Love Story: Wendy & Nate

Nate's story: "One night I was at a Jazz NBA basketball game, and during halftime I saw this super hot lady up on the jumbo tron and knew I had to meet her. So I found the section she was in and went over and introduced myself. She thought it was so cute and romantic that I was so determined to find her, things were bliss from day 1!" 

That was actually a story my husband told a friend of mine! He is good at thinking he is creative, but the real story went like this...in super short version...

Nate and I met in 2002, we were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend.  Who says blind dates never work???!!  While it wasn't love at first sight for either of us, the man was a total gentleman and stole my heart away. We actually dated on and off for almost 4 years before finally tying the knot!  About a year and a half later we had our first miracle.  He is totally the center of our lives, which is why this dating blog is amazing. We would choose not to take time away from our little 2 year old, BUT it's totally appropriate to do so! 

Date Night...For The WHOLE Family!!

Shauna over at "My Mix of Six" has the CUTEST family of redheads!!  Her blog first caught my eye because my mom is also a redhead....which she passed down to a few of us!  Under my blonde highlights...I have some RED just dying to come thru!  AnYwAy....I really liked the "spin" Shauna put on their family movie night!

 She bought tickets from Walmart and began giving them out to her kids for doing chores.  She was amazed at how quickly the chores were done!  THEN - they did a "Home Theater" premiere...and "sold" entrance to the movie, drinks, treats, blankets & pillows!

Nothing like killing two birds with one stone!  The house was clean AND they had a fun family night together.  

Check out her post HERE!

Anniversary Gift Idea

My husband and I are getting ready to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary! I have been working hard on making his gift...a memory jar! Jared and I have known each other for over 14 years, so we have A LOT of memories.

Here is how I made the jar...

STEP ONE: Find a jar!

STEP TWO: Decide how many memories you want to write about and then cut that many tiny papers! ( I decided to do 100 memories.)

STEP THREE: On each paper, write a memory that you and your husband have shared. I like to write about vacations, fun and hard times, concerts, movies, restaurants, etc.! Each memory is only one to two sentences long. Just a quick reminder on the memory. In all honesty 100 memories took me about an hour. Remember, each memory is only one or two lines. Keeping it sweet, yet simple! :)

STEP FOUR: Put all your memories together in a jar and give it to your husband.

STEP FIVE: Two or three times a week before you go to bed, pull out a memory and read it together! I am excited to remember back to those times we so easily forget.

When my husband went on his mission, I did this same idea. I sent him off with a jar of memories. In each letter he wrote, he would write what he remembered on the back of the memory! It was a fun way to remember all the great things that made our relationship what it was. :)

Date Night

This date was inspired by the new movie, perfectly titled: 'Date Night', starring Steve Carrel and Tina Fey. In my opinion these two stars were brilliantly cast for the leading roles in this film! Can I just say HILARIOUS! This is what you might refer to as a 'Dinner and Movie Date', but so much funner! Since you are planning on taking your spouse to see a movie, why not surprise him by using movie tickets! These tickets were created by fellew Diva, Tara, but modified to fit this date! She used this in a previous post and it fits perfect for this date as well! Go here to download and print your own movie ticket. Don't forget to adjust the Date and Time.The plan for the date is that you and your spouse are going to be 'The Triplehorns' for the evening (well, the Fosters imitating the Triplehorns)! You might be wondering, "Who the heck are the Fosters and Triplehorns?" Which brings me to the second step in the date: Watch the trailer to the movie with your spouse! Here is the link: Date Night Trailer.I highly recommend NOT skipping this step because it is Key to all the fun for this date! Next on the list is to Dress the Part. Dom and I had fun putting on outfits that we wouldn't usually pick to go to dinner in! We tried to imitate "Phil and Claire". I picked out a black dress and Dom wore a white shirt under his suit jacket. In case your wondering, the answer is "Yes, this is more dressy than the usual for us!" We are a Jeans and T-shirt kind of couple. Here we are in our copy-cat outfits. Now that you are dressed to the Nines it is time to get to the restaurant. It is important to choose a restaurant that you commonly visit as a couple; because, that is what Phil and Claire do in the movie! Assuming there is a wait, the hostess will ask for your name, your response: "The Triplehorns". Keep in mind, dining at a restaurant that takes your name down is a must. Now that you have time to burn, do what we did, take snapshots of yourselves. For some reason I really enjoyed this. Dom and I were taking goofy pics, kissy pics, smiley pics and lots more and it was fun to just let loose and connect with him!

