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Monday, October 27, 2014

Cheap Marriage Dates

Date nights can get expensive. A dinner for two at a nice restaurant will set you back at LEAST $10.

EACH!

OK, so it's maybe been awhile since we've been out.

With so many demands on time and pocketbook, it's hard to schedule - and to justify - date nights. There are so many things clamoring for attention that we tend to put married fun to the back of the to-do list.

And the bad part of that is that lack of fun can eventually cause lack of interest in fun.

Fun helps us reconnect with who we were when we wanted to be attractive, and when we wanted to win the heart of the person who we eventually married.

Winning hearts doesn't end when the ring goes on the finger. It's a lifetime privilege.

So, some suggestions...

  • Play miniature golf - something about the pace of this pleasant game just engenders conversation, and smiles...it's hard to sink into worries about your stock portfolio when you're trying to tap a luminous pink ball between the dancing feet of a dinosaur.
  • Visit local museums and historical societies - you'll find an uncrowded place, staffed by folks who are simply delighted that you took the time to stop by. My town is home to the Harvey House museum - Harvey Houses were the hotel/restaurants along the Santa Fe railway routes in the west - and two hours spent there gave us a huge amount of interesting knowledge, and introduced us to some fascinating local volunteers who really cared about history.
  • Go on a local history walking tour - Your town probably has some 'hidden history', visible if you know where to look. Make use of it - one of you can act as the tour guide, and do the research to make it an experience in which you'll learn about the place you live - and perhaps learn something about one another, as well.
  • Go to an open-mike poetry reading - Don't just 'go'; each of you write a poem, and participate. Scared that you'll be humiliated? Don't be. Most 'poets' can't write poetry either. You can "dare together", and in the poems you write (don't share them beforehand!) perhaps, again, learn something about one another.
  • Climb a tree with a picnic lunch - Make sure it doesn't have a beehive...but have lunch in a good climbing tree. It's a different perspective.
  • Play a board game - Get a good, old fashioned board game, and make it an event, with refreshments and comfortable seating.
  • Make a graffiti wall - Pick a wall in your house (inside or out) - or build a special wall - and tag it together, or take turns. One of you starts...and your partner takes up where you left off, in creating a piece of collaborative artwork. You can seen an example of this in the video of Daniel Powter's lovely song, "Bad Day". It's about 2:23 into the video.

LOike life, marriage is what you make it, and if you throw in some creativity and imagination, you can keep yours evergreen...

...without going into the red.

What are your favorite cheap dates?

(if you have the chance,please drop by my other blog, www.dailygracequote.wordpress.com, for a brief quotation-and-commentary on grace in marriage.)

I am honored to be linking to  "Yes, They Are All Ours" through Marriage Monday. Elizabeth does a great job writing about marriage and faith and family and God; please click on the image below to drop by, and to visit other linked blogs.


9 comments:

  1. On a hike through a local wooded preserve on Sunday, I mentioned {than once} to my husband how much we hadn't done in the 38 or so years we've lived in this gorgeous Hudson Valley area. Right and left there are things to do.

    We're too busy driving through town to experience life here fully.

    And by the way, we probably should have studied a map. 'Cause we got lost. Which only made the time together a little more interesting ...

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    1. Getting lost can be way more than half the fun, as long as you can both enjoy it!

      We've lived in NM for seven years, but illness killed off the possibility of doing the hiking we planned. We did get one in, and he memory of that is precious.

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  2. I love these, Andrew. I tried to leave a comment the other day but it just wouldn't let me, but I'm going to try that "write a poem and then go to a poetry reading" idea. My hubby isn't much for writing poetry, but that will be part of the fun! ha! Praying for you!

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    1. I can't wait to hear how that goes!

      My late brother was a poet; I have written three poems in my entire life. And that was probably two too many (there is one I'm rather happy with...but it's about The Troubles, and my therapist called it the bleakest poem she'd ever read).

      Thanks for the prayers!

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  3. Great suggestions. We also enjoy bowling & good old fashioned game of Backgammon. We also did a "chili cook-off" one time which was a lot of fun! And tasted good too :) Glad we were neighbors at Wedded Wed. this morning.

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    1. I'm glad we were neighbors at Beth's, too!

      I used to love bowling, and so did my wife. Somehow the noise can create a cocoon of intimacy...do you know what I mean?

      Chili...sounds great!

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  4. These are great ideas! Yeah, date nights can be really expensive (especially once you add the babysitter), so it's always good to have some cheap (fun) ideas to add too. :) THanks for sharing!

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    1. Yeah, it can be costly. We don't have kids, but the dogs (a LOT of dogs) tend to slightly nuts when we get home.

      Three Pit Bulls going wham-wham-wham through a screen because they're happy to see the car pull up...yeah. Costs a bit.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. Great suggestions Andrew. Thanks so much for sharing this over at Let's Get Real. You are so right about lack of fun killing interest in fun. Such an interesting and scary thought. I better get some fun in pronto. My husband and I love to walk in the woods. It's such a great place to talk. And the bonus..........the cell phone reception isn't that great so we really are unplugged as well.

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