Date Night @ CineStar

Once a month, John and I make it a priority to have a date night. 

More often would be nice, but at least we are making progress.

It used to be once a year (slight exaggeration but not by much!) so once a month...

is GOOD!

Tonight, we decided to go downtown to see The Hunger Games at the theater. 

John reserved the couple seat - two seats side-by-side that do not have an arm rest in the middle. Pretty comfy!

We got there a bit too early for the show and had been shooed away to come back not any sooner than a quarter till it began. The theater was packed with people so that was fine by me to leave for awhile so we could get some fresh air and talk. We wandered across the street to an underground garden. It was pretty and very quiet!

While it's still new for us to get out, just the two of us, it was really nice to just be. No tending to our children's needs, no interruptions, no diapers to be changed or mouths to feed. I can't help but still think of them on our night out alone. We try not to have the conversation be about them but it's hard not to have it that way at times. They are a huge part of us! But the long pauses of "I don't know what to say" sort of gets old. It makes me realize that while this "once a month together alone" is nice, we might just might need to up it to another date night a month so we can connect and talk more. Twice a month...will be BETTER! :) Not only does a full time job keep John super busy but so does a full evening of homework while taking on-line courses. We hardly get a break!

It's so hard to find the time for us to connect.

But it's important -

so somehow, someway we'll make it work!

We made our way back to the movie theater, bought some popcorn, gummy bears and soda and found our assigned seats. The movie was good and intense and at one part in particular, I grabbed John's arm and scared him more than the movie itself scared him! Ha! Too funny. I seriously wanted to make a bee line for the door but I kept telling myself, "It's just a movie...it's just a movie!" Besides, I didn't think it would be appropriate to ditch my date! ;)

We hopped back onto the train and made our way back home -

happy to have had a night to ourselves!

Next movie, I want to see this: 

The Lucky One! 

I have read and have loved every single one of Nicholas Sparks' books so I'm really looking forward to this one - especially with it being about a Marine.

The Greene Turtle

Plain and simple, John and I have been meaning to go out on more dates - monthly and regularly. It hasn't been easy with our current schedule but we planned and executed two dates this month regardless and I can't tell you how nice it was to spend time together kid less for a few hours! No more slacking on dates. The kids matter but so do we!

Our first date, I didn't have the camera with us but we went to a movie and dinner - we watched Eat, Pray, Love (it was ok) and ate at a new restaurant called Bravo! Cucina Italiana. It felt like an upscale Olive Garden. The food was great but the background music was a bit too loud so we didn't get to talk much without feeling the need to yell across the table to be heard. :) It's a good thing we just enjoyed our date of being with each other instead of relying on the entertainment alone.

A few weeks later we had our second date (tonight) and we ate at another new local restaurant called The Greene Turtle. Being pregnant, I was really craving chinese or mexican food but after driving around, we settled on the sports grill. (And no, we didn't mean to both wear green AND eat at The Greene Turtle! :) We did get a good laugh at that though.)

We're so grateful for our wonderful friends (who we consider family!) who were so willing to take our kids off our hands so we could have this time together before our schedules got even more challenging. Thank you SOOO much!

Breakfast Date

Lately, dates have been hard to come by for John & I. He's been going through a Staff Sergeant course for the past few months that results in daily exhaustion and usually leads him to come home and pass out. So for Valentine's Day, we decided to go out for breakfast the morning after the holiday which is also President's Day and his day OFF! I couldn't have been more excited that some close friends said they'd watch our kids while we got out for a little bit. I sometimes forget what quiet sounds like! :) That's when I know we need to get out more often.

So we dropped off our precious cargo... 

and went to try out a fairly new restaurant in our area.

Of course while we waited, we had to take a picture to show proof we made it out alone!

Boy oh boy was this recommended hot chocolate DELICIOUS!!!

The food was yummy too but next time, I'll try something a little less sweet!

{Thanks honey for celebrating our 5th Valentine's Day together! Love you! xoxo :)}

It's A Date!