"Triplehorns, Party of 2", That was our cue, it was time to be seated! Once settled in (hopefully a booth), go ahead and order. For the conversation tonight you are going to pick couples or even groups out, who are in the room and guess what their story is.(Of course this idea is also taken from the movie). This was a really great idea, because it was so out of character for us to "people watch". It actually was exciting to see all the different people. We giggled at people who were the complete opposite of us. We made up some funny stories to go along with the look of the couple. It is also fun to try and read their lips, but don't catch them looking! We also remembered when we were young lovers (before the kids), like the two beside us. We looked at the elderly couple in the corner and guessed what they had shared throughout there life, which left us, well me at least, thinking of the possibilities which lie ahead for Dom and I. Which I think is so fitting, considering the previous post about growing old together! (If you didn't get a chance to read that yet, keep on reading after this post!) I didn't expect it to be as personal as it actually became; because we weren't looking at ourselves, but instead, reading into others lives. It made us look at our life and it gave us lots of things to ponder about. This was a good activity for the soul!! Not too mention, The funny bone too!
After finishing our yummy food, we headed to the theatre. I was anticipating the movie more than usual, because we had already built it up so much throughout our date. And I wasn't disappointed. It was a good flick, so worth seeing in the theatre. Though, if you want to save the money, you could totally wait for this one to come to redbox.

We ended our date with the survey that I had prepared. I loved hearing each other's comments and seeing who really remembered what. Here is an example of some of our questions: What was our waiter's name? What age do you think we'll retire? What was your favorite part of the movie/least? What couple do you think you were right about? What is a new date that you would like to go on with me? How long did we wait to be seated? What is 1 memory you have of us from our 'younger years'? Name 1 preview that was shown before our movie began? Go here to download and print the Date Night survey that I created. It is pretty basic, so you may want to adjust it to your personal taste and liking!

I hope you have as much fun as we did on this date! It is an easy-peasy way to add a little flare to the classic 'dinner and a movie' date!

Let's Grow Old Together....

I had a conversation with some other teachers today that rather stuck with me...and made me a little sad!   It also made me think...and I thought I would share the experience as well as a few thoughts with all of you.  

When asked about my weekend plans, I shared a little about the date I was planning for my husband.  A few of the teachers exclaimed things like, "That sounds like so much fun!" and  "He's going to LOVE it!"

A few others mentioned that they wish they had the time or desire to plan a fun date OR they wished HE would plan a creative date.  Then came the comment that stuck with me: 

"Ahhhh...you're still a newlywed!  You'll learn!" 

She laughed as she said it, but I noticed that another teacher nodded in agreement.  Yes, it was a joke....but they were serious.  They continued on jokingly complaining about their husbands.

At first this made me sad...and then I realized I was also a little frustrated!  How is it that people don't know that you can stay in the "newlywed" phase your entire life?  Or that as you continue to work on your marriage....it gets even BETTER than the newlywed phase?  

I will be the first to admit that my marriage isn't perfect....but that will be quickly followed by saying that it's perfect for ME!  Why?  That's too hard to answer in just one sentence, but I can start by saying that my husband and I work hard at our marriage and we are definitely reaping the rewards of doing so!

(photos courtesy of www.artoflivingonline.com)

I know you have all seen them - the sweet little old couples that shuffle along, still holding hands, both semi-blind and pretty darn deaf...and looking as in love as the day they were married.  That's how I want Jamie and I to be!  Did those couple fight?  Of course!  But - they also had the desire to work things out, communicate, and then work even harder at their marriage!

I recently read an AMAZING book called, "Love As a Way of Life". The author, Gary Chapman (who also wrote "The Five Love Languages"), described his wife in the most loving terms and then revealed his marriage secret.  Everyday he would ask his wife, "What can I do for you today?"  He said that at first his wife was surprised at the question...but would let him know how he could help her out.  Eventually, she started asking him the same thing!  

