Simply Romantic Tuesday, Aug 7 2007

Since we were married, Bill and I have been given the great advice to date and romance your spouse often, so we are always on the lookout for resources to help us in those areas.  Here are some of our favorites, and they are all from Family Life.  Two on romance are Simply Romantic Tips to Romance Your Wife and Simply Romantic Tips to Romance Your Husband.  I can’t speak much for the former because Bill doesn’t allow me to look and cheat, but the latter is excellent.  So far, Bill has loved, loved, loved all the tips I have followed.  Some dating resources that are great are Coffee Dates for Couples (even though Bill doesn’t like coffee we have been able to modify several of these to make great dates), Dates on a Dime, a book that gives ideas for free, $10, and $20 dates, and 40 Unforgettable Dates with Your Mate.  I bought this for Bill as a wedding present, and we have worn it out.  It is an amazing book that gives four date ideas for each of the top five love needs for each sex, preparation advice, discussion questions for the date, post-date ideas, and lots more.

A great, creative resource for loving each other through sex is Simply Romantic Nights.  It comes with a book and twenty-four cards (12 for each spouse) with everything you need to create a romantic night with your spouse (enough said).  I would encourage each of you who are married to check out some of these resources and have a great time dating your honey.

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Bill and Courtney Sittin’ In a Tree Tuesday, Jul 24 2007

As some of you saw in my previous post, Bill and I got some alone time last week.  Here are some things we got to do that are rare treats for us anymore:

• Went to see “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”  I know some people have reasons against all the Harry Potter stuff, but we are huge fans. 
• Got coffee from Starbucks (O.K., Bill got a vanilla bean frappuccino–not a coffee fan)
• Went on evening strolls, one of our favorite pastimes pre-kids
• Visited some friends
• Ate lunch together every day
• Went out to eat
• Went to the jazz factory
• Stood in line at midnight to get “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”
• Prayed together for our kids
• Read the new Harry Potter book together (I know it’s a big Harry Potter week.  Did I mention we’re huge fans?)
• Talked, talked, talked, talked, talked
• Solved a Rubic’s cube
• Reevaluated some parenting issues
• Laughed a lot
• Listened to and watched a thunderstorm through our screen door
• I drove him to work and picked him up

I was missing the kids at the beginning of the week, but now that they are back I’m missing my special time with my hubby.  I’m ready to do it all again!

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Oompa-Loompa Wednesday, May 30 2007

Bill and I rented “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (BTW, did you know you can get old movies free every Wednesday at the Movie Gallery here on Brownsboro Rd?  This may be the deal at other Movie Gallery’s also.).  We thought it was great, but the best part was in the special features.  You can actually learn two Oompa-Loompa dances.  It rocked, and I would highly recommend spending some time with your honey to learn how to dance the night away with the Oompa-Loompas.

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Saving Dinner Monday, Apr 23 2007

I just came across a new website last week called Saving Dinner.  The author has lots of great menus already made for many different needs available for a very small price.  We purchased one of her freezer meal plans (only $8.95) that gives shopping lists, instructions, suggestions for side items, and everything else you need to make 22 dinners for 4 people.  You can make as many copies for yourself as you need.  The best part is that she is a frugal woman, so Bill and I only spent around $75 for 2 weeks of groceries yesterday.  That $8.95 was well worth it.  Then we had a great time assembling the meals together last night (we only did 10 at a time, though we actually could have fit all 22 of them in our small freezer, even with ice trays and other food items).  It might sound a little unromantic, but I would recommend doing something like this for a date with your spouse.  We talked a lot and enjoyed working together for a couple of hours so we can save many hours this week on meal prep.  That’s more time we can talk the next two weeks.  All I have to do now is thaw the meal the night before and pop it in the oven or crock pot when we’re ready to cook it.  It really was a lot of fun.  We’re having our first meal tonight–crock pot beef and peppers with mashed potatoes, broccoli, and salad.  Yum! 

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Date Idea Sunday, Apr 15 2007

As I mentioned below, our dear friend Rachel watches our kiddos for us twice a month.  If you have been inspired to date your spouse and don’t have a Rachel in your life (they’re hard to come by, and we’re not sharing), I would recommend “swap” dating.  Twice a month we also “swap” date with another couple–Brian and Kacie.  One night we go out and they watch our kids, and another night we repay them by watching their boys while they go out.  Not only does that give us 3 nights out a month, but we also get a short time of fellowship with this other beautiful couple when we pick up the rascals.  

As a side note, I would highly recommend Kacie’s blog.  You can go to it by clicking here.  

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Honoring Our Friend Sunday, Apr 15 2007

I just wanted to take a moment to honor someone who is very special to our family–Rachel Hay.  We met Rachel about 3 years ago (right after she graduated from U of L) at Cedar Grove Baptist.  She is a student at Southern Seminary working on her MDiv and works full-time with children who have different sorts of brain injuries.  She also teaches Sunday School (1 & 2 year olds no less).  She is extremely busy, yet she does something very important in addition to all her other obligations.  She watches our children for us every other week so Bill and I can go out together.  As she says, “This is for your marriage.”

You see, though Rachel is single (she says I bring that up every time I see her–sorry, Rachel), she already has wisdom about this reflection of Christ and His bride.  She knows that no matter how much we love our children, we were a family before they came and our marriage still comes first (something that is so easy to forget).  Because of her generosity, Bill and I get to continue working on our relationship uninterrupted so we can reflect Christ’s love for His church and so we won’t be looking across the table at a stranger when the kids are grown and gone.  

Something else Rachel does for me–she reflects absolute beauty.  As one of our mutual friends recently said, “She radiates beauty.”  Why is that helpful to me?  Because though Rachel probably doesn’t know it, and though she is a little younger than me, she has become one of my heroes in the faith.  You see, I’m not sure if I’ve ever met anyone who is more passionate for Christ with a desire to serve Him and Him only with all her heart.  Rachel is the kind of woman every woman should want to model.  I always think, “If my heart looked more like Rachel’s, I would look more beautiful to the world, and even to my husband.”  So today, for no reason other than how much I love her, I want to honor our dear friend to whom we owe so much.     

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