To My Valentine

This one is also one where I took an idea and made it my own. I found the original idea on Shannon Brown's blog. (She is AMAZING!)

So.... this was my gift to my darling hubby... A YEAR OF DATES. Let's face it, life gets super-mega-licious busy and making time to go on a date with your spouse sometimes gets superseded by "other-more-important-things." (Feel free to fill in the quotes with your choice of challenges... kids need you, church obligations, job responsibilities, needy friend, health issues, cash flow, deployment, sick pet, etc...)  Life happens!! But I firmly believe that one of our MOST IMPORTANT relationships we have on this earth is the one we build with our beloved spouse. And that relationship building takes work, takes time, takes creativity, takes maintenance, takes planning... all of which translates to I Love You Darling. You Are Important To Me.

My version of dates really took me a lot of planning and thought. (I honestly didn't think it would be so difficult, but I wanted something that would be meaningful to my husband...not just all about me. Does that make sense?) We are doing lots of active outdoorsy things that I know we enjoy doing together. Again, emphasizing that I recognize what he likes to do and I want to do them with him.

THE INTRO LETTER

The introduction letter

So I started off with an introduction letter that I tied into the whole package. It explains the purpose of each labeled envelope and the rule of NO PEEKING! (I couldn't afford to purchase/schedule EVERYTHING for the year, so some envelopes just have a short note. I plan to spread out the purchases over time so that our budget isn't thrown out the window in one month. I'll get gift cards here and there to fill in the envelopes.)

The envelopes

EACH MONTH
I thought about posting the actual letters, but most of them are waaaay too personal {blush} for your innocent eyes. Here are the themes by month that I used:

• Feb- dinner and movie night out
• Mar- dinner and comedy club
• Apr- archery range and sandwiches
• May- bike ride and picnic
• Jun- anniversary month
• Jul- golf and lunch
• Aug- motorcycle ride and lunch
• Sep- shooting range and lunch
• Oct- spa day and lunch
• Nov- hotel night out
• Dec- gift shopping and dinner

This is really the tamest letter I wrote. Hope it gives you some ideas of your own.

TIPS

• Try to plan events that you BOTH will enjoy!! You don't want to be the miserable one in the corner while your spouse is having a hey day. The idea is that you are building your relationship-- not sulking about it!
• Think-- really ponder-- about what your spouse enjoys. If you know your spouse would prefer to go to the opera rather than the golf course (and you will enjoy it as well), make that your date!
• Stick to a budget. It can get easy to go hog wild and plan a cruise, and a safari, and book a lear jet to Tahiti. Rein in your wild ideas and stick to keeping it simple. Make the date about the person you love not how expensive it is.
• Try to plan your meals near the location of your activity. You don't want to schlep across town and maybe miss the opening act of your play or your scheduled tee time because of traffic.
• Keep a master list of your dates so you don't accidentally forget! On that list have contact information and addresses for all the places you plan to go. I included a list of directions and addresses in each envelope for him as well.
• Put it on the calendar. In my home, if it's on the calendar then it's going to happen. If it's not on the calendar, well... let's be honest, other things will take over.
• Have fun. Make some amazing memories together that you will enjoy for years and years.