They began to take pleasure in serving one another.  You can't help but love those that you serve!  They quit looking out for #1...and shifted the focus to their spouse.  It worked WONDERS in their marriage and after reading that book....you can't help but be a believer in the power of service!

(P.S. I TOTALLY recommend that book!!!)

I know we are all SUPER busy!  I personally don't have any kids....yet.....but the other gals that contribute to this blog DO!  One of them is a mother of five kiddos...three being triplets!  :)  We also have other commitments - jobs, household duties, church callings, etc.  That is why we started this blog...so we could slow down a little and remember to focus on the one we started it all with!  You truly have to make the time!

Since starting this blog...and reading that awesome book....I have made a special effort to serve Jamie.  Just last night, I knew he would be getting home late....and might want to catch up on some of our FAV recorded TV shows.  I quickly popped some homemade cheesy popcorn....so he could also have his favorite treat.  It took me less than ten minutes.  We both laughed when he arrived home....armed with a half gallon of MY favorite treat - ice cream!

It was something SO simple...getting a treat for each other....but it made me realize how lucky I am to be married to such a guy...AND that my efforts are paying off!  I think we are BOTH making a special effort to try to put the other FIRST!  Two days ago - I send him a "love text" and he wrote back truly touched by my message.  His message BACK to me basically put me on cloud nine for the rest of the day!  Such a small thing can leave such a BIG impact!  I am now going to make a special effort to leave him some kind of a CUTE love note each week....something simple...that let's him know how much he means to me!  I love that Erika just posted those love notes!    

What a difference it makes to actually ENJOY your journey with the one you chose to spend the rest of your life with....instead of just ENDURING it!

Yep - I am sure hoping that I get to be one of those l'il ole grannies..who can't hear a dang thing...and who STILL insists on holding her husband's hand!   I want to be a "newlywed" for the rest of my life.  :)

What's Your Love Language?

Jason and I have read many marriage books in our short 4 years together. One book that I absolutely love and refer back to ALL the time is called 'The Five Love Languages' by Gary Chapman.

Learning each others Love Language was a HUGE part of us really understanding each other and how the other needs to be shown love.

Jason's Love Language is Words of Affirmation, which I regretingly do not do enough. Thanks to the Dating Divas I am getting lots of ideas on how I can do this better.

My Love Language is Quality time, although Jason and I joke that my love language is ALL of them, because I always complain about not getting enough, words of affirmation,physical touch, gifts, service, or quality time. OooPs! looks like there's something I can work on. ;)

Take a 30-second QUIZ to see what your love language

might be.

This is a great book to have on CD. As a couple we have driven across the country a few times and it was the perfect opportunity to listen to [marriage] books on cd. This really strengthened our relationship. We were able to talk to each other about what we were listening to, and we were kind of forced to since we were stuck in the car together for 30+ hours. (which would be another fun date.)  I also like having this book in paperback so I can highlight things that stick out at me, and I can refer back to it whenever I need.

You can buy the book at Walmart for $11.00

*please comment if you have found it cheaper elsewhere, thanks.

Gary Chapman also has a great Blog that covers lots of issues in marriages and it's a great reference for everyone trying to strengthen their Marriage.

Cruizin to the Caribbean in our Love boat!

Okay since it is still pretty cold here in Utah,(Although really nice the past few days)I decided to spice things up a bit and plan a date with a Caribbean Island feel. So I wrote a little poem and decorated the table the night before so my husband would see it before he went to work and have all day to get excited for our date.

Since I have two babies at home, I just used a bath pirate ship toy and used blue flavored Hawaiian punch to dye the water. I am sure food coloring would work too. Then I used my daughters art kit and some of her stickers to write the note. Easy Peasy, it's great when you can find things around the house to use.

So to get ready for the date I cleaned the house, and set up decorations. I got all my decorations from the dollar store. A big Tiki Wall Mural $1. Umbrella's for drinks $1. Pineapple straws $1. Coconut and Pineapple ( from the grocery store) $3.25. I even bought my baby a dress from the dollar store (Only $ 1 dollar) since she would be home with us. As another fun part of my decorating I wanted to fold towels in cute way like they would on a cruise. So I found this tutorial www.wikihow.com/Fold-a-Towel-Swan on how to fold towel swans in a heart shape. You can also do a monkey or dog and add sunglasses, I just liked the swans.

