Date Night: Teppanyaki

Our 36th Date

July 8, 2011

I was in charge

Teppanyaki: a style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle to cook food.  The work teppanyaki is derived from teppan, which means iron plate, and yaki, which means grilled, broiled or pan-fried.

Upon embarking the boat Dustin and I immediately set up reservations for our last night on the cruise at a specialty restaurant.  We were completely okay with paying the upcharge for the restaurant and spent the entire week in anticipation for our big night.  We were not disappointed!

With chef hat and cowboy holster on our chefs came out of the kitchen and to our "table".  We were in for quite the show.  Our teppenyaki chefs were both from "Philly" as they put it but meant the Philippines.  Dustin and I enjoyed quite the show of our food being cooked before our eyes.  We started with a Seaweed Salad and Miso Soup - both were served before our chefs came out for the show.  First our chefs cooked Garlic Fried Rice for us and put it off to the side until it was time for us to eat it.  Second, they put the vegetables on the grill top and cooked those and served them to us.  Our vegetables were followed by the Garlic Fried Rice which had been made earlier.  The rice had cooked garlic and garlic butter in it along with green onions and cooked egg.  After our fried rice they immediately started in on cooking our meats.

Our dinner was absolutely wonderful!  The chefs were very funny and entertaining.  We had such a good time and would love to do it again.  The restaurant only sat 14 people and would have extra super fun if we had filled it with all of our friends and family.  It would have been a great experience to share with everyone.

Date Night: Hot Chocolate

Date 35.1

July 6, 2011

I was in charge

We had spent most of the afternoon/evening up at Sawyer Glacier and in the Tracy Arm and so when we got the boys into bed, with Grandma and Grandpa near by, Dustin and I headed down to one of the little restaurants to have some hot chocolate.  We drake hot chocolate and shared a cheesecake and watched out the windows as we exited the Tracy Arm and headed up to Skagway.  While we watched, despite our best efforts we never did see any whales that night but we did see a few small ice burgs.  It was nice to site in the little restaurant and share a treat while listening to the live music and watching out the window.

Date Night: The Comedic Hypnotist

Our 35th Date

July 5, 2011

I was in charge

One of the shows on our cruise was Dr. Scott Lewis the Comedy Hypnotist.  Dustin and I went to go see him and what he could do.  We really enjoyed ourselves and laughed a lot!

He asked for volunteers from the audience to be hypnotized.  There were many people that went up and most of them actually stayed up; some were sent back to the audience.  The hypnotized people were told to play musical instruments like they were famous musicians there for a performance, they were told to dance to the twist because they were renowned dancers and they were judges on "American Idol".  All of that was very fun to see, and there were many things people were asked to do (nothing inappropriate or embarrassing).  My favorite parts of the show were the singing acts.  We were graced with performances from "Mic Jagger", "Destiny's Child", and my personal favorite "Michael Jackson".  "Michael Jackson" even did the moonwalk it was AWESOME!  

We had such a good time at the show and while we're not sure how many people were plants and how many were true volunteers it was fun to watch and laugh.

Date Night: Preparations

Our 34th Date

July 1, 2011

I was in charge

Saturday, July 2nd was the day we were to leave on our Alaskan cruise.  I had everything packed except a few things that we needed - namely a new pair of jeans for Dustin.  We spent our evening at Target enjoying the chance to pick up our miscellaneous items without having to chase the kids through the store or go look at legos.  After we picked everything up that we needed we picked up some of the best ice cream bars I have ever had in my life!  Magnum Double Caramel Ice Cream Bars.  They were delicious and we really enjoyed them - we even picked some up to share with Dustin's sisters and mom.

Date Night: Shop 'Til You Drop

Our 33rd Date

June 25, 2011

Dustin was in charge

Dustin and I both had gift cards.  I had a couple cards to H&M from my birthday and our anniversary.  Dustin had a card to REI from his birthday.  We decided to take time to be together and to do some shopping for ourselves without the kids.  Our plan was to hit up the mall and then head on over to REI.  We spent a little longer at the mall than expected but we were both able to get some new clothes.  When we headed over to REI it had already closed - apparently an entire hour earlier than when we got there.

