My Family Rocks! Sunday: Date Night with My Hero

Well, I had hoped to have this posted before midnight but surprise surprise here it is technically Monday. Thank you for your patience friends :).  Last night (errr Saturday night), my hubby and I had a wonderful date night. Dates are becoming rarer. I have only one babysitter (my mom) and dates can be expensive too. But I’m realizing it is very important to keep “dating” my husband. Sometimes life knocks us down and it seems alright to settle for a mediocre relationship……to just go with the flow…..even if it is taking us further from our spouse. In those times we should shake ourselves and get up and fight for our beautiful marriage. It is never good to settle. Women need romance…..we need to feel loved. Men need respect. And both spouses need to be physically intimate. Marriage is tough and it takes alot of work but it is SO worth it. If we don’t deposit into the love bank daily we’re going to become bankrupt quick. If we neglect our Love fern…it’ll die 😉

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So I’ve been trying to find creative ways to make our dates count and also to make things cheaper. Going to the movies gets old after awhile. And eating out is boring if all you do is talk about the kid and finances……or your hubby stares at the TV the whole time 😉 (why do they have to have tvs in restaurants? Do we have to take the tube everywhere? Geesh). Well, we did go to a restaurant and a movie Saturday but we didn’t stare into space (after almost 8 years you run out of things to talk about…I think Chris has heard ALL my stories). I got on Pinterest before we left & checked out some date ideas. This time we discussed about a dozen questions from this list:

http://zachterry.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/50-questions-to-ask-your-spouse-on-a-date-night/

It was WONDERFUL….or S’wonderful if you’re Fred Astaire. The questions range from light (like your fav foods) to heavy (like what are your fears or how can I support you as a leader). I was surprised by a few things even on the light list. I thought I knew most everything about Chris’ likes & dislikes. I think he was surprised a few times too. We spent our whole meal focused on each other. I barely noticed the waiter coming and going. As cheezy as the idea may seem it really worked. We were like love struck teenagers when we left the restaurant.

(Our 7th Anniversary @ a garden)

We had some time before our movie so we window shopped in the mall. Then we took photo booth pictures. I can’t remember the last time we did that as a couple.

I had a romantic cd in Chris’ jeep so we could stay in the mood as we drove too. We enjoyed a movie at the dollar theater. The theater shows movies that are usually already on DVD. The price is great ($2.50 a ticket). I so hope you have a dollar theater near you. It’s perfect for those on a budget.

That loving feeling lasted all night so we were very happy with our date even if it was different than usual. It took a small amount of planning but it was worth it. Why settle for sparks when you can have fireworks? So I’m pumped for our next date. We hope to have a date night once a week. Obviously, we can’t afford to go out all the time & we do have a lil munchkin. So I found this post:

http://www.themomcrowd.com/30-ideas-for-a-date-night-at-home

I really like the theme night idea and picnicking in the living room. I remember when I had a blue dodge journey. I loved that car. It had a dvd player built in the dash. We traded it in for something not as expensive ( a minivan). Anywho, when we still had Sapphire (ok I named her too) we would watch movies in the car & pretend we were at a Drive in. Sigh……. Okay back to reality. The list has great ideas for when the kiddos are asleep.

Here’s my Pinterest so you can keep up with all the date night ideas I find: http://pinterest.com/doverette/date-ideas/

If you want to keep the home fires burning then date your spouse :). Don’t get into a rut. It IS possible to fall in love over and over again if you are willing to put in the work. Oh and the relationship is always more important than being right. If you’ve lost the love, please please seek counseling. There is NO shame in marriage counseling. Everyone has problems & there is NO perfect spouse. If you invest in your relationship then you may find the grass has always been greener in your own yard. I know for a fact that God wrote my love story. That tale is for another time but basically we saved ourselves for each other. We are each other’s one and only. So I know that if I can’t make my marriage work with Chris then it will never work with anyone. I’ve seen what affairs and porn etc can do to people. Often people find that the grass is fake on the other side & they regret leaving what God gave them.

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God truly writes the best love stories & he has kept my marriage from falling apart many times. Marriage is being attacked every day. I challenge you to be strong soldiers. I challenge you to fight for your marriage. Men be REAL men & love your woman enough to lay down your life for her. You’re not 12 yrs old anymore…so don’t act like it. Women humble yourselves so you will be exalted. Respect your man & trust him. God commands it & your man has a huge responsibility on his shoulders. He needs your support so he can become the Hero he is mean’t to be.

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I’m preaching to myself as well. I know relationships are hard. From the very beginning of our marriage the odds were against us. We’ve dealt with deployments, financial strain, infertility, illness, taking care of a sick parent, deaths in the family, major moves, several job changes, going through school, and I homeschool while he works. The first half of our marriage and relationship was mainly long distance because of the military. Now my hubby is a disabled vet going to school. We know stress and we know how it can eat at a marriage. Honestly, it is only Jesus Christ who has held us together through our hardships. I think we both would’ve jumped ship a few times if we didn’t have God convicting us & drawing us to unconditional love & respect. Now, I can truly say that I love my husband more now than when we first fell in love (as teens). I thought my hubby was awesome before but he’s truly my hero now.

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Well, God bless & Remember the High King Lives! Hold tight to your family. They are precious. ~Amber Dover

PS: Enjoy the video 🙂 Ladies this is how NOT to treat your guy lol