I have this bulletin board hanging in our hallway that has piqued the interest of nearly every person that has come over. And since it was such fun to make I thought I'd share my (pinterest.com) idea.Two months ago Luke and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and Luke's 30th birthday. Since I really wanted to focus on Luke's milestone birthday our anniversary kinda took a backseat. Except for one thing. I made a special gift to help us celebrate all year long.
I gathered 52 date night ideas, printed off blank gift certificates, and organized a date night once a week for the entire year. Thanks to some help from http://www.thedatingdivas.com/ and http://justsomethingimade.com/2010/12/last-minute-gift-coupons-free-printables/ It was a lot of fun finding dates that we could do on a budget.
The week of our Anniversary, I was so excited to give Luke this brightly colored stack of envelopes, each filled with a month's worth of date nights. I had initially planned to wait 'til after his birthday to give them to him, but I think I only made it to 8am, Monday morning, his birthday was Wednesday, our anniversary, Friday. Still, Luke was thrilled with the idea, and eagerly opened the first envelope.
Now, there is one rule to the date night envelopes: We can only complete the dates nights up to the current month. Meaning, since it's March, we are able to pick and choose which dates we can do out of the January through March envelopes. But we can't take a date from August to do this month. So far we've completed 9 of the first 13 weeks. Not bad for it being the 12th week of the year.
By now I hope you're a little curious as to what exactly is in these envelopes. So, I've copied the list here for you! Feel free to steal the ideas, they're not completely original, but they're still fun for us.
1 – Thrift store shop for a "new" game
2 – Double date to see The Hobbit
3 – Make doughnuts!
4 – Have a Chicago themed dinner
5 – Enjoy a homemade dessert by candle light (no
computer, phone, or television!)
February:
6 – Start a project together
7 – Play a board game
8 – Buy a book and read it together
9 – “Spa” Date: Bubble bath, lotion, foot/back massage,
and dessert
March:
10 – Play a video game together
11 – Go on a dress-up dinner date
12 – Movie marathon: LOTR, Pride & Prejudice,
Bourne, Pirates, Ocean’s, Iron Man, X-Men, etc.
13 – Write a prayer list and pray together
April:
14 – Do a puzzle together
15 – Go out for coffee at a local coffee shop
16 – Rent a Redbox movie and grab some theater candy
and a soda – Enjoy!
17 – Write a love note to each other. Exchange or read
to each other.
18 – Bed & Breakfast – go for a one night hotel
stay
May:
19 – Find a new kind of Root Beer you haven't tried before and make some floats
20 – Enjoy some late night nachos and conversation
21 – Buy a few flowers and putter in the garden
together
22 – Go out for Chinese food
June:
23 – Pretend to be a tourist in your home town
24 – Flamingo a friend’s yard
25 – Go for a short hike up the Columbia River Gorge and kiss under a
water fall
26 – Pack a picnic dinner and go to a nearby park,
don’t forget lawn Yahtzee
July:
27 – Go to a local bakery, buy two cookies, and go for
a walk along the Springwater Trail
28 – Go to a Drive-In movie
29 – Go to the Berry Festival
30 – Build a fort and enjoy a book together
31 – Go putt-putt golfing
August:
32 – Pick one thing to do from the “100 things to do
list”
33 – Flicks on the Bricks night!
34 – Golf at McMenamins Edgefield
35 - Stargaze from the patio
September:
36 – Go to the Dollar Tree and "surprise" each other with
a gift
37 – Pick a date from the last few months and have a
do-over
38 – Pull out our wedding album and reminisce
39 – Light some candles, turn on some soft music, and
dance together
October:
40 – Walk around downtown Gresham
41 – Double date to The Truffle Hunter
42 – Play a card game
43 – Begin brainstorming Christmas gifts
44 – Enjoy a hot cup of tea on the patio
November:
45 – Wendy's Frosty night!
46 – Head to Edgefield, try a new drink and share an
appetizer
47 – Search ebay together showing toys and other items
that were special in childhood
48 – Go to Portland's Saturday Market and get a Voodoo doughnut
December:
49 – Christmas shop for Seth
50 – Take a drive and look at Christmas lights
51 – Wander through the Troutdale antique stores
52 – Remember the dates we went on and share about our
favorite moments
My next project is to update that bulletin board with some spray paint and maybe some fabric. :D