It was nice to be able to spend some time together and pick up new clothes for eachother.  It's not often that Dustin and I are able to be without the kids in a retail store.  It was nice to not feel rushed or to chase kids around the store while we take turns trying on clothes.  We were only gone a couple of hours but it was nice.

Date Night: Anniversary Part II

Our thirty-second date

June 18, 2011

Dustin was in charge

After our sealing in the Denver Temple we had lunch with our family and friends at a lovely restaurant called Maggiano's Little Italy.  We decided to go back to the restaurant for the first time since we were married.  We were so pleased with our food and the service.  It was really nice to be able to eat there together.

Dustin and I were also able to go to a movie yesterday.  We went to go see Midnight in Paris.  It was a really nice movie to go see.  It wasn't what we expected it to be but we really liked it!  If you want to go see a good movie - see Midnight in Paris!

It was a very nice anniversary part II date.  Seven years of marriage has done us good and we took extra time to celebrate.  Here's to many more years of marriage!

Date Night: Run For Your Wife

Our thirty-first date

June 17, 2011

Dustin was in charge

Today is our anniversary.  We have been married for seven years.  That's a long time.  So far there has been no need for that "seventh year stretch" so we are good to go.   It's hard to believe that time has gone by so quickly.  I must admit that looking back over our wedding pictures (the very few I actually liked) we looked so young back then.  It's amazing what time and children can do to you.

In honor of seven years of marriage we thought we would have a lesson about marriage and honesty.  Dustin's parents have season tickets to the Civic Theater here in Renton, WA and offered the tickets for tonight's play to us.  We were very excited to be able to attend this play since we enjoy doing these types of things.

This play is a comedy.  It's about a London cab driver that leads two lives.  He has two wives in different areas and does all he can to keep them secret from each other.  We enjoyed watching the show and on the drive home Dustin told me it was full of life lessons.
#1:  Don't be a cab driver
#2:  Don't have friends named "Stanley"
#3:  Don't have more than 1 wife (he also admitted that this was the most important lesson)

We were also able to go out to dinner.  Since our nice anniversary dinner is tomorrow night we went to Red Robin tonight.  Since we don't go to dinner just the two of us very often we forget how quickly we can actually be seated and eat a meal.  We left for dinner at about 6pm and by 7:30pm we had eaten, payed, shopped and were headed to the theater for the show.  We love our children dearly but dinner in a restaurant is much smoother without them.

Dating is difficult when apart for extended periods of time.  We will be doubling up on dates for the next couple of weeks to make up for the date nights we missed.  There's only so much you can do over the phone or skype before it gets old.  Tomorrow night's date will be our anniversary dinner and movie.  There once was a time that our anniversary celebration was usually a weekend away - that is no more, at least until Dustin is all done with school and working somewhere more permanently.  Until then I am okay doing multiple dates in one weekend.

Also, just so you know....One of our rules for our date nights was that our dates needed to be $30 or less (mostly less or free) for us to be able to afford life.  We are still on track.  We have never spent more than $30 on a date.  Most of our dates have been done at home so there has been no need for a babysitter.  When a babysitter has been needed there have been family members available to watch the kids or friends that owe us a babysitting night so that has also been free.  Most of the tickets we have gotten for movies, plays, concerts, etc. have been either free, super cheap or purchased with gift cards.  I think we have done pretty well with our date night budget.

Date Night: The Merry Wives of Winslow

Our twenty-fifth date

April 22, 2011

Dustin was in charge

Dustin was able to get us tickets to a play at the Stephen's Center.  We went to see a Shakespeare play that was played in the Wild West in Winslow, Arizona, hence the name The Merry Wives of Winslow instead of The Merry Wives of Windsor.