The next step is to get ready yourself. So I put on swim suit ( yes it is a must) and swimsuit cover-up just like I would if I were on a cruise. Put my Sunglasses on and a flower in my hair. Part of the fun is dressing the part. Then I laid my hubby's board shorts out for him. When he got home he was so surprised and excited to see everything all fancied up. So I made him put his shorts on, we put the baby to bed, and started to make dinner. You can have dinner already made if want, we just like to make dinner together (plus my husband is a really good cook). We put on some tunes. I downloaded Kokomo by the Beach Boys, and Escape (The Pina Coloda Song) by Rupert Holmes. Anything fun that has a beachy vacation feel would be great. We made Lime Chicken, Steak, Jumbo Shrimp, and Pineapple. I made more of the blue Hawaiian Punch to drink and add some color too. Another fun option for food would be order from Rumbi Island Grill if you don't feel like cooking ( they have a Caribbean chicken salad).

My Husband clowning around!

Then we played battleship (Staying in line with the boat theme). You can buy the boardgame for about $12 at any Wal-mart or Target. We decided to download it for our X-box ( it was a little cheaper this way). We seriously had a blast. We played a ton of rounds and I won most of them.

Pina Coladas came next. Put the music back on dance around and have fun with this (like you would at a dance club on a cruise). We made kind of a faux juice bar too. The perfect virgin Pina Colada Recipe is 7 oz pineapple juice, 2 oz coconut cream, and 1 cup crushed ice. Everything blended together. Serves one. Or you can crack a real coconut open and mix the coconut water with sweetened condensed milk to get the same effect as the coconut cream. We seriously had to use a hammer and drill to get the coconut open and you have to make two holes so the water will pour out. It was definitely an experience and it made our night more fun. You can also add strawbrries and real pineapple and it tastes great too. Any kind of fun fruity smoothy like drink makes this fun. OOOOOO add frozen yogurt or ice cream too for a more creamy drink.

Finally we watched Pirates of the Caribbean. You kind of have to with this date!

So there it is. My husband and I seriously had a blast this night. Sometimes a little change of scenery is just what you need. You could also do other variations of this date, like getting really dressed up like you do for dinner on a cruise, but still do fun tropical drinks and fun decor. Or you could set up lawn chairs like you are sitting on the deck. Whatever is fun to you.

I also wanted to say thank you to Tara for starting this blog and helping us all step out of the norm and have a lot more fun and revive marriage, and thank you to my sister-in-law Kristen for inviting me to do this blog. It has really been a blast seeing all the great ideas and getting to come up with some of my own. All you Dating Divas are awesome!

Love Notes

(Image courtesy of Vol. 25)

Anyone need some super cute love notes? I LOVE this gal and her awesome art. (Seriously, love her stuff. We ordered a print of hers for my son's pirate nursery and it is adorable.) Well, today she posted a FREE download of love notes. They are so fun and I think my husband might enjoy getting them each day as he is preparing for his med school finals. Click here to see her blog and download the love notes.

Love Coupons

I know a LOT of you are busy moms....or just plain BUSY!!  So the "quick and easy" ideas are a must!  Lovingyou.com has this GREAT section where you can choose an ecard to email to your honey!  

It's always nice to get a love note or a coupon for no reason at all!

Here's an example of one of the ecards...

Here's a SASSIER coupon...

...and they do get even more sassy....  {WINK}

Click here to check out ALL your "LOVE Coupon" options for Mr. Right.

P.S. They also have adorable and/or romantic love cards you can email to yer man!  This is one of my favs:

Cute, huh!!

"Sassy" Suggestions: Tiffany's "Perfect" Date Night

One of our FABULOUS readers, Tiffany, was sweet enough to share with us her amazing date that she planned for her husband.  She took ideas from a bunch of different dates we had posted and combined them all to create the PERFECT date for her and her husband!  

Click HERE to read about her date!

