A Year of Dates: April

Man, the wheels really fell off my blogging wagon last month!! As usual, I blame life.

I didn't blog about it, but we did our April date.  (Want more details about The Year of Dates?)

April 2012


The Date: This was our first date of the year that wasn't date specific. So of course we waited until the last Sunday of April to squeeze it in! We went out for frozen yogurt at a new "local and organic" fro-yo place we had heard a lot about.  Then we headed to the park for a walk and a little friendly game of "Do you know your husband/wife?"

The Envelope: Along with the ever-present "witty note on blue stationary", the envelope contained 2 small booklets...



And it went a little something like this...


Honestly, it was just nice to get to spend a little time with Eric. April was a BUSY month!! We had been hearing great things about the new, "we only serve local, fresh ingredients" frozen yogurt place in town.  I was even prepared for the fact that they don't have any candy or other refined sugary goodness to put on their organic, clean eating fro-yo.

Here's Eric, with the mandatory "Me and my envelope" photo

He has obviously practiced being "thrilled", but this is still a weird picture of him. Sorry, Eric. But, look at the beautiful farmstyle frozen yogurt.  I can't remember what flavors he got, but I was crazy and got chocolate and... vanilla!!  (I have since heard from my fro-yo connoisseur friends that the chocolate is not a favorite.) I had 2 initial reactions to the healthy frozen yogurt. First, it was yogurty. Clearly NOT ice cream. Second, I accidentally chose a spoon of recycled wood or bamboo or something ("accidentally" because I did it on purpose but only because I didn't realize there was some other option that was also environmentally friendly but more like plastic).  The woody stubble feeling on my tongue was not a good chaser to the frozen yogurt. I got used to the yogurt, but not to the spoon. Eric, who had the plastic-ish spoon, made fun of me, but did attempt to use my spoon once too.

Then we headed off to the park.  We went for a walk along the river, which was nice. Quiet and peaceful. Except for that couple being inappropriate together on a blanket in the grass.

Our couples quiz books were pretty cute. 100 questions ranging from the very difficult (what is his mom's phone number? who were 3 of his childhood friends?) to simple (what color is her purse - which was right next to me? who cuts his hair?). We did 25 questions at a time, and then read our answers and mercilessly teased each other when we got one wrong.

Then it got cold, so we moved to the sun about 200 yards away. Guess who also moved there? Yes! Inappropriate blanket couple! So we joked that they probably thought we were following them to watch the show. Only, we really weren't. Not attractive people, the blanket couple. 

I got a bonus shot of the envelope and quiz book!!! 

So, if you know me, you do not even need to ask who "won" the quiz book "game". Because I refuse to lose!!! =)

On our way back to the car, we walked past the marina and saw some super tiny baby geese. Those Mamas were keeping the babies in line! Hello spring!

Next Month: Since I am posting this on the day of our May date (yes, I am cheating and back dating to April so it will be easier for me to find later), I can tell you what we are doing. Dinner out and... Third Day concert!! Hooray!

A Year of Dates: March

Last weekend Eric and I went on our March date as part of our Year of Dates.  For those of you who just joined us, for Eric's birthday I gave him a Year of Dates -- one date a month, pre-planned and mostly pre-paid. Our lives have gotten really crazy over the past year and this is a way to make sure we have some couple time (other than zoning out in front of the tv next to each other after the kids go to bed).  This is the third month, obviously, and I have to say that the pre-planned date thing has been good for us. We, especially Eric, have been super busy and when our date rolls around each month, I think we both realize that we would not have carved time out to be together on that particular evening. We would have collapsed at home or gone to bed at 8pm.  But we go on our date instead and it has been nice to spend time together. The only problem with the system so far is that I planned all the dates and focused on planning things we have not done before, but the dates haven't been particularly "manly" so far. Other than the auto show. Maybe that is enough manliness for the whole year.

March 2012


The Date: A night out in Richland to see the Hanford High School drama department at their dessert theater. We haven't seen any local theater since we moved here, but Hanford High's drama department has an excellent reputation. Plus... DESSERT!

The Envelope: Two tickets, procured drug dealer style when I met up with a drama girl outside Big Girl's allergist's office and exchanged my check for the tickets; and a little advertising flier I picked up somewhere that said a little bit about the drama program

Eric officially does not like the part of the date where I make him pose with the envelope.  I thought this one was cute though -- some of the performers were lined up at the entrance to welcome people as they walked in. I have a couple of pictures with them photo crashing with weird faces, but they were blurry because Eric started getting annoyed and I was taking the pictures on the move! 