It was fun to see a Shakespeare comedy instead of the tragedies that we so often focus on.  It was interesting with the western spin.  It was nice to be able to do something cultural together.  It had been a while since we had seen a play or been to the theater.

I had never read The Merry Wives of Windsor so I didn't know the story.  I was entertained by the story and how the wives did all they could to trick the men of the town.  It was fun to see.

Date Night: Temple Trip

Our twenty-first date

March 24, 2011

I was in charge

Down to Denver we headed.  We met some unexpected delays and with engagements later in the evening Dustin and I were able to do some sealings.  We hadn't done any in quite a while so that was really nice.

As our Denver temple routine goes we went to Krispie Kreme after to get ourselves some doughnuts.  We brought some back to share with our children who greatly appreciated our temple trip.

Thanks Sunvison's for entertaining our children!

Date Night: Wild Wild West

Our twentieth date

March 18, 2011

I was in charge

I had grand ideas that this date (also one of Dustin's Date of the Month Club dates) would be a group date. We would have a couple or a couple of couples over and we would play Bang! (Dustin's favorite game EVER!), but Dustin wanted it to be just the two of us.  Well we can't play Bang! with just two people so I came up with a new plan.

While Dustin was at school, off I went to the store in search of three things.  First, I needed to find brown glass bottles of Root Beer - Henry Weinhart's being the root beer of choice for this requirement.  Second,  I needed some good wild west snacks - I bought some beef jerky at Costco (it's a MUCH better deal there and I could get two flavors).  Third, I needed to find a copy of Shanghai Noon - that proved to be a little more difficult than I planned, however, Dustin did find it when he had to run to WalMart just before our date.

Verdict.
We learned that Oberto's Teriyaki Beef Jerky and Henry Weinhart's root beer make for a VERY good, complimentary and tasty combination.  The sweet and salty combine for one delicious outcome!
It's always fun to watch Shanghai Noon!

Date Night: Minute to Win It!

Our eighteenth date

March 4, 2011

I was in Charge

I know you're wondering....

No.  Guy Fieri did NOT host our date that night.

Let me just start by saying that alot of those challenges are ALOT harder than they look or sound!!!  Dustin and I had a great time playing those challenges together though.  I had gone through the entire list and chose somewhere between 8 and 12 challenges.  We made it through 7 challenges.

Here's the challenges we did and their outcomes:

A Bit Dicey -  Dustin completed it, I did not

Baby Blockin' - Dustin completed it, I did not

Defying Gravity - Neither Dustin nor I completed this one.  I think a tall ceiling is essential for this challenge.

Face the Cookie - Dustin completed it, I did not (however I have completed it in the past, just not on our date night).

Johnny Applestack - Dustin completed it, I did not - I did get really close though!

Separation Anxiety - Dustin and I both completed it.

Sharp Shooter - Dustin and I both completed it.  This one was a definite favorite.  We did it a couple of times.

Now when I was choosing these challenges I had to choose ones that wouldn't be too noisy since our boys were going to be asleep at the time of our date.  I also tried to choose challenges that we had all the materials or only needed one thing (it had to be something we would get use from later).  Lastly I chose challenges that we weren't wasting materials or making a super big mess.

Overall this was a really fun date.  I wouldn't mind doing it again sometime.

Date Night: Long Distance Love Poems

Our thirtieth date

May 27, 2011

I was in charge.

Dustin is away in Washington working.  The boys and I will meet him there in June.  For now we are a long distance away.  Luckily we have phones and skype.  Oh, I don't know if I would have agreed to being apart for a month without skype.  Anyway we set a time for a skype date tonight and I found a site that would allow us to make up love poems madlib style.  We had a great time.  There were only 2 poems that would generate but we had a good time anyway.

Poem #1

Once More, My Love

This night I shall dream of your bedazzling GREEN hair and LEOPARD-eyes.

Wrapped in echoes of your mellifluous ARM-music,

I long to sip from your KIWIful lips.

