Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

20 Budget Friendly Date Ideas

I love going on dates with my husband, whether they are little mini-dates we catch here and there or a full day together. I love that feeling of just reconnecting with him and being able to give him my full attention without interruption. I think it’s so important to take time out of our busy lives to solely focus on each other. It keeps our marriage alive.

Romance doesn’t have to be expensive to be great! Here is a list of free or nearly free ideas to make your dating a pure pleasure:

  • Have a winter picnic. Put a blanket on the living room floor, grab the pillows off the couch, turn the TV off (or to the fireplace channel), turn the music on and light candles.  Feed each other chocolate covered strawberries.  Take time and enjoy each other.
  • Wake your love up early. Have coffee and donuts then head outside to watch the sunrise together.
  • Take a spontaneous drive without having any destination in mind. Turn the music up, sing together, hold hands and enjoy the ride. Make a love song “mix tape” to enjoy during your drive.  This one is one of my favs!
  • Get a movie or 2, popcorn (movie theater if you like), boxes of candy, favorite drinks, and curl up on the couch together to watch a movie. Wait until the kids are sleeping or send them to grandma’s house for the night if you can.
  • Buy a pizza and play board games together.  We love Scattergories.  And when you gamble kisses, it makes losing not so bad.
  • Celebrate your married romance by spending the day in bed together watching TV.  Only get out of bed to grab snacks then hop right back in.
  • Go to the drive-in, pack snacks and a blanket and get cozy in the back seat.
  • Go shooting together, something we love to do.  I mean, hello, seeing your guy handle a gun is pretty hot.  Just remember, safety first!  
  • Have a spa day by pampering each other with massages, candles and music.
  • Sleep in, snuggling together, before heading out to a local coffee shop to start the day off slow together. Take time to hang out for an hour and catch up!
  • Relive your first date.
  • Write a love letter to each other, exchanging them after a candle light dinner.
  • Volunteer together at a shelter.
  • Park somewhere with a pretty sunset, and talk – learn how to become better friends, and laugh a lot. Sometimes it just feels good to get out of the house and look at God’s creation with your best friend.
  • Have a “remember when” night. Reminisce about your dating days, when you fell in love and recall some of your best memories.  Look through old photo albums together and listen to music from back in the day.
  • Take dance lessons. The sexier the better. Salsa anyone?
  • Go shopping and walk through the mall, holding hands of course!
  • Go off the grid for the weekend- no cell phones, no TV, no computers. You’ll be amazed at what you do for entertainment.
  • Head to the ATM and get out $20. Drive around to some local yard sales and see what you end up with! There are tons on the weekends!  Or you could each take $10 and have a little competition.  Winner gets a massage!
  • Fill the bed of the truck up with pillows + blankets, head out in a field and hop in the back to count your lucky stars.  Don’t forget to take some yummy nibbles along.  Have you ever saw a shooting star?  It’s super romantic and you’ll be entertained for hours trying to recognize the stars and looking for them.

Homemade Pore Strips

So, I’m a Pinterest lover.  It’s true.  And one thing I love is browsing Pinterest early in the morning with my cup of coffee.

While doing my morning creep today, I came across a pin that super caught my interest.  I have a little girl that is in love with pore strips.  Seriously.  An entire box in a month.  Anyways, when I saw homemade pore strips I was all whaaaaaaat?!?!  I read the ingredients, YES, have them both.  So I was off to my kitchen to try it on myself first.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tablespoon Unflavored Gelatin
  • 1 1/2- 2 Tablespoons Milk (any kind)

I measured 1 Tablespoon of unflavored gelatin into a bowl then added 2 tablespoons of milk. I mixed the ingredients together until it had a chunky consistency and then heated the gelatin mixture in the microwave for 10 seconds. DO NOT go beyond 10 seconds.

I slathered it all over my face while it was still runny and set back for 15 minutes to let it do it’s thing. You’ll feel it getting tight on your face.  When it starts to crack when you move your face, then it’s time to take it off.

Later in the day I convinced Miss Thing to let me try it on her.

As you can see in the picture below, it also becomes super shiny when it’s ready to be taken off.  Pic on the left is as soon as I put it all over her.  The right is when it was ready to be peeled off.

And that’s where this post will come in handy.  What not to do with homemade pore strips.

Don’t think “Hey, I have gelatin from 15 years ago, I bet it will work just fine”.  While indeed it will work fine, it won’t smell fine.  It’s kinda hard to get away from a yucky smell when it’s smeared all around your nose.

Do not put it on the little hairs by your hair line. When I say this stuff sticks, I mean it. And it will rip your hairs out. Repeat, it WILL rip your hairs out. Which also means do not put it on your eyebrows. And if you do by accident, wash it off later.

Don’t get the fab idea to put it around your lips, thinking it will make them look soft. What you will find out is you actually have little baby hairs around there that will rip out. The pain will make you temporarily blind. And your eyes will water. Lots.

The thicker you put it on, the easier it is to grab a hold of and take off. Also, if you take it off too soon (while it still feels kinda goopy) it’s harder to take off. So make sure you let it dry completely.

Exciting, right? Jade said she felt just like Goldmember when he was peeling his skin off.

Happy Birthday Mama

Happy birthday to my amazing, beautiful, amazing, wonderful, amazing, unselfish, amazing, most awesome mama in the entire world (did I mention amazing)…and thank you for the 1,246,724 things you do for us (and me especially) all year round…we love you insane amounts!!!!!

If it wasn’t for this woman, I would not be who I am today. It is certainly a blessing to be able to say your mother is your best friend. And she is clearly that, my best friend. I live beside her, normally see her every day and talk to her a million times a day. I am truly blessed.

I hope and pray that someday I can be the completely amazing person you are. Just in case you don’t know (and in case no one else ever tells you) you are clearly the BEST MAMA EVER!!!!