It Went a Little Something Like This...

I had never been to a dessert theater, and we didn't know much about how this was going to go. And by "this" I mean the most important part of the evening: dessert! Each person received basically a tasting plate with a few different desserts. Luck of the draw, you got whatever the server put in front of you. Here are our plates:

Mine! 

Eric's!

Dessert was good. The performances were really great.  There were some full cast numbers from Music Man, the spring musical at Hanford High.  And then some of the students who placed high enough in competition to perform at the state level (this weekend!) performed their pieces. So there were large cast numbers, solos, monologues, duets and 2 person acting scenes.  After every 5th or so performance, there was a 15 minute break and ongoing silent auctions.  

Some pictures!! 

Stubborn in Iowa - Music Man

Scene from The Producers

My 2nd dessert!! 

Eric's 2nd dessert! 

Not for the Life of Me - Thoroughly Modern Millie

Trouble (in River City) - Music Man

 Overall, it was a fun evening.  Not really Eric's "thing", but the kids were REALLY good. And did I mention there was dessert? It was a good "date we've never gone on before", and we got a chance to talk and walk around together during the intermissions.

Next Month: April will be our first month date that isn't tied to a specific day. So we are adding in a little challenge, which is to make time for the date! We decided on our March date that we are going to sit down with a calendar SOON and mark the date in, set in stone.

 

A Year of Dates: February

Last Sunday, Eric and I went on our second "A Year of Dates" adventure.  As I said repeatedly, to the point where it wasn't cute anymore, "Happy February date!"

Eric STILL has not looked at the entire set of envelopes, as far as I know. And I STILL cannot believe it.  But, February's date surprise was ruined. (January wasn't actually a surprise because he knew about that date before the whole "A Year of Dates" thing was started.)  Anyway, this time the date surprise was revealed because our date was almost ruined.

You see, on the outside of each envelope I wrote the date of each date (!!) if it was to occur at a specific date/time. Some of the months are flexible, others are for a specific event.  And then I also gave Eric a list of all of the dates and times.  But still, Eric managed to schedule the church voter's meeting where he had to make his school budget and staffing proposals for the EXACT TIME of our February date. To cut him some slack, the following Sunday was part of a three day weekend, and the Sunday prior didn't give the church constitution mandated amount of time from publishing the meeting time until the meeting took place.

For a day or so, it looked like we might have to cancel our date in favor of the church meeting. But Eric actually outed himself on Facebook about it, and the ladies came to my aid, telling him to reschedule the darn church meeting, for goodness sakes! So, the church meeting was rescheduled for the three day weekend, which brought some grumbling. If you are a grumbler, now you know. The meeting was changed so that my husband could keep a commitment he made to his wife. So there!

And now...

The Date: A trip to the Capitol Theater in Yakima (we'd never been) to see the the New Shanghai Circus...


(We did not see all of this stuff - I think this video is a couple of years old, but you get the idea...)

The Envelope: 2 tickets in the center of the first row of the upper seating area

It Went a Little Something Like This...


My mom was supposed to watch the kids for us for the afternoon and evening, since we had more than an hour drive each way, but she ended up having to fly out for her job on Sunday morning.  So our friend agreed to watch the kids for us instead, which was really nice because it ended up taking a good amount of her Sunday.

We had a nice drive to Yakima, seeing "the sights" which are hills, a few small towns and... well, that's it, really.

This glider guy flew right over us on the highway.  Cool! 

We got to Yakima with about 20 minutes to spare and found parking within a few blocks of the theater.  There was a slightly homeless looking guy walking towards us as we started walking to the theater. Eric was convinced he was going to try to steal his car. Yes, his early 90's Honda Civic hatchback with power nothing. (To be fair, it is a fairly desirable parts car.)

The Capitol Theater is a cute little old theater. We had really great seats in the center of the first row of the upper seating. A little extra leg room, no one directly in front of us.  It was only a problem being so high during one routine where a performer left the stage and went down into the floor level seating. We couldn't see her at all. But that's ok. We saved $30 by missing those 2 minutes of the show!

I have a serious problem with taking pictures of myself with my cell phone. That whole "push a button and the phone flips around" thing is beyond what I can comprehend, apparently. 

We saw spinning dishes, foot juggling, crazy acrobatics, amazing flexibility, awesome strength, a Chinese dragon puppet, tight rope walking, things being balanced on top of heads, hanging and swinging from cloth and some not-so-great dancing.  There were many times when we were in awe.  It was fun.

After the performance, we came down the two flights of stairs and saw the performers in the entryway!!