In my dreams, we fly on the exquisite winged CARROT of ORANGEness-

skimming vast continents of LEGS and MONKEYS.

The depths of all the oceans of the universe shall never separate our BANANAS.

Brilliant as THROWING TABLES, the seas greet us from afar.

In the twilight we feast on chocolate-coated CATS and tender TREEhearts of love.

Adorned in white silk, we pluck our RUMBLING love chimes from our NOSES.

I press the CAR that you wear around your neck against my LEG-muffin

so that our KIWIs melt into one.

Poem #2

My Love

Your skin glows like the APPLE blossoms JUMPING as the HIBISCUS in the purest hope of spring.

My heart follows your FLUTE voice and leaps like a ALLIGATOR at the whisper of your name.  

The evening floats in on a great PARROT wing.

I am comforted by your SWEATER that I carry into the twilight of BOOKbeams and hold next to my FINGER.

I am filled with hope that I may dry your tears of MILK.

As my FOOT falls from my WIMPLE, it reminds me of your  CHAIR.

In the quiet, I listen for the last CRASHING of the day.

My heated THUMB leaps to my TIE. 

I wait in the moonlight for your secret magnificient purple and mystical TELEPHONE of love.

The all-caps words are the ones we chose.  We had a great time and it was fun to laugh making up poems mad lib style.

Date Night: Work/Love

Our Fourteenth Date

January 7, 2011

I was in charge.

All the things I had planned just didn't work out for this night and had to be moved to another night this month.  I tried swapping our date in two weeks with this past one but it didn't work out.  I don't want to give details about it because it's coming up and we're really excited to do it.

Anyway, our date ended up being....
Picking out things for our sixteenth date (which will come up quickly), cleaning up the downstairs and kissing each other a little bit.  We got lots done around the living room and kitchen/dining room.  We were able to hug and kiss each other without children climbing up/between/around us.  We enjoyed a productive, relaxing and quiet evening together at home.

It was a good way to start the year.  I am working on being more prepared for our dates with year - getting things ready during the week instead of waiting until the day of.

Date Night: New Year's Eve

December 31, 2010

Our Thirteenth Date

Dustin was in charge.

I know....
Multiple movies in one month!  Even multiple trips to the movie theater!  We couldn't help ourselves.  The opportunity to go out to a movie while leaving the kids in bed with a FREE babysitter was too much to pass up.

New Year's Eve was a tough one for us.  First of all this was the first time throughout our marriage that we intentionally missed the New Year's Eve party we attend every year.  There has only been one other time that we missed it and I blame the airport for that.  I thought we would be okay to do something on our own this year.  I was fine doing something on our own this year until the day actually came.  I was sad that we weren't spending the time with our friends.  I wanted to get out of the house and last minute decisions left us with the movies.  We should have just gone down town to watch the fireworks at the Space Needle and honestly I wish we would have gone despite all the traffic we would have it.

The movie was.... alright.  I won't ever see it again.  We should have waited to see it when it came to Red Box but oh well.  Dustin and I were out on New Year's Eve.  We had the theater pretty much to ourselves and we didn't have to deal with traffic.

Date Night: Christmas Eve

Our Twelfth Date

December 24, 2010

Dustin was in charge

This wasn't an exact date.  It was Christmas Eve and with the next day being Christmas there was no real date this week.  We spent time with our family.  We went to the Christmas Eve service at Dustin's parent's church.  I loved the music that was played.  I also learned something about myself at that service....I learned that Silent Night is one of my favorite Christmas songs because of the Spirit.  No matter where I am I always feel an outpouring of the Spirit when that song is played.

After the service we had a nice dinner together as a family minus Dustin's sister, Drew.   After dinner Dustin and I got the boys ready for bed.  We all put on our special Christmas pajamas.  We read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and we read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  It was such a nice evening.

I am so glad that we had this family date, while this wasn't a traditional couple date, it was the perfect way to spend Christmas Eve and to honor Christmas.  Together as a family.

