For tonight's date night, it is a simple one, but when taken with the right attitude, can produce great fun and reminiscing for the both of you! All you will need to do is get little strips of paper and each of you write words on them. Divide however many strips of paper you want in half and each of you write words to fill up your half of the strips. Then put them all in a hat and take turns pulling out a word and seeing what memories come to mind when thinking of this certain word.

Many times we have so many good memories that are in our minds, but we aren't called upon to remember and appreciate them enough. This will give you the chance to think about those times that were fun for the both of you that maybe you hadn't thought of or appreciated in a while.

Don't Forget To Reconnect!
This date night has the potential to help you reconnect through many of the memories that you come up with. The challenge is to keep it positive; avoid words that make you think of a negative memory associated with them, and try to think of the good times instead. This is a great chance to play a little game and tap into those memory stores to remember the good times that don't always get appreciated!