Thanks Tiffany for letting us highlight your fun date!  :)

BTW - if any of you have a FABULOUS date you have taken your spouse on or even a great gift that you have created for him - feel free to email us about it!  We would love to showcase your idea(s)!  

thedatingdivasblog@gmail.com

Spring Olympics!

So I remember watching the Olympics this year and there was a contestant from another country who missed a phone call and because of that, he missed out on his invite to the Olympics! Anyway, I decided this time the hubby was getting a phone call from someone very important (which of course was me) asking him to participate in this years Spring Olympics! He wasn't sure if I was serious, but quickly went along with it!

We started our morning out with a "champion's breakfast" and like Charlene said, be simple! Meat and eggs! They need protein to have lots of energy for the Olympics! This wasn't our exact breakfast, but you get the idea!Now, if any of you are like us, we are super tired of the winter weather and have been waiting very impatiently for some nice weather to get outside and have fun! So finally, this past weekend it did NOT snow! Yay! So here were the scheduled events...
RowingCanoeing/KayakingSwimming (front stroke, back stroke, and free style)




JavelinFrisbee bowling

You can find the details of each event and items needed HERE. We decided this would be much more fun to do in a group so we actually had some competition. :)
Awards ceremony...


You can find gold and silver medals, along with gold trophies at Walmart for cheap! These must be awarded to the winners, and hey go ahead and sport them all day, why not?! It also wouldn't hurt if you let your hubby win to make him feel like a true gold medalist! I didn't have to give in too much, my hubby beat me at most the sports! Also, if you are not into the breakfast idea, here in Salt Lake we have a restaurant you could do dinner at called... The Olympian (Greek food) or you could make him his favorite pasta dish before the races to give him well needed energy too!

We had fun being goofy in the warm weather and wind, I hope you do too!

Just because?! Or for any special day!!

So this is not the best looking flower bouquet... I attempted brown frosting instead of the bright colors I normally do, but this is my husband we are talking about, maybe it toned it down enough to not be so girly for his special day!

So I have done these for almost any occasion you an think of... Mother's day, Father's day, "announcing a baby" day, birthday, Valentine's, and it can be decorated to ANY holiday! JoAnn's and Michael's have the cookie pan in many different shapes, use a 40-50% off coupon online, the cookie recipe comes with the pan and is actually tasty! Once you have the pan you are set for anytime cookie bouquets! You can decorate with candy or just frosting. Do as many flowers as you want, even just 1 for kids. Although any more than 5 or 6 means you need a terracotta pot for the heavy bottom! Scrapbook the paper around an empty can of food, decorate it as you would like, hot glue in some foam for flower arrangements (I believe the link is for a dollar store or check your local craft store,) glue on some Easter grass or anything pretty to cover the foam, get sucker sticks and stick the finished cookies inside but stagger them better than I did so you can see them all! :) Wallah!

Our "First" Date

This date was so much fun to prepare. I went through all of my photo albums and decided how to go about our special date. I decided that we were going to share a lot of the “firsts” that we had when we were dating. I thought about what made our relationship special and what I fell in love with.

I made our first meal which wasn’t anything fancy, since we were in college. But it’s still a good meal that we never eat anymore, Shepherd’s Pie.  You start with hamburger meat, vegetables, mashed potatoes, and cheese. Here is a link for the recipe. I actually had to look it up because it has been a while since I made it. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_shepherds_pie/

Followed by our “ first” dessert, brownies. That wasn’t hard to remember because we eat those all the time. J

 Then I decided to bring back some of the great  “first” memories we have shared by bringing out the photo albums. We have shared so many things together while we have been married. (How often do you look through your albums together?)

Next, I brought out a CD player and played the first CD we made together. We listened to the songs that we haven’t listened to in years. We laughed as we shared the crazy things we did when we dated. We actually danced to a few of them.

Then we brought our music into the car and went to the park where we first told each other we loved one another. It was so much fun, as we acted like kids. We played on the tire swing, swings, and even went down the slides.

Our first kiss was under the stars, so I packed up a blanket, some pillows, and kidnapped my hubby for the last of our date in our backyard. It wasn’t the same location but the reaction was still the same as we looked up at the sky. Just being out there with no distractions was great. Plus Brent was impressed I remembered some of the firsts. It was a great date!