We were both hungry but decided to skip the Olive Garden on the corner and try our luck heading out of town to see if we'd find something. As we were leaving Yakima we came upon a seafood restaurant that looked good.  We risked a pricey meal and went inside. It was a nice little place, good food, pretty empty, slightly high prices and incredibly slow service. But it was a nice meal and time spent together.

Next Month: Finally a surprise!! And another date involving some thing/place we have not been before.  Here is your hint: it involves another state and more create talent. Do you have a guess?

A Year of Dates: January

Last Saturday, Eric and I went on the first of our Year of Dates.

January 2012


The Date: A trip to Portland for the Portland International Auto Show.  Since we don't live in Portland, this ended up being a full day date.

The Envelope: 2 tickets to the Auto Show, Starbucks gift card for fancy coffee & sandwich across the street from the convention center.

It Went a Little Something Like This...


My mom watched the kids for the day, and we ended up leaving the house around 8:15am.  We enjoyed 3+ hours in the car without the kids. It's amazing how stress free longer drives are when you don't have to pack tons of extra food, clothes, games and toys! And manage fighting and whining! Instead we got to talk about life, catch up with each other.

We saw SIX Bald Eagles along with Columbia River during our drive. I didn't take pictures from the moving car, but basically it was like this guy's picture:



The actual date isn't super interesting for re-enactment. It was walking, talking, sitting in cars, looking at cars, taking pictures of cars. Towards the beginning of our adventure, we had lunch at Starbucks.

Appetizing, huh?

A few observations from the car show:

1) When pretending to drive an auto show car, it is apparently mandatory that you also pretend to shift manual transmission gears, even if the car is an automatic.

2) There is something about having my picture taken while sitting in a completely still car in the middle of a crowded auditorium that compels me to flash a peace sign. 

3) I apparently like the current trend towards using the exterior color of the car as the dash trim color inside the car. It is cute and fun, and reminded me of when my KitchenAid  mixer was brand new and shiny. 

Eric and I got to ride in a Jeep that essentially drove over/through an obstacle course, and also in a tiny Scion which Eric test drove in a small driveway parking area outside. Those were some of his highlights. Plus seeing his current dream car/future actual car, which he couldn't sit in because it is still a prototype. 

A little sad he couldn't sit inside. And that they didn't have the Scion version. 

During our ride, I was in the middle seat in the back. Eric was sitting on my right, stranger on the left. And then we did this. It was a little unfortunate for the stranger on my left.

Here are some more pictures from the day:

Vespa! 

Tiny Scion (this is the one that Eric later test drove)

One of the most bizarre things at the Auto Show: a truck painted to honor 9/11 first responders. On the hood: angry presidents and angry birds of prey. I am still trying to figure out how to alert Stephen Colbert. 

Eric being "manly" in front of a truck in his "Dexter shirt".

Someone take me to the beach. I'm ready to go surfing. 

Weird, massive fuel economy scooter thing. Only in the Pacific Northwest.

On our way home, we stopped for burgers and took more pictures of ourselves eating food.

We had a lovely drive home. Almost ran out of gas, but didn't. That was nice.

Next Month: Eric still hasn't looked into the date envelopes, but I did have to reveal the February date after he scheduled a church voter's meeting for the exact time we were supposed to be on our date. So it won't be a surprise, but it will still be fun!

A Year of Dates

Today is my husband's birthday and it looks like his gift is a success!!

I have been working for the past few weeks to plan a year of dates for us, with inspiration from This Blog.  My gift is essentially pre-planning fun times for us to spend together, once a month.  8 or 9 of the dates are activities we have never done before.  I spent a lot of time digging around for ideas and also asked some of our friends who have lived here a lot longer than we have.  Considering we probably only went out on 3 or 4 dates all of last year, I'm pretty proud of myself.  

I was planning to blog about this today and include a list of all of the fun dates we have planned. But my husband is not like me and he actually did not open every envelope right away to find out what the dates are! (I seriously can't even believe it. I can barely not tell him right now!) 

So since the dates are still a mystery, I am going to share our January date:  the 2012 Portland International Auto Show.  This isn't really a mystery or surprise date because we already planned to go back. My husband used to go every year, and I have gone with him since we started dating, but we have missed the auto show for the last two years. But this year we will go! Especially because there are tickets in the date envelope, so now if we don't go, we wasted the money.  (Nothing will convince us to conquer exhaustion or sickness for a day trip adventure like the threat of wasting $24!) 

I will update post-date with how things went and add our dates as we go along!