Date Night Friday- Spotlight Featuring- The Dating Divas!

When I was younger, I thought marriage was going to be my fairytale dream of waking up next to one another and smiling, poetry, bursting out in spontaneous song...Then I got married and realized, "Wow! Marriage is not at all like those romantic musicals portray it to be." It is hard work. Sometimes it is fun and can be romantic, but it takes effort. My uncle gave me something on my wedding day that I have always remembered to this day. It is a poem called
"The Marriage Box"

Most people get married believing a myth;
that marriage is a beautiful box
full of all the things
they have longed for;
companionship, romance, sexual fulfillment,
intimacy, friendship, laughter, financial security.

The truth is that marriage,
at the start, is an empty box.
You must put some things into it
before you can take anything out of it.

There is no love in marriage;
love is in people,
and people put it into their marriage.
There is no romance in marriage;
people have to put it into their relationship.

A couple must discern what things work
to improve their relationship and form
the habits of communicating,
giving, sacrificing, sharing, loving, touching,
serving and praising.

In other words,
keeping the box full.
If you take out more than you put in,
the box will be empty!

When my husband and I were first married we made it a priority to have a date night every Friday night. After kids came along and homeschool, work and coming home tired and lack of babysitters available, that priority slowly dwindled down to once a month. We have realized that while that is o.k. it really doesn't give us enough one-on-one time together.
So we have decided to start dating again! We are shooting for every Friday evening. Even if we do not have a sitter, we are showing the kids by our example that our marriage is a priority and they will either participate with us, or do a separate activity in their bedroom while we are downstairs. Now for the fun part! It was time for me to get creative so I did some research and found "The Dating Divas"!

They are a group of married women who come up with all sorts of creative date ideas. Score! They developed "The Can 'O Dates" box that you can make yourself which is full of creative date ideas for you and your spouse. You just pick one out of the box and do what it tells you! Easy-peasy!:) Plus they are free! Awesome!
I made mine out of an old oatmeal container. I went here for the printables. It also includes free printables to make a "Sweetheart Journal", for you and your spouse to write letters back and forth to eachother in. Here is what they look like

My hubby and I just did the "Book Store Date Night" and it was fun.

Check out The Dating Divas at http://www.thedatingdivas.com/

Leave a comment and let me know what you think and if you tried any of the dates! :)