Yesterday my mom called me up and asked if Ryan and I wanted to go on a date because she and my dad would be willing to come and watch Noah.
LOVE HER!!!!!!!
But date nights are a tricky thing! Ryan and I are always eager to find ways to go out and have a great time together – without having to spend a ton of money. Praise God for my babysitting parents who consider time with Noah payment in itself! Beyond the babysitting expense, though, a couple can quickly rack up a hefty bill! Dinner is usually about $30 after tip and movie tickets right now are so absurd you might as well take out a loan.
So what were we going to do????
I called our local dollar theater!! Just $3 a movie! Sure, it’s not the cleanest or fanciest of places, but it’s a fabulous way to see a flick on the big screen with your spouse and not have to feel as if you’ve just spent half of your child’s college fund.
The movie The A-Team was playing. Ryan had expressed an interest in seeing that awhile ago so I knew that that was the one! It was showing at 9:45 (a little late, but it worked out well for everyone’s schedules) AND because it was Tuesday night, tickets were only 99 cents instead of $3!! I texted Ryan at work and asked if he wanted to be my date to see the A-Team for just 2 bucks and he wrote back within a matter of seconds, “HECK YES I DO!!”
We were so excited to be going out that we decided to make our date even more of an adventure. We made a rule for ourselves: From the moment we stepped out of our house, we had to be touching each other at all times. Has anyone ever tried this before with your spouse?? It’s HILARIOUS. First of all, getting in and out of the car is super challenging (we got quite a few looks at the theater parking lot as TWO people climbed out the driver’s side door), and you can imagine Ryan’s look of horror when I announced halfway through the movie that I had to go to the bathroom… 🙂 I even got yelled at by Ryan at one point because he thought I had broken the rules when I took my hand out of his and reached into my purse for a water bottle – I tapped him with my toe in assurance that I had not stopped touching him, he just hadn’t realized that I had placed my foot over his. Our little game kept us giggling the whole night – and we were giddy with the fact that we had only spent $2 on our little outing.
After getting a seat belt up my hiney, we were on our way home. We decided the game would end when we walked through our front door. I was actually quite sad to let go.
As we crawled into bed that night, we found two chocolate mints on our pillows – a little magical gift from my Fairy Mother – guess it runs in the family! 🙂 It felt like we were in a 5-star hotel!! Snuggling under the covers, I reached over to touch my beloved husband on the arm – one last time before the Sleep Fairy sprinkled her dust over our bed…
“Don’t touch me!” my lover said, “I need my space now.”
🙂
Ladies, you should totally try this with your husbands! It is a guarranteed good time! All you have to do is schedule a date night and then make it a rule that from the moment you leave your house, to the moment you get home, you and your hubby must be touching each other at all times. Going to the movies was fairly easy… Be adventurous! Go out to eat or grab an ice cream cone together! Have fun laughing and making magic dating your mate!
“I held him and would not let him go…” Song of Solomon 3:4
ClaraE
That is so hilarious!
We think it’s a great idea . . .
Katherine Meadows
Christopher just read this with me and said ‘we are NOT trying that’ 🙂 oh well…
Becky Healy
Julie, this is THE BEST!:) Dave and I are going to try this! And I LOVE your blog!! We SO enjoyed connecting with ya’ll in Tally! We’ll be praying for more creative dates, and the joy that follows you around!:) Love you!!