Date Night: The Deathly Hallows

Our Eleventh Date

December 18, 2010

Dustin was in Charge

I know we watched a movie the previous week, but this time we had a babysitter and actually went to a theater.  We haven't been to the movie theater in a very long time so this was a real treat for us.  We were able to go out and leave the children behind.  We got to see a movie that we were excited to see in the theater.

It was a great movie!  We can't wait for the next one to come out in the summer.

Date Night: Eclipse

Our Tenth Date

December 10, 2010

Dustin was in charge

Wow!  We've made it 10 weeks, with out any problems.  Neither of us has forgotten about date night, we have been consistent even if the dates weren't always what was originally planned.  I'm really proud of us!

Two weeks ago Dustin has casually mentioned that if I wanted to pick up a Red Box that night that Eclipse had just come out and he would watch it with me.  I hadn't realized that he had originally planned to watch for date night; we ended up dancing instead.

Dustin made sure that he reserved a copy for us and picked it up along with our Friday night family movie.  Now I need to explain something about me and movies.  First, I don't like to see series movies for the first time in different settings; example - the Twilight series.  I didn't see the Twilight in the theater because I didn't want to waste my money and be disappointed so I waited for the DVD.  Since Twilight was first viewed at home New Moon and Eclipse also had to be viewed at home.  I know I'm silly that way; it helps me to compare the movies better.

Anyway,  back to the date, my wonderful husband understands my movie....problem(?), and makes due. He also knew that I would want to watch it.  And per our Thankfulness date, he chose a movie to watch that he knew I would like.  It was nice to sit down and watch a movie together.  With the busy holiday season and Dustin's school semester coming to an end, we don't see a whole lot of each other.  We were able to sit down together and watch something - no distractions.

Date Night: Dance Competition

Our Ninth Date

December 4, 2010

Dustin was in charge

While there were no actual judges (aside from ourselves), we had a dance competition with each other.  We were playing the demo for Dance Central on the XBOX Kinect.  So really we just competed with two songs, but we did them over and over in an effort to beat each other or at least our own score.  We are getting pretty good! 

It was a fun night to laugh with each other and feel silly dancing the moves we were presented.  We are definitely going to get the game so that we can have more songs to dance to.  It's always nice to be able to spend an evening laughing together - well, at ourselves and at each other.

Who knows, if we have more date nights like this maybe we could be on Dancing with the Stars!  I know what you're thinking....we're not stars.  Well, we can be stars to each other and our friends.  Look out friends near by - you may be challenged to a dance off in the coming months!

Date Night: Travel Recovery

Our Eighth Date
November 27, 2010
I was in charge.

Nothing exciting this week.  We moved our date from Friday night to Saturday night to accomodate our Thanksgiving travel plans.  Little did we know just how exhausted we would be after so much driving.  After dropping my brother & his friend off at BYU-I, Dustin came home and we just sat on the couch to relax and watch the TV shows we had missed during the week.  I did my best to get the living room put back together after unloading the van and getting the kids bathed and put to bed.  All this was done while Dustin returned the rental van and dropped my brother & his friend off in Rexburg.

We enjoyed spending the week with family members.  We enjoyed celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday.  We enjoyed just lounging on the couch for a night, in relative silence.

Date Night: Thankfulness

Our Seventh Date

November 19, 2010

I was in charge

Being that it was the week before Thanksgiving and I had this incredible free download from My Computer is My Canvas, I decided we would take some time to be thankful.  I had originally planned on using the download as a family thing but it just kept getting put off.

Dustin & I each took turns naming things that we were thankful for and we put them on the list.  We then each chose a leaf color and on our leaves we wrote ways that we could express gratitude toward each other.  This was a really great time for us to really sit down and think about all the things we have to be thankful for.  We were able to talk about why we were thankful for the things that we were thankful for.  We were also able to tell each other how thankful we are to be together.  We talked about ways that we can express that gratitude and we are working on being more appreciative toward each other.