In this guest post,Catherine Richards, shares her 10 wonderfully themed dating ideas to celebrate 10 years of marriage: Our 10th wedding anniversary came when I was an exhausted mommy of a spirited 2.5 year old and a baby who would turn 1 the day before we celebrated 10 years together.
My children are the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to be a mommy, but it felt they were requiring almost all of my energy to just keep us all alive. Without meaning to, I had placed my marriage on the back burner as I barely had the energy to form a complete sentence. My sweet husband started dropping hints about the special getaways and presents he had planned to celebrate our anniversary, and I started panicking about how I could give him a gift that would be worthy of the significance of the occasion and that would be meaningful and special to him.
A friend had given me the idea of thinking up top 10 lists for us to talk about on our anniversary – our 10 favorite memories of our life together, 10 favorite holiday celebrations, 10 favorite trips, restaurants, etc. Not only did this idea prove to be a great idea to stimulate fun conversation, it also gave me the idea for the perfect present for my husband who has always told me that he prefers experiences/memories over things.
I decided to plan 10 dates to celebrate 10 years of marriage all year long.
I began to think about the things we liked to do together, things we had always talked about doing but never gotten around to, new restaurants we wanted to try, places that held special memories for us that we could go back and visit and something wonderful began to happen. Through the exercise of spending time thinking about my husband, thinking about what would make him happy, thinking about what we would enjoy doing together, I began to feel closer to him before I even got to spend time with him.
I wrote out each date on a card, tucked in money to cover any activities involved, found a fun question to talk about on the date and wrote that on the back of the card. I put the card in an envelope and wrote the date title on the outside. I placed the 10 cards in a box that he opened on our anniversary. He loved the thought and the anticipation of looking forward to 10 surprises throughout the year. At the beginning of each month, he would pick an envelope based on the title and then we would open it and plan a time to take the date together.
Having the dates already planned out breathed new life and anticipation into our date nights. We enjoyed all our normal spots, but it made us feel like we were on a little mini trip for a night when we followed our date card and experienced new things together. And honest confessions, we have now been married 11.5 years and still have more dates to take from that little box. We got off the routine of taking one every month, but we can’t wait to finish up and kind of like the idea that we have a few more to look forward to.
Here are the dates that I planned:
Something New – Let’s enjoy a bottle of wine while we pick up a brush, get in touch with our creative side, and see if we come up with a masterpiece. Pinot’s Palette – 6465 E. Mockingbird Lane, Suite 430
Date question –What was your proudest moment?
Tried and True – How about dinner and a movie? Your pick on both!
Date question –If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Back to the Basics – Let’s go back to where it all began and enjoy a walk along the Katy Trail finished by a pint or two at the Ice House.
Date question – What’s the sweetest thing I ever did for you?
There’s a REMEDY for that – They claim health by soda, perfectly crafted cocktail elixirs enhancing beauty, relieving stress and pain, Iconic pies and ice creams, and classic American cuisine…how can we not check it out?! Let’s go to Remedy for the evening and try it ALL – 2010 Greenville Ave.
Date question – When you get to heaven, what’s one question you would like to ask God?
Lovers Lane – Let’s go check out the ducks and revel in the past with a picnic in the park at our bench where you asked me to marry you
Date question – What’s your favorite memory from our wedding day?
Thai cream – Two things we love – Thai food and ice cream…let’s combine them with a visit to Sakhuu Thai (4801 Bryan) and Carnival Barker
Date question – Who is your hero?
Lazy day – We’re sending the kids the Granna’s for the day and coming back home to do…it’s a quiet, whatever we want to do kind of day…
Date question – What do you think God looks like?
A bit of culture – Let’s go to Klyde Warren and check out the food trucks for lunch, then browse around the DMA
Date question – What do you pray about?
Bull’s eye – Let’s go brush up on our aim at the gun range.
Date question – What’s your favorite memory of dating me?
Something we’ve always talked about – Time to finally go to Bubba’s for some steak and bbq and then finish off the night snuggled up for a movie at the drive-in
Date question – What’s a question you have never asked me?
What dating your husband or celebrating anniversary ideas can you share?
Feature pic credit, updated via WiseMommies
Thank you for this wonderful idea. I can really appreciate the concept.