I just finished a very satisfying piano practice session while my husband gave our daughter a bath and got her ready for bed.  This is a routine we try to stick to and we are successful 20% of the time.  We’re busy, ya know?

I love him for it.  He gives me no guilt for pursuing a completely solo activity while he does the dirty work.  In fact, he INSISTS I go sit at the piano.  (It may be because I tend to get a bit cranky without my musical unwinding.  Or maybe he really is just as charming as I make him sound.  Either way, he’s a gem.)

And while I play, either frustratingly (some nights, my fingers just don’t obey) or tranquilly, I always always feel a surge of gratitude in my heart for that man.

Do you want to know how I got the piano?  I’ll tell you.  Ryan and I used to both work at the same place which gave out AMAZING Christmas bonuses.  The year we bought our house, we both got fabulous Christmas checks.  Since we now had a house, it made perfect sense to me that we would furnish it with a piano.  And those fabulous checks would be the means of purchasing the piano.

I didn’t realize how selfish my assumption was until later.  And I didn’t realize how utterly selfless it was of my husband to agree and willingly give up his large check to pay for a piano he will rarely touch, except to dust (cuz he’s great at doing chores).

Now I realize it.  And on those successful 20% nights when I get to actually practice the piano, I fall in love all over again with my sweet husband for giving me a gift that truly keeps on giving.  20% of the time.

Are you too busy for your own good, like me?  For example, are you supposed to be a stay at home mom who ended up working over 8 hours from home yesterday?  Or is that just me?  Do you not get enough time with your husband?  Sorry, I can’t hear your response over your roaring, “DUHHHHHH.”

Here is my foolproof way to feel connected to your spouse.  When we are good about this, we feel like a couple.  When we neglect this rule, we start to feel like roommates.  And that, my friends, is an awful feeling.  I know, because we’ve been ignoring the foolproof rule for the past couple of days.  And waking up today, feeling like I haven’t seen my handsome husband in a year, is propelling me to instigate the rule into our house once again.  The rule, you ask?

TURN OFF ALL SCREENS BY 9:00 PM AND GET YOURSELVES TO BED! 

TOGETHER!

Who cares what you do in bed?  Just do it together!  Talk, read to each other, plan the week, do something else…

Really, try it.  Try it for a week.  You’ll thank me later. 

See our smiles?  That’s because we were following the rule.

What are you doing for Date Night tonight?

We’re cheating and not actually having a real date. 

We were knee deep in a project last night, which prevented us from watching this,

this,

this,

and this:

So instead of doing something meaningful and bonding for our date night, we’ll be setting up the computer and speakers, snuggling into the couch, eating some popcorn and watching some great comedy.

Can’t wait!

You know I love fun dates with my husband!  I wrote a post listing some of our favorite cheap and creative dates over at Always Something to Talk About.

Go check it out and leave a comment about your favorite date ideas!

We really like creative dates and we especially like when those dates are cheap or free.  What’s even better is when they inspire mushy-gushiness, romance and lots of kissing.

Enter my silly but mushy-gushy, romantic and kissy kissy Cheap Creative Date #1.

Supplies needed

1. m&ms or skittles

2. construction paper and scissors

3. pen or marker

Step 1.

Cut out two strips of paper for each color of m&ms or skittles.  Put in two piles.

Step 2.

Write silly mushy gushy discussion prompts on each strip of paper.  Things like: “Favorite memories together” or “Your favorite things about me” or “Things you admire most about me.”  Throw in some good action prompts like:

If same prompts are used for each pile, write them on different colored paper.

Step 3:

Get two bowls and put 55 m&ms (frozen if you want them to taste better!) or skittles in each one (that’s 1/4 cup, which is the serving size for m&ms.  It sounds like a lot- and maybe it is.  But they’re oh-so-good.)

Put your prompts in two separate bowls- one for each of you.

Now the game begins.

1. Decide who goes first.

2. First person chooses a color of m&ms or skittles and pulls all of that color out of the bowl to be counted.  Let’s say I pick red and have 12 red m&ms.

3. Then I pick the red prompt.  I do whatever it says or talk about whatever it tells me to talk about 12 times.  So I give 12 kisses on the lips or I list 12 things I admire about my husband.

4. Then I eat my 12 red m&ms. 

5. The game can be interrupted at any time for the cause of mushy gushyness, romance, or lots (more) kisses.

We had a real date this weekend.  It’s been a few weeks since we had a real one where we hire a babysitter and actually go out somewhere.  It was so much fun to go to the movies and walk hand in hand with my husband.  It made me feel giddy.

But the next night was even better.  After we put the little dear to bed Saturday night, we made some frozen hot chocolate and snuggled on the couch while we sipped and talked with absolutely no agenda.

Our conversation soon found it’s way to the topic of ourselves 5 years ago- pre marriage.  We laughed and smiled while we reminisced about the silly things we did to get each other’s attention.  We described and re-enacted the first kiss, the second kiss (which was way better), and the third kiss (which was truly magical).  We marveled at how incredibly easy it was to be in each other’s company right from the start.  We really could have gone on and on about ourselves to each other.

It was wonderful.  It made me fall in love all over again.

Next time you don’t know what to do for date night, use this easy date idea: make absolutely no plans except to reminisce about your courtship- no matter how long ago that may be for you!  It’s truly refreshing!

I couldn’t find any pre-marriage pictures on our computer.  This picture is pre-parenthood, which can also be a fun subject.