She's ALL Country!

I have been SO excited to do this DATE!!!

When I was younger there was a point in my life where I used to ride horses all the time. Right behind my home was a field and a canal where I used to play and fish. When I got into college I was ALL about DANCING! In fact the first time my husband and I hung out, HE taught me the cowboy cha cha! With that being said, the inspiration for this date came from my LIFE before my happily ever after.

The Morning of the date I put this picture on Nathan's computer for his WALL PAPER! I wanted him to be just as excited as I was for this date!

(highlight this picture, right-click and scroll down to set as background)

For the first part of our date...

...we went to our Uncle Rich and Aunt Leanne's to go play with their horses! When we first got into the corral with the horses they could tell we didn't know exactly what we were doing.

So they took advantage!

The alpha horse took off RUNNING my way! No worries, he went right past me BUT still, it definitely made my blood start pumping! Horses feed off of each other's emotions and with the Alpha horse running...a couple of the others decided to join in!

That part didn't last long. Pretty soon we had them tied up and gated off, and we were able to get in and start getting dirty!

A BIG part of horse back riding is bonding with the horses. So we spent most of our time grooming and brushing them. We LOVED taking care of them and making them look so pretty after a long winter. Horses are such beautiful and smart animals and we felt lucky to spend that time with them.

After a long shower we put on, "It's a Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. To get pumped up for the NEXT part of the date AND to give our little girl a taste of the FUN we were going to have without her. We spent the next 10-15 minutes dancing around our house. I have to admit our little one has got some good moves!

(sorry no pic for that part :( too busy dancing!)

Also, to help us get pumped up a couple of days before the date we watched, "Dances with Wolves", (a movie HE loves) and "Sweet Home Alabama", (a movie I LOVE and have watched many times :)

-Now for the Country Dancing!-

Here are a couple of places in Utah you can go country dancing. I LOVE them because you don't have to know anything before you go. There is a half hour to an hour lesson before the dance party begins!

http://www.utahcountrydance.com/

http://westerndance.org/

**Edit to say**

How to find Dancing class near you: 1- Google Country Dancing (You will need to type in the city; state you live in.) 2- Click on the one closest to you! And start doing your research! 3- Things to LOOK for: How much is it? What is the schedule and would it work with yours?

You live in LIMBO and honestly there are absolutely NO Country Dancing spots near you AND you would STILL LOVE to learn some moves. :)
YOUTUBE!
Hello! Go to You Tube, type in Country Dancing AND Teach me Country Dancing! 
Now you and your spouse can have a dance off (or just a country dancing lesson), right there in the comfort of your own living room! Don't stop there with just these two links from Youtube, there is lots more out there!

TIPS: Do not wear open toe shoes! In this type of dancing you want to keep your little piggy's protected! Do not wear a skirt. You do not want your clothing to limit what moves you can and can not do. Leave that up to your spouse (WINK:).

We went to Utah Country Dance in Provo and LOVED it! It is the perfect place to have some good old clean FUN!
(only costs $4 a person before 9:30pm & $6 after 9:30pm! That's for a dance LESSON and the dancing after!)

I LOVED being in the arms of the man I love all night! I loved having him twist and twirl me around on the dance floor. I loved that we could be silly together and make up some of our own moves and not care what anyone else thought! But the part I loved most... every chance we could we would sneak kisses in between dance moves.

After country dancing we headed to the gas station! When I was growing up we had a Maverick 4 houses down from our home and it was the only store around for miles (and that's a big deal when you can't drive!) While we were there we tried on some good old fashioned cowboy hats and attempted to get some gas station HOT DOGS. Let's just say with a Wendy's right next door we HAD to chicken out.

We ordered from the dollar menu meaning the total cost of our date (dancing included) was $12. I got the chili and truly enjoyed it.

We took our dinner to a nearby river, and laid a blanket right next to the shoreline. We cuddled and talked while we listened to the peaceful sound of running water. It was a cloudy night and the only light we had was from a single street light not too far off. We could feel some small rocks beneath us and it very lightly started to rain. I smiled at the fact I had a reason to cuddle even closer, so we could pull part of the blanket over our heads.

As we sat there in the rain right next to the river side my husband told me this story:

There once was an Arabian man walking through the desert at night. It was so dark that he soon became lost. As he wandered throughout the night he suddenly heard a voice. He wasn't sure if the voice was in his head or actually spoken aloud. The voice told him to stop where he was and pick up the rocks at his feet and put them in his pockets. The man thought it to be very strange and almost didn't do as the voice told him, nevertheless he did pick up two handfuls of rocks and stuffed them in his garments. Eventually, the Arabian man found his way back to his village. He was so tired and exhausted that he crashed on his bed and fell instantly asleep. The next day when he woke up he remembered the rocks that he had picked up in the desert. As he began to take them out of his pockets, he was startled with amazement because the rocks were no ordinary rocks, they were precious rocks of great value. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and amethyst glittered in the man's eyes as he held them in his hands. He was so overcome with joy that he thanked God for his good fortune. He started thinking about what he could do with all his wealth and riches and then decided to try and find his secret treasure once again. For many nights following he wandered through the desert searching for the spirit voice to tell him to stop, but he never heard the voice again......The moral of this story has two parts. Firstly, often times we do not realize the situations that we are in. We tend to think about how we are feeling at the moment, (hot, sweaty, or tired). But as we look back, we understand the lessons that we learned and see how we grew. Secondly is that there are times in our lives that we would consider to be "precious moments of time". Moments that may not seem that important at that time until you look back and realize how great it really was. Moments in time that you would give anything to go back to and experience it once more, but nonetheless can't. These precious moments are like the precious stones of the Arabian. This story teaches us to look to the past for guidance and answers but not dwell on it as to hinder our progression or our future.
We LOVED our date so much we are going to do the whole thing all over again, HOPEFULLY many times! Except next time maybe let some of our friends in on some of the FUN!