Project 52: Week 7 - Romancing the Space

~Sorry I am so late on this one! Promise I’ll try and stay on top of it every Tuesday!~

Valentine’s weekend was the start of our date night this past week.

We took off Friday the 12^th and spent the day trying to pull out of “missed expectations” in a funk. But we went to Lowe’s, grabbed some paint, some colors for the exterior of the house and got settled into our night at home.

What I wanted for Valentine’s Day was to get the master bedroom done. I have had this Zen romantic room in mind and the start was removing the past. Dave got started before me…. He got the bed out of the room, old pictures and mirror off the wall before patching holes and sanding. The “accent” wall was done when I got back from driving my kids to their father’s house.

~Last Valentines Day~

Then we started painting together and talking… the talking was the most important part for us. We talked, painted… sometimes each other and thoroughly cleaned the room. The carpets got vacuumed, old books and picture frames removed and suddenly. It was done.

~Valentines 2010~

The room was clean, the walls were painted and perfect, it felt like a new space. “OUR” space.

I can’t tell you how awesome date night was for us… now, we went right to sleep in an exhausted stupor, however waking up and curling around one another was so nice Saturday morning. We have a ‘clean’ space, the energy has changed, we are sleeping better and the romantic feeling is palpable.

Lesson #7: Make a space that is for both of you. One that you can lie down in, relax and enjoy the energy.

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Have you joined in the Project 52: Date Nights challenge?

Project 52: Week 5

We had all intentions of going to play pool at a local pool hall.

Our mistake: Apparently pool halls are a thing of the past in our neck of Colorado.

Lesson #5 Make sure you scope out your plans ahead of time

Lesson #5.1 Improvise

I was home all day on Friday, running around doing things with teens, spending time with my best friend and so when I got home, I had plen

ty of time for a shower, blow drying my hair and then getting ready.

We both got dressed up and headed out on the town.

He looked so nice, comfortable and as always, I love to see him in boots. Reminds me of the first night we met… and being a Texas girl… it reminds me of home.

A local Mexican restaurant, lots of conversation and finally with full stomachs we headed out to look for a pool hall. Our first stop was a Bowling alley… one working table in a HORRIBLE side of town… that got nixed quickly.

So we called some friends to find out if they knew of a place. Shortly there after we went to a local watering hole, met up with three friends and spent the whole evening together.

We had a fun night going out and remembering that one of the things we loved about each other was that we could be left alone with any group of friends, and hold our own.

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Have you joined in the Project 52: Date Nights challenge?

Come with us and exercise your heart!

Project 52: Week 4

Date night this week got a little catty-wompus. Once a month we have his son all weekend long. That makes date night a little different for us.

Friday night, we had no plans except to relax, and that is just what we all did. Jake and I played a little on the computer, Dave and I did a little talking… it was nice and quiet.

It was decided that Saturday we would go to swim practice for his son in the morning, and then the afternoon was open. Swim practice was fun, we messed around on our Blackberry’s and watched Jake swim. Then… hopped into the car and headed off to see his parents for the afternoon. It was unplanned and only supposed to last a few hours.



We stayed until dark, drinking coffee, eating and talking. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to spend a date night, learning to love like your parents do. Dave’s parents have a love story that has “torrid affair” written all over it… and I find that to be blissfully romantic and very fitting for the two of them.

I adore his Mom and Dad, they are a really cute couple that tease one another, do things together and have learned how to try and make each other happy, even when things don’t go as you would like.

Date Night #4 lesson: Learn to love like the people you respect, because one day... “YOU” will be the one someone respects.

Funny fact about today….. It’s been a year since I wrote about meeting his parents for the first time.

Wanna read it??

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Have you joined in the Project 52: Date Nights challenge?

Come with us and exercise your heart!

Project 52: Week 3

This is Week 3 of the Project 52: Wii Game Night

The day started off with the best of intentions. We were going to play Wii Friday night. All the kids were gone once again, and we had drinks planned and a wonderful night of Wii playing.




Friday I got the phone call that my mother was in the hospital. Severe vertigo and vomiting.

I went home and took a nap, waking up to spend time with Dave when he got home from work.
We made dinner, drank a little and watched a movie.. or at least attempted to.

