Showing posts with label Date Night. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Date Night. Show all posts

FUN Friday Giveaway results

This is a congratulatory post to Nichole (who got chased by a BOAR!) who won the $25 gift card to Lou Malnati's from the Date Night Challenge.

Alas, this was my last giveaway post for now.  Thanks to all who checked it out, participated, and supported me!  The Date Night Challenge Chicago continues into March, so if you haven't committed yet, it's not too late.  You can also check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

Next week I will resume normal posts of Touchy Topic Tuesday and Funny Friday!

Have a great weekend everyone!

FUN Friday Giveaway! (And our honeymoon story)

(see below for contest info)

Considering Rob and I got pregnant on our honeymoon almost seven years ago, we haven't been afforded time to escape just the two of us.  So aside from parenthood, I would say our greatest adventure together was in fact our honeymoon.

We went to Virgin Gorda.  Ever heard of it?  It is part of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and is really popular for sailboating/snorkeling.  Rob and I were not really familiar with either.  Truth be told, I heard about the island from a friend who heard it from her dentist.  I googled it, showed it to Rob, and we said, sure, we'll go there!  It was totally random.

puddle jump
We had to take a puddle jumper from San Juan to get to the island (whose name Virgin Gorda translates to "Fat Virgin," aptly named when seen from an aerial view).  The runway was literally dirt.  The "customs" at the airport was a one-room shack.  And our taxi ride was some Rastafarian in a pickup truck.  It felt like home.

 
Chickens and goats were everywhere on the dirt roads.  The island is only eight miles from end to end.  There was ONE town center with maybe ten shops and one restaurant.  There were a few other restaurants, scattered throughout the island. 

We had a cozy cabin all to ourselves with no a/c in 100 degree temperatures.  We found out that we came in the "off season."  Our cabin was on the end of the island that has The Baths, a world-famous phenomenon where these giant boulders were somehow plopped near the shore, forming fun caves to snorkel and hike through.
Just one of the many boulders


At our first meal out we ordered two entrees and two drinks and it was $100.  So we decided most of our meals would consist of BLTs that were $5 from a shack on the side of the road called "Mad Dogs."  We also bought a camera memory card on the island because we forgot to pack one.  It was 256 mb for $100.  In the states at the time I think they sold for about $30.  Now they cost $7.

We rented a moped to explore the island, narrowly missing the roaming farm animals.  We explored some old copper mine ruins.  We rode in the dark, on an island where the night sky seemed to come down on us like a blanket, it was so close.

On our last day there, we went to one of the ten churches on the island.  Yes, there were more churches than restaurants.  I remember they had a guest preacher who taught from the book of Jeremiah, and he spoke about how Satan was stealing their young men who were dying in the streets and that they needed to rise up and be men.  And I remember there was one other white couple in the church, also on their honeymoon, named Terra and Brad (which is ironic because those are my sister's and brother-in-law's names).  And I remember everyone dancing on the way out, all hugging and clapping and singing something loving your brothers and sisters.  It was awesome.

So that sums up our adventure.  I hope you enjoyed it, but I know that I enjoyed it much more. 





Congrats to winner from last week's contest, Kim!  Kim won a lovely, romantic gift basket from Day Three Bath and Body





To Enter To Win A $25 Lou Malnati's Gift Card! {mandatory}:
  • Leave a comment with your greatest adventure with your loved one and list the things below that you are doing/already have done!
The more you do, the greater chance you'll win!  That's 5 different ways to win! 

{This contest is open to US residents only}
This giveaway will close on Thursday, February 16 at 9pm CST. 
Check back here Friday morning to see who won!

FUN Friday Giveaway!


I'm hijacking my own blog the next THREE Friday's to do giveaways for the Date Night Challenge Chicago!

This week, I'm featuring a lovely gift basket from Day Three Inspirational Bath and Body.





The Collection Includes:

4 oz. Pillow & Room Spray
8 oz. Foaming Bubble Bath
6 oz. Massage Candle

About the SONG OF SOLOMON Collection:

Song of Solomon is a luxuriously exotic blend, with uplifting overtones that create magnetic energy and brings warmth to the heart.  In this romantic blend, we gathered a base of fruits, oriental florals, neroli, amber and musks. 

Just in time for Valentine's Day!

Each product is made to our DAY THREE standards, which include natural ingredients straight from the source! Genesis 1:11-13

To Enter To Win {mandatory}: 
  • Leave a comment with your favorite romantic movie quote.
For Extra Entries {leave one comment for each thing you do}:
The more you do, the greater chance you'll win!  That's 5 different ways to win! 

{This contest is open to US residents only}
This giveaway will close on Thursday, February 9 at 9pm CST. 
Check back here Friday morning to see who won!

Touchy Topic Tuesday: Tripplehorn, party of two?



(if you haven't seen the movie "Date Night", then you don't know what this title means)

When you become parents, carving out time for a date can be as hard as cutting a $2.99 steak with a butter knife.  It takes maneuvering, gusto, and intense hunger.  It's easy to give up and just chuck that steak into the garbage and order Chinese.  

On a date with #3 tagging along in my belly
I remember our first date after having our first daughter.  We went to stay at the Sybaris (bow-chicka-wowow!  YES IT WAS CLEAN!  Everyone asks me that) and ate fried macaroni and tried to watch "The New World" but it was awful and I'm pretty sure I leaked breastmilk multiple times and the night felt like one long run-on sentence.  It kinda made me not want to go out together again.  It was so much work.  Getting a sitter, preparing the milk, prying myself away from my child (I think that happens only after the first child...), worrying about the child (that never ends), it can all be pretty exhausting. 

Or you could have a kid like I used to be who makes the babysitter call you because they think they have skin cancer or some flesh-eating bacteria.  But those chances are slim.  That you have a kid like that, that is.  (Skin cancer is surprisingly common but often treatable if caught in time.  Not sure about flesh-eating bacteria.)

My point is, that you can always find excuses to NOT go on dates with your loved one because it is a lot of work.  But how often do we say, "I should date my spouse because I am trying to prevent us from ever getting a divorce"?  

One of my most favorite dates was when we decided to go to a casino because we had never been to one before and I think we spent about $20 and decided it was kinda lame so we sat in the cafeteria and talked for two hours.  And I was reminded why I love that man.  And it only took $20 in donations to the Potawatomi tribe to remember that; often it takes less money than that.

The best piece of advice we got as new parents was to always date each other, because one day the kids will grow up and move away, and then we'll only have one another.  Our kids are watching us and crave to see a healthy relationship modeled for them.  I pray this is what our kids see in us as a couple.

Okay, so here's my plug.  We (Rob and I) are doing the Date Night Challenge (of which I am also assisting with the social media campaign), and I want to invite you to do it too.  It's all about fostering a deeper relationship with your love.  It's so simple: enter your email on the website, or like us on facebook and go on one or more dates between Feb. 6 and March 11.  You can even download a mobile app on Jan. 30 that gives great ideas, coupons and connections, or find all the info on the website.  (Did I mention they are gonna giveaway some crazy awesome prizes?!?!  I can't tell you yet...but I will tell you they are better than you are thinking they will be.)

So grab your butter knives and start carving that cheap hunk-o-meat!  Or better yet, make reservations with your spouse at a nice steakhouse where the steak is as tender as butta.  Rimshot!








Video of the Day

Back to Top