12 Months of Pre-Planned Dates

I have been dying to share this!! Just dying! 12 months of pre-planned and pre-paid dates was my main Christmas gift to Kit in 2013. Our first date kinda flopped because there was some idiotic things I couldn’t control. However, we are back on schedule.

I found this idea of 12 Pre-Planned Dates on Pinterest. There are tons of them all over the internet. The blogger I linked had some great tips but the blog was a touch sparse when it came to actual ideas. I believe that was on purpose. The original blogger didn’t want you to do an exact copy because she wanted her readers to get creative and make it their very own. I am will toats share all of mine, never fear. I do stand behind her in saying: Make this your own! Don’t just copy the dates, sit down and put some serious thought into things that the two of you would like to do together.

For example, some couples may hate to cook together, but that is a great togetherness time that my husband and I have. I also wanted to keep these 12 dates on a very serious low budget. I think all together I spent less than $50. Those are some legit dates if you ask me.

What is this all about?

Come up with 12 date ideas. Write 12 letters, grab and label 12 envelopes and make sure to include anything needed to complete the date. Especially items like, printed off directions, brochures of destination, recipe cards, gift cards, or other specific things (like food coloring to go with a cookie recipe).

About a week before the new month open the envelope and pick a day to have your pre-planned date! So you would open the February date envelope sometime during the last week of January.

January

My plan for January was to get a $5 gift card for this local theatre that mostly does live performances. They promised to have several $2 movies they would show during January and the schedule of shows would be available–to include in my envelope–by mid December. Sadly, the show schedule didn’t come out until January and the shows are all scheduled for February.
To make matters worse the gift card to the theatre got lost in the mail somewhere. It might be in my PO box…silly mail. We hope to hold three dates in February, the Jan-date, Feb-date and something special for Valentine’s Date. March will feel uneventful after our crazy February ends.

February

I want each month to have its own blog post after we have the date, but since Kit has opened the February envelope I can summarize it here. February’s envelope includes: A bandana, a small tub of Wilton’s rose pink coloring, a recipe for super pink chocolate chip cookies, and a letter with instructions. The instructions essentially say that our challenge is to make chocolate chip cookies will taking turns being blindfolded.
I suppose if you wanted to analyze what this does for the relationship it can be noted that this is a trust building exercise. The blindfolded person must depend on the unimpaired partner to help make measurements.
My mom has asked about 15 times already….So yes, if you’re wondering it will probably be a naked cooking date. We’re adults and we can be naked. Hahaha, it also may be more amusing this way.
One of the best parts, in addition to nudity, is that we will have awesome super bright pink cookies to nosh when we finish the date. Milk and cookies is what’s up!

March

This one is a surprise! You’ll have to wait a month!! But I promise to continually add to this list so you know what we’re up to throughout the year.

Happy Dating!

~Kat~

Birthday Grill Building

In an attempt to trick Kit into thinking he wouldn’t get a birthday gift I waited over a week and surprised him with this. His birthday trip was the state fair remember.

Photo credit: Angie.
I was lucky in that I was off work on a day he got scheduled to work. We got to work not long after lunch putting the new grill together.

The first steps were unpacking the grill, grabbing some chairs for comfort, setting up the camera and posing like nerds.

There were lots of ridiculous poses. Before we followed each assembly step we had a scavenger hunt for pieces. Some of them we discovered were actually inside the grill. Smart packing folks.

I don’t have many photos of us actually working on the grill because, well, we were working! With four people it went together quite well. I imagine doing it by myself would be much more dull and super slow as I switched between tools, instructions and grill.

Luckily, my friends/family that helped me had recently put together their own grills and were somewhat accustomed to the many and somewhat ambiguous steps.

Photo credit here goes to Angie.
It was worth all the hard work! Whoo!! We got it finished with plenty of time to spare. Time to marinate ribeye in a chipotle sauce. And time to chop veggies, spice and wrap them in oiled foil packets.

Kit didn’t act too surprised, but he isn’t the known for his game show style overreactions. I think he was pleased we had special steak, banana pepper poppers and squash/tomato/onion packets ready to throw on the grill. The new grill cooks like a dream!

Day 248: Fishing Box

The random gift boxes and toys that come out just around Christmas are always a bit fun and strange to me.

This is something I probably would have never imagined on my own….Just think of the possibilities.

This could be adapted for a small child (more candy) or for a aspiring/serious fisherman (more fishing accessories).

Tackle boxes are relatively inexpensive. They have gummy worms and Sweedish fish in their tackle box. As well as some fish shaped hard candies.

The real fishing tools they have in this set are just two red and white bobbers. ONe could easily go to a specialty candy store and buy a small scoop of all the aquatic creature shaped gummies or candy and fill up the box. How much fun would that be?
From a not fishing person, it would be much more fun putting the gift together.
This would be a sweet as a father’s day gift or that little redneck kid you know that is having a birthday.

Thoughts? Creative or dumb?
I believe this pre-made kit was in the $7-10 range.

Day 175: Balloon Because

Sometimes you just need to buy a balloon for your sweetheart.

The hubster had work days on my days off so we didn’t get to be together a full day.

It had been a long day of me wishing he could come home early. I was grabbing some Halloween decorations from Dollar Tree when I found they had helium balloons. Yes, for just one dollar.

As a child, helium balloons were somewhat magical to me. So I thought it was a good ‘just because’ gift.

I believe some of the people in the store thought I had a loved one returning from overseas.
I’m glad Kit wasn’t that far away. My heart goes out to the families whose loved ones are so far away from home.

I was in tears when I saw the video chat scene between Halle Berry and her soldier in New Year’s Eve. That pain is real for many families who are apart. I hope all your soldiers come home healthy and happy.