I went to bed early, and woke up feeling horrible that I had wasted a date night.

Lesson #3: Do not assume that the world will be perfect when you want to spend a fun time with your love.

Lesson #3.1: Sometimes the greatest date nights, are those when you learn that your significant other will be your rock when all you want to do is cry.

No, date night did not go as I had planned in my head, however.... it did help me fall more in love with Dave... I realized that he knows me better than I thought and I can't imagine anyone else next to me during that time!

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Have you joined in the Project 52: Date Nights challenge?

Come with us and exercise your heart!

Project 52: Week 2

This is Week 2 of the Project 52: Grill and Games

We headed into date night with a slight discomfort after a misunderstanding Thursday evening. Small texts throughout the day as we worked through out ideas, because regardless of how we felt, we both knew we couldn’t let this date night pass us by. Lesson #1: Don’t sweat the small stuff.

We agreed on dinner and board games, a contribution from both sides. Dave swung by the store for Scrabble, Boggle and compilation of chess, checkers, etc.

We had brauts, veggies and rolls on the grill for dinner before sprawling out on the floor with Scrabble and the various letters strewn out before us. I’d only played Scrabble once however the rules were fairly simple. We turned on some dance music, pulled some pillows under us and played. It was fun, calming and kept my mind quiet for a while.

It was nice to play games with Dave. He is a competitive person and I wasn’t sure how good of a winner or worse, a loser he was, since we had never played more than Wii together. We both enjoyed it and ended up fairly neck and neck by the end.

The winner? All of us, we discussed more games we want, and out of this came Wednesday game night with the teens. (This Wednesday- Joey and Dave will be playing chess together and the girls and I will be playing Scrabble.) When the kids get older, there will be a puzzle out on a table, so randomly people can walk by and put a piece or two in. Lesson #2: Kids need date nights too.

It was a quiet date night for us, however we had no kids, went to bed late and only got out of bed on Saturday to make breakfast. We knew not to fight that night; we knew not to let anything get in the way of the precious time we have together.

How about you? Did you do a date night this past week?

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Have you joined in the Project 52: Date Nights challenge?

Come with us and exercise your heart!

Project 52: Date Nights

I remember when we first met we dated every Wednesday and Friday night.

After work I would touch up my make up, straighten my clothes and spray a pretty scent over my neck.

When I got to his house we would do this funny little dance as we once again would get used to each other’s company. A touch here, a laugh there and finally we’d fall into one another’s company like two souls who’ve missed out on air our whole lives.

When we moved in together those moments became a bit rarer and though we have always done a date night, they became only Fridays and many times nothing more than a quiet house without the kids.

We had decided this coming year we would alternate responsibility of the weekly date nights. They will alternate between staying in, cooking, seeing the town and hiding out with just us, some music and the glow of the TV (My favorite).

In my walk through the blogosphere I came across Simply Modern Mom. Tiffany started up a Project 52: Date Nights.

A promise to yourself, your significant other and the relationship you create together.

Once a week date nights. Stay in and watch movies, make a meal together and eat on the back deck, go to a local art opening, have a night on the town with the opera and a fancy dinner, something that you can do after the kids go to bed to rekindle your romance.

Care to join me on the same journey?

Have you committed to spending more time with your kids this year? How about to get a better job/more pay?

Why wouldn’t you commit to the person you are sleeping next to? You spend 6-8 hours a night enjoying the energy of them next to you… perhaps it’s about time we all fell in love all over again!

Head on over to Simply Modern Mom’s site, sign the “agreement” post it on the door to the bedroom/closet, in the kitchen, wherever you will both see it every day!

• Every Friday night from 5pm- we fall asleep. We have no kids on most Fridays and Saturdays, so this works best. It’s a benefit of blended families.
• Can’t do the same thing twice in one month.
• We will rotate being in charge of date nights on a weekly basisMust create a date-like atmosphere.
  
• No frumpy clothes or pajamas (Unless the date calls for this, ex: Movie and snuggle night: pjs necessary). Make it a special event. Mind the details. But most of all, keep it simple.
  
• We must take a picture of us on date night.
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Make a new step to exercise your heart.

Then come back here and visit me every week as I document our dates!