To celebrate John & I's 4 year wedding anniversary, we arranged to have our great babysitter watch the kids while we went out to dinner. We really don't get out nearly as often as we should. And hopefully that will change so we DO get out more. We have heard positive reviews about a new restaurant in the area called The Fredericksburg Pub - which we learned had AWESOME fish and chips! Since we've moved from Oregon, we have not been able to find great fish and chips (we miss BURGERVILLE!) so we jumped at the chance to go and try it. We were not disappointed. Definitely filling and can only eat every blue moon but the food was good and we had a great time! Can't forget to mention how good the fried pickels were too. YUM! Too bad there was no room for dessert! I think we should have ordered that first! :)

So I thought it would be fun to post John & I's story of when we were friends in college and how he first asked me out. I had written this originally to someone who made a comment on our wedding anniversary but I thought that our story was worthy enough for all to hear:

It's one of those stories that seems small to others but was a huge moment for my husband and I. Truth be told, I was going straight to my college math class from work and didn't have time to eat dinner in between. So I ate the only thing I had on hand: a banana. Come test time with the partitions raised on the table and the room being dead silent with students concentrating on the exam, my stomach let out this HUGE growl! Someone would have had to be deaf NOT to hear it! A few moments later, my now husband slid a piece of his spare scratch paper under the partition asking if he could take me to get a bite to eat after class. And like the famous saying goes: the rest is history! :)

Italian Date Night

John and I finally had a date night. The activities committee from church pulled off a wonderful evening: an Italian Date Night for all the couples. Nursery was provided and everything. How could we say no to such a fun event? :) For dinner, we had Parmesan chicken, lasagna, salad, bread sticks, and jello poke cake. The whole cultural hall/gym was staged like an Italian restaurant. White table cloths on round tables, menu board as you walked in, lights dimmed, and Italian music playing in the background. After we were done with dinner, they had a few people go up and sing and/or play songs (very talented people) and then we participated in a fun Italian question game to see who knew the most answers to win. They also had a really nice area to the side of the room that was staged with an awesome Italian backdrop with a bench in front of it. Really cute! We're so glad we went. We had such a fun night and I think we finally realized when we were heading back home that we've been neglecting date nights lately and need to go on more!

Another Blissful Year

Woke up to the alarm at 7:15am (oops, slept in a little) and noticed that hubby was still home. Then I remembered: he took the day off of work to spend it with ME instead! I was able to get ready for the day, including drying my hair & putting my make up on (a rare thing these days). And in peace might I add. He included Jocelyn when taking Aubrey to school which then allowed me to make breakfast. All before 9am. It's a miracle!! And a lovely gesture on his part.

This year, we mutually decided to keep things simple. We had no particular plans for the day. Just each other's company was all that was requested. What to do...what to do?? Got in the car and drove off to Ikea is what we did. Which is a great place for people like us who like to dream up designs for 'future said built home.' Arrived to Ikea shortly after store doors had been opened. Very relaxing and nice to wander around without crowds of people stepping on our heals or screaming children on every side jumping on furniture. We were done touring the top floor - arriving in front of the cafeteria at approximately 11:45am. LUNCH TIME! It's a luxury for us to eat at Ikea (or anywhere for that matter!) so of course our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. But the food was oh. so. good! Their swedish meatballs were heavenly. As always. Jocelyn approved of her macaroni and cheese, french fries, apple sauce, and OJ.

John and I had fun making each other laugh at who knows what as we snapped one anothers photo.

Off we went downstairs to collect a few selections and then hit the road for home around 1pm. And it's a good thing too that we thought to bring Jocelyn's all time favorite blanket. She was out in seconds for her delightful nap. Otherwise, we would have been punished BIG TIME!

As soon as Aubrey got off the bus, we drove the girls over to the local playground to enjoy more of the fall fresh air. It got a little chilly but we all had a great time.

Today was an awesome day! Happy Anniversary sweetie! Thank you so much for taking this beautiful day off to be with me. I look forward to many, many more anniversaries. You're my best friend and I love you! :)

In tribute to John and I's anniversary, I wanted to share another love story with you. A story like ours that keeps on living and growing. This couple is amazing - and their love is aspiring for so many. Please continue to keep them in your hearts and prayers!
Go here to view video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiKPeNIAETc