I hope you are keeping busy so that the work day can fly by. So, I am so excited about Wednesday and Thursday {if you couldn't already tell from above}. Erik and I attend church regularly now, it's become part of our routine just like walking, talking, eating and breathing, and this week is the "Angels of Light" gift drive. Basically in short, we will be volunteering to hand out Christmas presents to homeless children and adults. There is no better feeling in the world than giving your time and happines to a family who needs it most! One of the things Erik and I talked about throughout our entire relationship is adoption, and you read about our decision a few posts ago. We love to give back and we do it not because we are forced or feel obligated, we do it for the joy and happiness that it brings to others. Growing up, my father and I had nothing! We were broke in the city of New Orleans.I always wanted to help those who were less fortunate then me because although we didn't have a lot of money and my father could hardly pay the bills, he always found a way to surprise me for my birthdays and Christmas'. I knew that there were children who had it much worst than me and as I grew up I knew that one day, I would give someone the happiness and joy that I felt when my dad gave me my presents. Recently I learned about adopting families for Christmas and I think that it is such a wonderful thing! I heard about it on the radio and immediately rushed to my office to look up information about it. Unfortunately, Erik and I can't do it this Christmas but our goal is to adopt at least one family next Christmas. Instead of not adopting a family, we decided we would do "Angels of Light." I am so looking forward to meeting little ones and giving them something they will remember for the rest of their lives.
Today, I was on Pinterest and I found some pretty amazing stuff. One thing that caught my eye was a lady who posted about planning a whole year of date nights! Ah!!! {One quick thing about me, I LOVE to plan!!!!} Planning is my life! So when I saw this I quickly clicked on the link and read about how this lady actually planned and even sometimes payed for (in advance) date nights! How smart! One of the things Erik and I have been talking about, is planning and saving. All next year we want to dedicate ourselves to save, save, saving our money! We know it's tricky but we know together we can do it, and we will! But this pre-planning date nights for a year is AWESOME!!! And you can bet your bottom dollar that we are going to do it!! In December, we are going to sit down and come up with 12 things we want to do (12 things for the 12 months-1 date night a month). I am so looking forward to sharing with you what our date-night will be as the 2013 months roll by. But I'm not going to spoil the fun and tell you what we are doing before hand, just like for Erik and I, it will be a surprise! Don't worry I will post pictures as we go along!
Store the pre-planned events in envelopes with the months on each of the outsides.
On the inside, place a sweet little note with either the tickets or any information you might have about the event. Next, if you haven't bought tickets yet, choose which date you want to go to the event in that month.
While on your date take some pictures, save the tickets and make a scrap book page. Be sure to add information about the night.
When you are done, put the page in a binder or scrap booking binder and on December 31st be sure to look back at your date nights and pick 12 new date night ideas for the next year! Keep it going and even when you have kids, find date nights to include them in but be sure to have date nights with just you and your spouse so you still have time together alone!! {Just be sure to find a baby sitter ahead of time.}
I hope you enjoyed the post, and maybe you and your spouse can come up with your own fun way to save money and still make time for each other! This is a really great way to keep the love between you and your spouse alive because you are making time to spend time together!!
Have a wonderful evening,
Megan
**To find more information about the "Let's Go On A Date" pre-planned date nights, check out http://shannonbrown.typepad.com/life_in_general/2011/01/lets-go-on-a-date-january.html