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So, I hinted a few times before Christmas that I had come up with the BEST gift for my husband. And, I wasn’t exaggerating. It was, absolutely, the most perfect present for Hubby.
I gave that boy a year of pre-planned dates.
It’s a simple scrapbook but inside there is one 12×12 page for each month. And as Hubby thumbed through those pages, he found the potential for romance, intimacy, laughter, and — most importantly — time together.
Using ideas I found for date nights on various blogs, as well as ones I planned myself, we now have twelve fun dates planned for 2012. None are incredibly costly — in fact, several are completely free!
(which made Hubby even happier)
Regardless of cost, the point of this gift was to carve out time for Hubby and I to be together. Not time worrying about the kids or projects around the house, but time that hearkens back to those days before marriage … when you nervously anticipated holding each others hands for the first time.
When you were courting each other.
Twelve fun and, sometimes, silly dates for 2012 — I think it’s going to be a very good year.
2012: A Year Of Dating
January: Ring in the New Year
(This was our one, semi-serious date. For this date, we met for breakfast and spent about 4 hours planning and goal setting for the next year, focusing on the areas of finances, our children, our relationship, our physical health and our personal growth and development. It was AWESOME -- four hours of REAL communication .... with out kids. Bliss.)
February: An Anniversary Date
(Next month, to celebrate our 8th Anniversary, we are going ice-skating and then coming back home to recreate the dessert we enjoyed on our 1st anniversary. There's also another element I have planned for that night, but it's a surprise for Hubby. I'll share later!)
March: A Cowboy Date
(We're gonna head out to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo!)
April: A “Love In the Park” Date
(a day at the park for a picnic and model boat races)
May: A Kindergarten Date
(A day for just having fun and being silly. Two things spouses do best)
June: A “Walk On The Wild Side” Date
(We always take our children to the zoo, but we never go alone. That will change on this date!)
July: A “Red, White, Blue and YOU” Date
(heading to Texas coast for gulf seafood and fireworks over the water)
August: A “Bookworm” Date
(A silly name for a FUN time -- we will be heading to our favorite bookstore for a scavenger hunt, of sorts)
September: A “You Bowl Me Over” Date
(Yep. Bowling. One of our favorite activities and we haven't done it in ages.)
October: A “Popcorn For Two” Date
(A Movie Night where HUBBY gets to choose what we see. This may be a first.)
November: A “Daddy Does Dinner” Date
(I gave him ONE date to execute on his own. This one. He better do well. Just sayin'.)
December: A “You-Tube at the Spa” Date
(December is always crazy and stressful, so for this date, we're going to play it low key. It's an "At-home" date of watching silly, stupid You-tube videos and then giving one another massages. Laughter and back-rubs -- the perfect stress relief for the busy holiday season.)
So … Hubby’s reaction? He teared up a little.
Yes, he did. He is excited that after years of putting our kids first and our relationship second, I am finally realizing that OUR partnership is the most important thing in our family … for us and our children. That’s why I made this gift … because it is way past time we cherished our relationship and one another … and gave ourselves a few hours each month to do nothing but laugh and love.
(p.s. In case you were wondering why 12 x 12 scrapbook pages? The goal is to take pictures on each date and then place them there… at the end of the year we’ll have visual reminders of all the fun we had!)
Update: If you want an easy way to put together your own Date Night Project, the Dating Divas, one of the resources I used, is now offering the “Ultimate Date Night Ebook“ chock-full of date night ideas and plans!!!
*Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links
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About Rachel Lacy
My name is Rachel -- I share tales about food and family. I'm a home-cook who focuses on fresh & simple meals to both fuel us and to help us celebrate our family-life. My day starts with coffee. Lots of coffee. 
Monday - Corn Casserole, Pepper Steak, Salad
Tuesday - 
That is so cool.
That’s an awesome gift! I love it! Enjoy all of your “dates” Rachel.
I will!
That is so thoughtful and awesome. LOVE IT!
Thanks, Shannon!
OMG I love your husband!! I am sending this my husband right now. What a great idea!!
What a wonderful idea! i bet my hubby would like something like this too! I like that your dates aren’t expensive and they focus on spending time together not spending money!
One of the coolest ideas I’ve ever seen!!!
Thank you.
We are both enjoying it!
What a cool idea! I loved it! This is great for taking away that rut that most of us get into!
Have fun and thanks for the idea.
Love this idea! Super creative!
this is adorable!!
trisha
Love must have been in the air this Christmas! My husband and I are soon to be empty nesters and I did something like this for Christmas as well, only I used a dollar store yearly planner and decorated the front with photos of us and love stickers- on the calendar pages I filled in important dates and birthdays and then once a month put in a special date for us from my bucket list or trip on a tankful suggestions for my state! This is gonna be a great year!
How are your date nights going? Great minds think alike.
Love this idea and post, Rachel!
This is awesome! I love it. Hope you enjoy take time to really cherish and enjoy each other’s presence. Don’t mind if I steal this idea for the future? =)
Not at all! Have fun.
people didn’t need blogs to be in love before today.
Lol, no, they didn’t … but blogs and the internet in general do help one brainstorm ideas to keep the marital spark going.
Very cute gift idea. I think its very thoughtful and romantic. However, is it really necessary to call him hubby. That honestly rubbed me the wrong way and took away from the story a little bit for me. And some of this stuff I would never do with my boyfriend, that’s just not how we are, but for you and your HUSBAND I guess it’s perfect. Congrats.
Would you believe I actually hate the word “Hubby?” Lol … I really do but I have never settled on a semi-anonymous nickname for him, so I resorted to that. But, yeah, it isn’t my favorite — it is rather cloying.
I was never “this girl” either (single or as a newlywed), but after three kids I’ve learned I have to be to make sure my husband and I still have a life.”
This is so adorable! I want to do this for my hubby.
- Baleigh, Ghostwriting Services
I love it!!!
I LOVE this !!!! Thanks for sharing – I am so going to copy. I love that it’s something fun to keep through the years. What a great thing to pass down to kids…maybe at their wedding!! PS, I am HUGE about actually setting down and writing out goals TOGETHER. Goals are dreams until written down
Great blog, glad to find you!!
Completely agree — goal setting is huge and setting down to do it as a couple has helped in so many ways this year.
Look what I stumbled upon, love it!
This is a great idea and I’m sure your hubby was/is pleased. I think that one of the greatest things a wife can do to show her respect and love is by showing that she actually wants to spend time with him– and him alone (especially if there are kids in the picture).
These are some great ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Rachel,
I just came across your post from a pinterest link. I think your year of dates is an awesome idea, and such a thoughtful gift for him! I hope you took pictures of all your dates and added them to the book. Cheers to many more fun filled dates with your husband.
Kristy
Its a cute idea but not for a Christmas gift. I’m pretty sure they’d more enjoy a bottle of whiskey and a video game then a bunch of pre planned dates they have to achieve. Let them be creative, hint at what you want don’t shove it down their throat
Well, that’s the beauty of gift-giving. You can choose the best gift for your recipient. For my husband, this was the. best. gift. for. him. Nothing shoved down his throat. He wants time with me and this showed him that I wanted it too … and was making time for him. If it wasn’t something I knew he wanted, I wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble to make it … because scrapbooking is NOT me.
This is a great idea. I have been thinking about doing the same thing for my husband for our anniversary. Seeing as how our anniversary is 12/23 trying to come up with something that isn’t like a Christmas gift isn’t always easy. Thanks for sharing!