Goin' Courtin' - Date #6

Go Dancing!

If you can get a sitter and know of a great place to go dancing then you should definitely do it!
But for us homebodies, aka too poor and/or embarrassed to be seen in public dancing,
(that last one is totally me!)
then a nice dance date at home is totally possible. You just need three things...

1. an instructional dance video (rented from the library or found online)
2. a romantic DVD that has a dance theme, and
3. a husband who doesn't mind participating in cheesy dates (even if you don't have this kind of husband I find dessert is a VERY good motivator :)

I rented the movie Strictly Ballroom from the library so we decided to learn to ballroom dance! We watched a couple of instructional videos online and then danced for about 15 minutes. Most of that time was spent laughing and bumping into each other but we had a lot of fun. I guess I probably shouldn't speak for my husband, but there was no eye rolling so I'm gonna take that as a good sign.

After we finished dancing we sat down and watched the movie. Not a spectacular date but at least it was different than just the Friday night movie at home :)

Fresh is Best!

I am a plants worse nightmare. I don't even have to touch them. They just see me coming and shrivel up and die! So I NEVER ever planned on doing a garden. But I finally got so fed up with the poor quality of produce at the store and the high price that I decided to give it a shot. And I'm so glad I did! I've really enjoyed gardening and am surprised at how well it's done. I love being able to just walk outside when I need something and picking it right from my backyard. (free of cost I might add)

I would have to say that the beans are what I'm most excited about. We have gotten 2 bowls full and the plant is still producing. I bought a bag of "organic" beans at the store just to compare them with the beans from my garden and my beans looked and tasted better. Makes me wonder about the whole "organic" claim...

Unfortunately I was only able to get two squash and two zucchini before the plant died but the ones we did get where sooooo good.

We got about 4 cucumbers this size and then that plant died too :(
But it's a start. Hopefully next year it will do better.

Now we're just waiting on our tomatoes. We already have 4 little green ones on the plant. Lets cross our fingers that I don't kill them too :)

Goin' Courtin' - Date #5

Picnic in the Park

When Michael and I were dating he surprised me after class one day and said he was taking me to lunch. Imagine my surprise, when instead of pulling into a restaurant we pulled into an office building. He told me we would be having a picnic and would be eating the "Martha Stewart" lunch he had prepared. (This turned out to be chicken wraps he had made and peaches!) He spread our blanket on the grass by a pond and we began to eat our romantic lunch. After we ate we played the "I Like" game, where each person takes turns saying one thing they like about the other person. It was the perfect date! So, almost 4 years later I decided to recreate it. Except this time we'd have a little tag along, a 2 1/2 ft. ball of energy named Collin :) I made the same lunch and put it in our picnic basket and then told Michael to get in the car because Collin and I were taking him on a picnic. We drove to the park and set up, but unfortunately this date was anything but romantic. Between the weird lady who sat down 5 ft. away from us and watched us the whole time, the kids throwing bark on the playground and the 2 1/2 ft. ball of energy trying to talk over us, it was kinda hard to gaze adoringly into each others eyes. (Do people even do that after they get married? Every time I see Michael looking at me I think it's because I have something in my teeth or something on my face!)
Anyways, believe it or not we did get to reminisce briefly on that date many years ago, but just as we were getting to the good part I looked down and realized why it had gotten so quiet. Collin had gotten into our cookies! He had one in his mouth and was going for another one. The kid doesn't even have teeth yet.
So, even though our picnic wasn't very romantic it sure was entertaining and I can't stop chuckling about it now.

Disclaimer: For a romantic picnic find a more secluded spot than a public park and, if you bring your own ball of energy along, they WILL steal your cookies!

Just so they can be like dad:)