Kyle and I haven't been on a date in over 10 months. What adds to the atrocity of that fact is that when newlyweds ask for marriage advice I tell them to plan a date night weekly or monthly. I failed in following my own advice! Our excuse for not going out was our newborn baby girl who was cantankerous for the first few months of her life and we reasoned that nobody wants to deal with a screaming baby for a couple of hours. Our second excuse was finances. We went down to one paycheck and every month requires budgeting to make ends meet. When our four year wedding anniversary rolled around I decided that I'd give a gift to us: a date a month. Brielle did really well at our neighbors (and she got to eat ice cream) and if I planned local, cheap dates I knew we could make it work financially. The good news is that after planning 12 dates we will be spending less than $300 for the year (not including gas)! Thankfully, when I gave Kyle our gift and the reasoning behind it, he was totally on board.
The beauty of living where we do is that there is so much to do around us. We are 45 minutes from Cheyenne, WY; 30 minutes from Sidney, NE (ahem, Cabela's); 45 minutes from Scottsbluff; approximately 1 and a 1/2 hours from Fort Collins, CO; 2 1/2 hours from Denver, CO, 4 hours from the mountains... you get the picture. As I was planning our dates I decided to keep the travel distance to no more than 45 minutes so that limited me to Cheyenne, Scottsbluff and Sidney. However, I was pleasantly surprised how much there is to do!
Here's the plan:
August: Every Friday at 7 there is a speedway race at the Hiway 92 Raceway Park in Gering. Cost: $12/person
September: Visit the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historical Museum in Cheyenne, WY. Cost: $5/person
October: Spend an afternoon or evening disc golfing at the Dry Creek Parkway in Cheyenne, WY and bring a picnic dinner. Cost: FREE
November: Go bowling - the lowest score wins (and yes, we'll be bowling with bumpers).
December: Drive around admiring Christmas lights. Stop to get a hot drink first. Afterwards, shop for $5 gifts for one another!
January: Attend a Cheyenne Stampede Hockey Game at the Ice and Events Center in Cheyenne, WY. There are home games January 10, and January 17-19. We just need to pick one! Costs: $10 General Admission/person
February: Shop for $1 snacks to stuff in my purse and then head to a movie at the Lincoln Palace in Cheyenne, WY.
March: Tour the 15,000 square foot missile silo that Dan and Charlene Zwonitzer turned into a home. Tours are free!
April: Restaurant Tour - Stop at one restaurant for drinks and an appetizer, stop at another for dinner, and another for dessert. (We get $20 at each stop! Ohhhh the challenge! Haha.)
May: Test our marksmanship skills at the Sidney Shooting Park. 50 Clays = $15.
June: Spend an afternoon at the Westmoor Pool water park in Scottsbluff. There's a lazy river and a couple of really cool slides.
July: This month will mark our 5 year anniversary so I planned something special for an ENTIRE night out in Fort Collins, CO. These details are secret. ;)
The rules are 1. No children. 2. We spend only the allotted amount given for each date (not including gas) because that's part of the challenge. 3. Make memories.
I put each date in an envelope with a description (tickets if needed), the allotted money, and the details. We had fun going through each envelope and talking about its possibilities.
I asked Kyle which he was most excited about and he had a hard time deciding between the hockey game and the restaurant tour. I'm most excited about the shooting range (I did that once before and had a BLAST and I'm a decent shot!) and the disc golf. There wasn't one date on the list that we weren't looking forward to for one reason or another.
Yes, I'm sure I'll be "blogging" about our year of dates. Hehe. I'm so excited I'm giddy!
The beauty of living where we do is that there is so much to do around us. We are 45 minutes from Cheyenne, WY; 30 minutes from Sidney, NE (ahem, Cabela's); 45 minutes from Scottsbluff; approximately 1 and a 1/2 hours from Fort Collins, CO; 2 1/2 hours from Denver, CO, 4 hours from the mountains... you get the picture. As I was planning our dates I decided to keep the travel distance to no more than 45 minutes so that limited me to Cheyenne, Scottsbluff and Sidney. However, I was pleasantly surprised how much there is to do!
Here's the plan:
August: Every Friday at 7 there is a speedway race at the Hiway 92 Raceway Park in Gering. Cost: $12/person
September: Visit the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historical Museum in Cheyenne, WY. Cost: $5/person
October: Spend an afternoon or evening disc golfing at the Dry Creek Parkway in Cheyenne, WY and bring a picnic dinner. Cost: FREE
November: Go bowling - the lowest score wins (and yes, we'll be bowling with bumpers).
December: Drive around admiring Christmas lights. Stop to get a hot drink first. Afterwards, shop for $5 gifts for one another!
January: Attend a Cheyenne Stampede Hockey Game at the Ice and Events Center in Cheyenne, WY. There are home games January 10, and January 17-19. We just need to pick one! Costs: $10 General Admission/person
February: Shop for $1 snacks to stuff in my purse and then head to a movie at the Lincoln Palace in Cheyenne, WY.
March: Tour the 15,000 square foot missile silo that Dan and Charlene Zwonitzer turned into a home. Tours are free!
April: Restaurant Tour - Stop at one restaurant for drinks and an appetizer, stop at another for dinner, and another for dessert. (We get $20 at each stop! Ohhhh the challenge! Haha.)
May: Test our marksmanship skills at the Sidney Shooting Park. 50 Clays = $15.
June: Spend an afternoon at the Westmoor Pool water park in Scottsbluff. There's a lazy river and a couple of really cool slides.
July: This month will mark our 5 year anniversary so I planned something special for an ENTIRE night out in Fort Collins, CO. These details are secret. ;)
The rules are 1. No children. 2. We spend only the allotted amount given for each date (not including gas) because that's part of the challenge. 3. Make memories.
I put each date in an envelope with a description (tickets if needed), the allotted money, and the details. We had fun going through each envelope and talking about its possibilities.
Yes, I'm sure I'll be "blogging" about our year of dates. Hehe. I'm so excited I'm giddy!
I saw this on Pinterest a long time ago and have always wanted to do it! May have to for our 5 year this year. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know it was on Pinterest! Cool! I was inspired from a couple who received a year of dates as a wedding present. I thought it was the best idea and figured Kyle and I needed it. Haha, I think EVERY couple needs it.
DeleteWhat a great idea! We still don't know many people around here to watch the kiddos but when my parents and in-laws come up to visit, we take that opportunity to go on a date night. This has definitely given me some ideas for those times! Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteOf course! Can't wait to hear about them! ;)
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